Xiao Bao — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

My partner and I came into the restaurant for food and a cocktail. We originally sat at the bar, ordered our drink and our dish to split (this was a pre dinner snack situation). The dish came out quickly and the drinks exactly as ordered, no problem there at all. Bartender was nice and was diligent to talk to us about the menu, ask for dietary restrictions.

We had two friends running late to meet us, so we proceeded to eat our noodles at the bar. Our friends arrived, so the bartender suggested we move to a table, so she decided to transfer our check. Our two friends ordered their own food and drinks. We finished eating our split plate before their food landed.

At the end of the meal, we were presented with a consolidated check. We planned to split very simply between what was ordered by each of us since we clearly ordered as individuals.. the service staff (bartender, our server, as well as another server) explained to me that it is restaurant policy to consolidate checks “because we operate at a high volume and offer share plates”. We were 4 of 6 people in the restaurant and the staff refused to split the check by item.. they said we could, however, split evenly by number of cards, but this doesn’t make any sense based on what was ordered OR how we dined. I understand having a policy that you communicate to your guests at the forefront, especially when you're busy, but this was silly. I asked if they would treat this situation the same if we were at the bar, ordering the same way (very clearly as individuals aside from my partner and I, who arrived together, said we would pay together explicitly) and they said they would consolidate it then, too. I guess the determining factor is that we were.. talking to each other?

I should assume then, if I come to Xiao Bao solo and make nice with someone else who has arrived solo that I had never met before, that we will be presented a single check at the end of the night with no option to split. Weird, completely unnecessary policy flex but ok.

I am the FOH manager of a high volume restaurant (that offers, like Xiao Bao, share plate style dishes at similar price points) that uses the same POS (Toast), so I don’t offer this review up lightly. I really do not think this policy is as ingenious or helpful to your staff as you think it is. I sincerely tried to understand, but the staff were very insistent that there was nothing they could do about the check. I’m not at all upset with your staff. They were following the rules.

I think there is a serious miss here in quality of service to your guests by refusing outright to offer the option to split by seat versus split evenly across cards... it is quite literally one button push on Toast, it just requires some basic training of your staff on seat numbers/splitting, some training on communicating with your guests about their preferred way of payment, and the very basic desire to accommodate your guests (in a totally normal, industry standard way) who just want to pay their bill and get out of your hair.

Last couple of notes, not about logistics- the noodles we ordered were nice but relied too heavily on what we assume is MSG or Maggi (we love MSG/Maggi in cooking, partner is a chef where we live, so we know this is a distinct salivating sort of phenomena). Might have been a mishap. We were.. feeling the effects for nearly 20 mins after we finished eating. Otherwise, no complaints.

Last but certainly not least.. You all charged my friend $4 for a single glass of soda water on ice and a lemon wedge, so I don’t know if you’re using some dusty, allocated Topo Chico bottles or some other specially-mineraled, drawn from the base of Mount Fuji carbonated water type ish.. but that’s obscene. You charged us a $1 upcharge for soda water as a mixer with a pour of alcohol (1.5oz?), but $4 for soda water alone? Are you financially punishing people for not drinking cocktails or is that soda water really that good? I don’t know, y’all. Stock some cans from restaurant depot and make your margins elsewhere like a normal...

Walked in at 7pm on a Friday night and were seated promptly. Restaurant was fairly busy but not overwhelmingly crowded which was nice. Parking was also easy with a few spaces still open in the lot when we pulled in. We decided to go for the set menu ($45 each) as we had been wanting to try Xiao Bao out for a while so why not go for it? I particularly had it on the list to try for the biang biang noodles ($22) as well as I am a huge fan of them so we got an a la carte order as well.

The set menu was...fine. It was just average. I really was ready to be wowed but none of the dishes did that: The Crudo came out fast - the nam jim yuzu was good but very overpowering of the salmon. The Nam Khao followed quickly after - serviceable and maybe the "best" of the set menu but might also be that I'm biased because I love nam khao generally. The Gen Tso came out next without too much delay. I found it to be OK enough in flavor of the sauce but the chicken texture itself was a little weird - slightly mealy which was a bit off-putting. The Hand Cut Noodles came next which I was really looking forward to even more so now after not being dazzled by the first 3 dishes of the set menu, but perhaps that was my mistake - I just had too high of expectations. I was reminiscing of biang biang noodles I used to have once a month in the SF Bay Area and these just weren't that. The noodles just tasted very greasy and the meat had a slight gamey-ness I wasn't expecting from shredded beef. Not too long after the noodles came out the Milkbread Rolls were brought out to the table. I took a bite without the hot mustard honey butter and did not like the filling. I tried it with the butter spread on top and that butter seemed to me to be the most imaginative thing of the set menu. Still didn't make me like the dish altogether but made it more passable to eat. The last dish of the Short Rib Phanaeng took quite a while considering the speed of every other dish. We were waiting a good 20 min after finishing the last course before it came to our table. That meant it was quite disappointing when both of us took a bite and quickly said 'this is what we've been waiting for?' It was an OK curry sauce for a very again gamey piece of short rib. Neither of us ate more than 2 bites as yes were getting full but it also just wasn't that tempting to want to eat more.

We walked out saying that the food wasn't bad, sure, but it also wasn't good. Service was good throughout and the vibe inside was fun for...

A Disappointing Lunar New Year Experience at a Nashville Gem

Our anticipation for the Lunar New Year celebration at a well-regarded Nashville restaurant reached new heights when I learned they were bringing in a chef (Jonathan Wu) from New York for the occasion. The promise of a special menu to mark the festivities seemed like the perfect reason to finally visit, having moved to Nashville not too long ago. Unfortunately, our experience was far from what we had hoped for, compelling me to share our thoughts publicly after waiting in vain for a follow-up from the establishment.

The restaurant curated a seven-course prix fixe menu for the event, which, on paper, promised an exquisite culinary journey. However, the reality was a stark contrast. Out of the seven dishes served, only two managed to meet our expectations to some degree. The rest were a disappointment, marred by an overwhelming use of Szechuan pepper and an excess bitterness that dominated the palate. This uniformity in flavor was more punishing than pleasing, leaving us yearning for a palate cleanser that never came.

Seeking solace, we turned to the regular menu and ordered the hand-pulled noodles and beef fat fries—both of which a testament to the restaurant's usual standard of excellence, highlighting what could have been if the Lunar New Year menu had been more balanced.

The financial aspect of this experience was equally disheartening. We invested $200 in the prix fixe menu, only to find ourselves spending an additional $50 on two alternative dishes and a virgin lemonade in search of satisfaction.

Before departing, I took the opportunity to speak with a staff member about our underwhelming experience, hoping for some acknowledgment or perhaps a gesture of goodwill. Regrettably, after giving it a couple of days, the restaurant did not attempt to contact us, leaving me with no choice but to share our honest thoughts through this review.

It's disheartening to report that this special Lunar New Year meal failed to deliver, overshadowing what could have been a delightful introduction to a restaurant that clearly has much to offer. While the excellence of their regular menu items is undeniable, the execution of this themed event was a misstep that we hope will be a learning experience for future...