Bao Button — Restaurant in Philadelphia

It was so good I cried. 1000000/10

We got the steamed chashu pork buns and when paired with the ginger soy Sause with the chili oil that comes on the table we sat at….wow. Delicious!!! Even better, the Japanese pop music over the speakers was perfect volume and I was even dancing a little in my seat to it even though i typically dislike pop music, this music just hits

I will say that when I ordered the Sakura lemonade, I did not like it as I found it to be sickly sweat and not have the aromatic flavor of Sakura. However I tend to be sensitive to sweetness and the drinks run sweet here. So I got the creamy matcha and it was perfect bc matcha is naturally bitter. Paired with the high sweetness it was delightful, I loved it so much!! The service was also fantastic. Our waitress was very kind when I disliked the Sakura lemonade and wanted another drink. She was adorably dedicated to finding me one I would like. Unfortunately I did not catch her name :(

I would recommend stirring a lot even though they use a drink shaker machine. Idk why but it made a huge difference in both mine and my mom’s drinks. I guess the powder they use to flavor the drinks is difficult to stir well, but it does taste really good to be fair.

I also love the machines they have for taking your order. I am a recovering picky eater but I’m still particular about what goes into my meal. Having a make your own ramen option was amazing along with being able to tap on the toppings I wanted just made it so much better for whatever reason. Idk. I felt more secure in my order being exactly right.

Then the ramen arrived. We both got pork bone broth or tonkatsu. Oh. My. God. It looks as good as the pictures. As a young person I have seen so many depictions of ramen and it looked delicious but I had never had it until now. Before taking a bite I was worried it would not live up to such an extreme hype that ramen gets. I was so wrong. It was so good I started crying tears of joy. Yes I’m telling the truth. I’m passionate about food, okay? It was like eating a buffet all in one bowl and everything was perfectly balanced despite me choosing the make your own ramen option. (I got chili oil, pork, wood ear mushroom, seaweed, cabbage, and green onion). The pork tasted like ifthe best bacon and the best roasted pork you get from an Italian sandwich had a baby. It blew my mind. The fat was also so creamy but not over powering as it was a fatty loin cut. The mushroom was cut like the noodles which was AWSOME. The noodles themselves, I got the classic ramen egg noodle, had such a satisfying chew and snap factor. Oh my god. It was amazing. The cabbage was raw but a welcome addition as it gave a great contrast from the fatty pork, deep broth, and spicy chili oil I ordered. If I could sumerize this ramen with one word, it would be balence. Of course, the corner stone of Japanese food is a balence of high quality ingredients, but this is just insane. As an Italian American I know first hand how disappointing it can be for an Italian restaurant(our cuisine also relies on balence) to just completely not understand how important it is. This restaurant not only understands, it worships balence.

Below are pictures of my ramen and my aghast face at...

Where to start? Interesting restaurant. First when you walk in, a young man at the counter greeted us and said that we could sit where we like. We are not small folks so we decided to sit near the door as these were bench seats, comfortable. We were told that we could read the menu and use the NFC code in the corner of the table, which we did, you also pay BEFORE you eat, contactless online through snackpass. The menu has a nice variety of Japanese style dishes and we started with Pan Seared Mini Pork Soup Boa (6 pieces) then ordered the Chicken Ginger Crispy Gyoza (6 pieces) proceeded with ordering the Build Your Ramen bowl choices for this ordered were as follows: Tonkatsu Creamy Pork Broth, 1 Hikata Tonkatsu Noodles, 2 Shrimp Tempura, Sweet Corn and Scallions. Next was the Build Your Japanese Soy Egg Fried Rice Bowl choices for this as ordered were: Gyu Beef, Unagi, 1 Shrimp Temoura and Extra Scallions. Now mind you, when you order the Build Your Bowls, you will be charged for each item. We also ordered the Lychee Green Tea and Peach Tea both had the boba balls in them and went great with the meal. All the food was delicious and we even had to doggie bag. Our first time here. We will return. Different but...

I drove an hour and 20 mins to eat here with my partner. We ordered: Philly cheese steak bao buns, lava pork bao soup and miso ramen. All were incredible. Cheesesteak bao buns were the star. Hot, soft, fluffy little steamy/cheesy dreams. The ramen was incredible. Deep miso flavor, required NO added sauces or seasonings which are both available at the table. The chicken on top maintained its crisp despite being on top of hot soup and noodles. We almost ordered a second bowl! The lava pork bao soup was addictive. I dipped the other bao buns in that soup broth, spicy, so if you arent a spice fan DONT get it. I got two orders of their mango bubble tea as well. Delicious. Staff was kind, welcoming. Ambience was dimly lit which I prefer and it wasnt too hot in the establishment. The waitress chatted with me about how long theyve been there and their aspirations for a second location one day. For a place less than 16 months old-- it knocks it out of the park. Thank you for sharing your love and culture through your incredible food. We got a super cute magnet as a souvenir too. Soon theyll have shirts I was told. We will be back without a doubt. Be well and all the luck to...