I realized that I don’t always write about restaurants we try for the first time unless I am just very impressed. Of course I say that because I am getting ready to write about a place that really impressed me but it has me thinking that I really should blog about all our new eating adventures: the good, the mediocre, and the bad. But then it usually isn’t fair to post things about a place based only on one experience so we will have to think about that. So as you read along keep in mind that these comments are based on one experience only and I am not a professional or even semi-professional food reviewer. If we enjoyed it and you did not or vice versa there is always the difference in time of week and level of cook in the kitchen that night, freshness of the ingredients relative to when the food order for the week was received, as well as differences in items of expertise across a menu (if you want a better understanding of that then read Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential). Bottom line, if I don’t like a place please don’t let that stop you from checking it out.
But I really liked Buku…
Buku promotes itself as Global Street Food. I was intrigued because of having traveled through Asia I was excited to see dishes I have enjoyed overseas all available in one place. A word of warning to anyone else who has traveled and goes expecting to get it just like they had it in X country. I am sorry but it probably won’t be all that but it will be pretty darn good version of that (at least for the few dishes we tried this one visit).
The majority of the menu consists of small plate portions so you are meant to try several different things similar to the tapas concept. If you are interested in a traditional entrée sized portion then the waiter will point you to the “In Off The Street” section of the menu. We selected items to order based on things I have enjoyed during my travels with an item or two thrown in that we knew would appeal to Brad. In fact, as we negotiated the menu trying to compromise on what to order I told Brad it would be easier for me to point out the one or two items I did not want to try. The following lists what we ended up having, which ended up being too much food for the two of us. We started with the first three items and then added the last two but should have stopped with having added only one more item.
Chinese Bao - steamed pork bun, egg, served with cucumber salad. I had Bao at a Dim Sum restaurant in Hong Kong. From my experience they were traditionally small portions, a couple of bites max in size and were very light but doughy like the texture of a yeast doughnut filled with all kinds of wonderful things from barbeque pork to sweet yellow custard like fillings. The one at Buku was large with the dough very similar to what I had in Hong Kong only a tad thicker with less filling to dough ratio. The filling consisted of something similar to a scotch egg with a hardboiled egg wrapped in sausage style meat. Upon doing a little “Googling” I found that this is similar if not identical to the Big Bao or Big Pau which is a mixture of pork, onion, mushrooms and Chinese seasonings along with the boiled egg inside the dough. It was very good.
Vietnamese Crepe - prawn, shiitake mushroom, bean sprout, Thai basil, with sweet vinegar dipping sauce. I actually had not had anything like this in my travels but the ingredient combinations sounded very similar to items I had tried in Vietnam. The crepe texture was more like the texture of a cornmeal tortilla versus that of an egg crepe. The prawns were cooked beautifully and the combination with the shiitake and sprouts was nice but it was the generous amount of cilantro and Thai basil served on top that added vibrancy to the dish that took it from pretty good to wonderful. Overall this was a very satisfying yet light dish that I would certainly order again. Google Vietnamese crepe and you will find Banh Xeo and the recipes I found show that the crepe is a mixture of rice and wheat flours and is meant to be somewhat crispy so it sounds like the cooks at Buku has this dish true to form.
Sunset Roll - eel, cream cheese, cucumber, masago, sesame, avocado, spicy mayo. This item was my attempt to be sure that we had something Brad would enjoy since we are both huge sushi fans. He loves eel so I allowed him to pick this roll over the tuna roll. It was actually very good and made me miss going to Sono on a regular basis. Since most people are familiar with the concept of special sushi rolls I won’t go into detail other than to say that it was well made, with fresh ingredients and this roll is a nice choice for someone afraid of raw seafood. Only warning is that it is very creamy and rich tasting with cream cheese, avocado and topped with the spicy mayo.
Korean BBQ - shaved prime sirloin, kimchi, sesame spinach, wasabi soy. This was the one dish I most wanted to have and although it was very good it was for me the most disappointing in terms of not being exactly like what I had experienced. I have had Korean BBQ in Seoul where you order the cuts of meat you want, ideally some nice wagyu beef, and they bring the raw meat to your table where you have a little grill set up for cooking the meat. I remember when I first had it being overwhelmed by the assorted condiments and before I could even ask what to do a young lady took my hand, slapped a lettuce leaf into it, topped with meat then kimchi and some other condiment. Then she had me roll it close and motioned for me to eat it. I knew we would not be grilling at the table but I had hoped for the lettuce wrap and condiment selection and instead it was served more like an entrée with the kimchi and cooked greens as sides. The meat was well marinated and nicely cooked so it was very tasty but if you do not know to combine your bites to have both the meat and the kimchi at the same time you completely miss the flavors you are meant to experience. Once I got Brad to eat them together he agreed it made all the difference. As for the kimchi, it was good but nowhere near the heat level of what I had in Korea but then Brad felt it was plenty hot for his enjoyment (wimp). To me it should be like the same punch in the sinuses you get from combining grated horseradish with prime rib and this wasn’t quite there.
Moules Frites – Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) mussels, tomato, garlic, white wine, cream, served with hand cut fries. OMG!!! This was a very generous portion of very nice sized mussels cooked perfectly in the most ridiculously good broth I have ever had. They provided three good sized pieces of toasted bread that I just kept dipping into that broth until the bread was so soppy it was about to fall apart before I could get it to my mouth. This was hands down the best item of the night and I will be ordering that again on a future visit.
So our first visit was obviously quite enjoyable. We had made reservations due to the various downtown festivals but could have easily walked in at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening (yes, it was early for us but timed for the ending of the matinee we attended). It was crowding up by the time we left. The waiter was knowledgeable about the menu and attentive without being annoying. I do wonder if I had not been so vocal about my travels if he would have explained the servings and indicated recommended ways of eating the dishes. They have a nice beer selection and a good listing of wines including a decent list of wines under $30. Oh, and I should mention that the special of the night was Bibimbap, which is a very signature Korean dish of rice, egg, meat and veggies together in a bowl. I was tempted since I had really enjoyed it overseas but I wanted to try the smaller dishes instead, maybe next time.
