Xiao Bao Biscuit

I love Asian food. I think it is so interesting and so vastly different than any other type of cuisine. It's inspiring and fresh. There are always so many different layers of the dishes: sweet salty crunchy savory creamy spicy umami. I could go on and on with descriptors. 

In Charleston, we have a couple of good restaurants serving Asian cuisine but in my opinion, Xiao Bao Biscuit is the best. I have been many times and it continues to be consistently delicious, inspiring and I can never seem to get enough of it.

Here is the menu from the night we went most recently. They change their menu fairly regularly adding seasonally inspired plates.


There are several things that are consistently on the menu no matter what. One of them being the Okonomiyaki. This is a Japanese cabbage pancake. Will and I always order it with an egg and candied pork. It. Is. Amazing. It is a must order when you eat here. 

Okonomiyaki

We also ordered a special for the night which was kind of like a line of potstickers or dumplings (filled with beef and lamb) that were cooked together. You broke them apart and dipped them in soy sauce. They were crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. While we enjoyed them and it was a fun concept, we probably wouldn't order them again as they were a little bland.

The other two dishes we ordered were the ramen and a short rib noodle dish. Both were insanely good. Will and I couldn't decide which we liked better so we just kept passing them back and forth. 

Short Rib Noodle (front) and Ramen (back)

One thing I would like to point out is that I hear often that many people are afraid to try Asian food because they fear it is too spicy. While it is common for it to be spicy, nothing I have had here has been over the top. 

Their drink menu is impressive as well. They have several imported beers from Asia including a new Taiwan beer, Chang (Thailand), Beer Lao (Laos), and Saigon (Vietnam). Their mixed drinks are fabulous as well- my favorite being the Sun Wukong - its a spicy tequila cocktail with chili honey and ginger beer. 

If you like Asian food, this is a great place to satisfy the craving. Not only are the food and drinks good but being in there makes me feel like I'm back in Asia. The smell and the decor along with the lively atmosphere of many different people sharing tables full of food- it's a great thing to experience.  Go check it out- you won't be disappointed!