Banyan Bar + Refuge

TL;DR food is good, service is not.Food: I'm not an "Asian" fusion person but this place was actually delicious by Boston standards. Would recommend the pork belly bao, the coconut calamari, and the vegan chocolate mousse. Very satisfied. Though the cost was a bit high for what I would pay for the quality of food in another city, for Boston the cost to quality ratio was good.Service: ...was NOT good. We interacted with a total of 4 people. The manager and bar server were amazing. The other two servers were extremely rude for absolutely no good reason, not to mention the micro aggressive facial expressions they made whenever my Italian friends ordered. Just based on service, definitely would not recommend.Bottom line:- if you're looking to treat yourself to some pretty good food in Boston for a higher price, you should check out Banyan.- If it's at the end of a long day/week and don't want to put up with unnecessarily rude, racist staff, go somewhere else.

I recently shared a Sunday lunch with a friend outside on the patio. We had a reservation and seating was prompt. The atmosphere was great. However, the service just wasn't any good. We waited an incredible amount of time to order. They just didn't seem to have enough wait staff. Beverages and refills took much too much time to come out. The iced coffee was toxically strong and was sent back.As for the food - the cauliflower Bao was delicious. The texture and the spiciness was appreciated. The dan dan noodle was just ehhh. The tasteless lumps of chicken were definitely not Spicy. Neighboring tables which ordered Bao looked like they faired better. If I come back, I'll stick to the Buns.

Great spot to hang out! Inside is chic but outdoor dining was a nice touch, esp in the summer. Seemed popular as all the tables were full! Cocktails were delicious (I got the lychee one and the painkiller). The food is all Asian fusion and was good although the baos are sorta small for the price. The staff were a little scatter brained (didn't bring us to our table and swapped the dishes between our table and the neighboring table) but they were eager to make up for it and were very nice.

Great restaurant decor and it was not too noisy. The servers were attentive and helpful. The ahi tuna poke bowl was so fresh and delicious! My friend and I also ordered the pizza bao bun to share. It's a specialty item not on the menu. The crust was honestly too thick and heavy, but I'm glad I tried it. I definitely want to come back and try other items on their menu.

What a cool and classy place! Very cute and cozy ambiance!! From the low lighting from gorgeous hanging lamps to the columns to the beautiful ceiling decor with cherry blossom branches radiating from the lighting fixtures - just everything here is so beautiful. Clearly, great attention was paid to every detail here. We wanted to sit outside given how warm it is tonight being the third day in October! However we didn't have a reservation thinking it's a Tuesday night. But clearly lots of people had the same idea and the outdoor seating was packed! The wait was 30 minutes if we wanted, but we decided to sit inside and it was still great with the beautiful decor. Definitely advise making reservations especially for outdoor seating if you're thinking for any other day this week which is going to be quite nice :)Asian Gastropub with funky flair is how google maps describes it and it definitely fits the bill! Each dish was an experience- especially the appetizers- pork belly bao buns were soft with sweet flavorful pork and crunchy peanut topping, schezuan chicken dumplings were like ravioli in a rich sauce, and the Korean chicken empanada was very decadent. We were already quite full from the apps so barely tasted the entrees. Dan Dan noodles were okay imo and the Korean short ribs were tender and tasty but cold. We do have both of those as leftovers to take home and enjoy tomorrow.Service was very quick and efficient.Overall a great experience and will return to try some of their other dishes!Absolutely recommend! Make reservations and go here this week and enjoy the beautiful weather while it's still here :)

Excellent ambiance with flowers or lights on the ceilingService was also excellent The drinks were really good with our party ordering multiples of the same onesThe dood we ordered was good but not consistent with the $$$ signs . We ordered calamari , tuna poke bowl , fries , Dan Dan noodles , cabbage rolls and I think we thought it was good not great. Most disappointing seemed to be Dan Dan noodles that had so much chicken and not enough noodles.i have had better Asian food but the ambiance was unique !

Great food... wonderful food... vegetarian options. Staff friendly and attentive. Highly recommend

I don't think the food justifies the price. I was initially interested in the pork bao's but couldn't reasonably shell out $15 for 2 small baos. Not worth it in my opinion. I ended up ordering the Bulgogi Short Ribs which was roughly ~30. I was mostly pleased with the dish especially the potatoes which were perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. On the other hand, the short ribs were mostly decent with a savory sauce but it was a little too salty and a little rougher on the inside. The dish wasn't too big given that it had only 4 small potatoes and 3 okish sized ribs. Aside from the food, the restaurant had beautiful decor with dangling plant/flower like chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The service was very good as well but the food was a bit of a letdown.

We visited as a group of 5 on a Friday night and the vibe and ambiance were great, lively but not crazy loud, artsy decor. We ordered several app-sized dishes, some very good (pork bun, pork jicama taco, Brussels sprouts) others only fine. I'd come back for the atmosphere, but there are better Asian food choices around.

I rarely write reviews but for this restaurant, I had to make an exception. The staff are awesome however the food - not so much. We tried quite a few dishes and the only stand out was the fried chicken bao. We also tried the pork tacos, Dan Dan noodles, coconut calamari, Thai chili cauliflower, and seasonal sangrias.These were all pretty bad but the worst was the Dan Dan noodles. It was coated in peanut butter (not peanuts) peanut butter. Absolutely disgusting! Do not recommend. I don't know what the American chef in the back was trying to do but it's obvious he/she never trained under a Chinese chef to learn the proper way of making this dish. And that goes for the other dishes as well. Banyan is the Tex Mex of Asian food. Appropriation gone completely wrong.