Buranko Cafe & Bar

Great ambiance, amazing food, cheaper small plates all the way up to a $20 entree. First time we had three delicious small plates (crab Rangoon, chicken dumpling, edamame). Second time orange chicken done to perfection, only $16.​ Very reasonable house wine. Wonderful service. A new favorite!

WHEN: Sat @11amCame here cuz my cousin with 2 little girls love it here and recommended we meet here for lunch. I can see why they love it here. It's lovely and well decorated with plenty of seating and cocktail options for adults to appreciate, and a play area for kids to play in. So being the first party to dine in, we were seated right next the play area!Since we wanted to do family style, we wanted to make sure we ordered dishes that the girls can eat too. Here's what we ordered:BEEF BULGOLGI BOWL - $18Korean style stir-fried marinated thin sliced rib-eye with garlic and onion and sesame over rice with sides of jalapeno and kimchi.Meat was tender but my partner thought the rice was dry. I thought it was fine overall, even though I'd dint eat much of it.CHASU BOWL - $18Japanese marinated pork belly, sesame, sweet soy glaze, chashu egg, pickled cucumber, fukujinzuke, scallion, rice.I thought this was good! The pork belly was thinly sliced and had a crispy texture to it that seemed to be because of the sweet soy glaze. It wasn't dry and jerky-like and hte flavors were good. Egg was well enjoyed and there was plenty of rice!LARB POKE TUNA - $18Ahi tuna, roasted sesame, gluten-free soy, shallot, scallion, roasted brown rice powder, peppermint, avocado, arugula, rice, spicy Thai lime vinaigrette.I thought this was just okay. The tuna didn't taste very fresh but my cousin who ordered this seemed to enjoyed it. EDAMAME - $6Something for the girls to eat with their rice. It was a large plate of them so $6 was pretty decent!SIDE OF AVOCADO - $3The 4-year old really enjoyed the avocado from the Poke Tuna so we ordered a side of avocado to get her to eat more with her rice and edamame. It worked.After the girls ate they went straight to the play area, where my partner kept them company while I had 1:1 time with my cousin. It was such a wonderful time. Food was overall okay, but I appreciate the space Buranko provided for people to connect comfortably, even with kids. I'm honestly surprised how empty this place was on a Sunday. I think maybe it's because they don't serve brunch items like waffles and pancakes like I thought they would. Just lunch items, but hey, they have a variety of drinks and like 2 options of dessert.

Service and waiters is great. Vibes are good and it's a cute spacious place.Food is just okay...been here twice and the best thing I had so far was the crab wontons....main dish I got was chicken bowl and chicken sandwich. None of it was memorable and didn't finish it cause it was kind of bland

This place is honestly pretty underrated - we went here on a Saturday dinner around 6:30pm aka supposedly prime dinner time and there were only 2 tables occupied. We got to sit in one of the nice hammock-like chairs and ordered 2 cocktails and 2 entrees to share for the 2 of us. We tried:Kyoto Fog - nice matcha flavor and the alcohol did not taste too strong. It was a nice touch to seePinkitini - very floral and fruity, light and refreshing drink with lychee but the lychee was not sweet at all (perhaps a bit watered down) for some reason.Million Dollar Shrimp Tom Kha Ramen - sooooo delicious! Coconut lemongrass soup with noodles that were just al dente and fresh shrimp. It is to no surprise this is one of the most popular dishes on the menuMoo Kra Tiem - garlic pepper pork. I do like the grilling of the meat and the spicy sauce, but the rice was way too mushy so that was a miss. This is one of their seasonal specials.Service is good as water refills were apparent and the servers were fairly attentive to take dishes away as needed. I would recommend this place if you want a place that serves good Thai/Korean inspired food and want a casual, not overly crowded dining experience.

Great food. Lots of flavor. Service was fast and attentive. The only thing I would recommend the staff change is the wicker seats which are not comfortable to sit in. Ambiance was great - lots to look at but classy.

A big beautiful space with welcoming friendly staff. The menu had a ton of vegetarian options-- I went with the vegan bowl + soft boiled egg-- I asked them to switch to brown rice. I was beautifully plated and tasted like bibimbap-- full of flavor and texture! I would return to try other dishes!

This is a great family-friendly restaurant for those with little kiddos. They have a play area inside the restaurant for smaller kids which makes it easy for parents to dine and keep the little ones busy. Menu is Asian fusion and pretty good! Their tom yum ramen was delicious and an interesting blend of the two dishes. Giving 4 stars though because of a more recent visit - we came for dinner on a week night and they seemed extremely understaffed. Our server was very kind but only interacted with us to take our orders, otherwise was very busy with all the other tables which was fine I guess cause we're pretty low maintenance anyway. Our food came out, however, and it was cold. At that point we didn't bother letting them know because we couldn't get ahold of our server. Ordered the Chashu bowl and it was ok - good flavor and plated nicely but, again, it did not come out hot. My husband ordered the spicy Seoul chicken bowl and it also came out pretty cold, not even lukewarm.Would still come back regardless because we have a little one and we love a family-friendly establishment!

Pleasantly surprised with this meal. The bowls - beef and spicy chicken - were great quality meat and all the ingredients tasted very fresh. The chicken dumplings were also very flavorful I would come back for these alone. The food gets an A. The vibes however - were interesting. The messy childrens play area really ruins any ambiance the restaurant has going for it. We were sat right next to it and it just felt out of place and a little dirty. The communal tables are so large you feel far away from the people you're sitting with. And the service was slow - our drinks came out after our entrees. Would come back for the food - but maybe taking it to go next time.

My absolute new favorite place. Not long was the food so good and there was a perfect variety on the menu. The service was excellent and staff was so nice and they are super kid friendly!! There is even a play area and a fish tank for hours (or minutes for our kids) of mesmerizing staring. The kids area has blocks, trains, play kitchen, vehicles, and more. It was ideal for keeping the kiddos entertained the whole time we were there!Then on top of that the food was so good!! The soft shell crab pad Thai was so unexpected and perfectly chewy noodles with crispy soft shell crab. The chicken bowls were crispy and saucy and comforting. Takoyaki was fresh and good chewy / creamy and octopus ratio. I love that they have a kids menu for little appetites too. Theango sticky rice was also sooo good. Salty sweet balance. I can't wait to go back! It's so hard to find kid friendly places with kind service and delicious food.

The ambiance here is amazing. Everything is super cute and clean. We got sat right away and the hostess was very sweet and helpful. The seating is very flexible and has great vibes. We only ordered drinks, and they were delicious! I got the Thai Iced Coffee and my bf got the Cold Brew. They came in the cutest cups and the cafe's playlist was very calm and popular music. I'd recommend!