Bon Me - Harvard Smith Campus Center

For my 2 week stay at Boston, ever since I found this restaurant (Bon Me), everyday's meals were something I started to look forward to! The service is relatively fast, and the food's flavor is absolutely wonderful. My 3 favorites are the japchae, jp sandwich, and the namesake sandwich. The japchae has a reasonable amount of flavorful (sweet-ish, savory) chicken that will keep you full. The bamboo shoots with the japchae also has a refreshing taste. The JP sandwich has plenty of tasty tofu inside (no meat, but filling; bought it 4 times), and the namesake, which I've only tried once, became my new favorite from Bon Me as well. The namesake's tasty pulled pork with the slightly sweet/tangy sauce makes it a really good lunch. These sandwich's sizes are also relatively large for a great price ($11-$12). The sandwich bread also has a satisfying crunch to it (obviously unless the sauce inside infiltrates it). The taste may not be of 'traditional Korean/Singaporean/Vietnamese' taste, but this is an Asian fusion restaurant, meaning unique cooking from different parts of Asia are combined. This place should satisfy your Asian food cravings, as the food here isn't too "Americanized". Also, the staff was very friendly and efficient! I felt comfortable ordering from them. The other reviews say they appear rude, but I think that's due to efficiently working throughout the whole day. Thank you, SCC Bon Me staff, for making my stay here more flavorful! :)

I don’t know why the low star rating for. Food is always excellent and ratio is always perfect. Staff is always so helpful and answers your questions but it is preferred you order online as the kitchen tends to be busy from fulfilling orders. Every time I make modifications, asks for extra things or request things to be on the side, they are all always so helpful. There are many locations around Boston but this area in my opinion has the best location and it has a parking lot too. Love their Namasake sandwich but here is a picture of my delicious rice bowl. Happy eats!

Got lunch here for the first time while working on the field in the Harvard IT department. I work around the West Campus a lot so I'm looking for more lunch spots. The kiosk is easy to use and navigate, the wait time was short. The pho was great and made for a nice warm bowl of broth and noodles in this cold weather. The noodles are well cooked. The broth was hot and had good seasoning. Lots of toppings and meat. My note of no lime and ginger was fulfilled. However, my only complaint is that I also ordered a Brown Sugar boba milk tea and had to immediately spit it out as the taste of spoiled milk hit. I had my colleague at the office try it and he too also noticed it didn't taste like Brown Sugar boba milk tea and compared it to spoiled milk. I'm not going to give a 1 star because the review doesn't deserve that, but just a -1 for my drink. Might try again another day...but thanks for reading my review!

Not good taste, due to be in a tower building, they cannot use fryer to cook the noodle should be fried. Taste is not correct Singapore style noodle , I just eat little and trash to the bin.

Expensive for what it is (= a fast food without space to sit and no atmosphere). The food came in a cardboard box, was almost cold and was really not that good compared to any other real asian restaurant. Don't recommend.

The prices they charge are not the same as what is on the menu board. To note as well, if they ask if you'd like kimchi, jalapeno, or any other standard ingredient on your sandwich - those come at an extra cost. This was not stated and is not obvious, especially when presented quickly during the ordering conversation. I ended up picking kimchi, was up-charged after reviewing the receipt, and was given what can best be described as a kimchi-filled bread roll with a hint of chicken. Not great, will not return

Today, we had a terrible experience at this location. Not only did they increase the price from $12.50 to $15, but the waitress was also extremely rude. When I asked her to go, she placed the food down without putting it in a bag. I had two kids and two backpacks with me, so I asked her if she could please put it in a bag. She responded very aggressively, saying, "25 cents!" I was shocked that she hadn't mentioned this while I was paying. Then she gave me a mean look and threw a bag at me.

I was very disappointed when I ordered the Pineapple Matcha. Not even taste good and its so pricey.

Brief Summary: - Sauce amount wasn't enough for the dish, would have liked a larger sauce container - Good portions - Iced green tea tastes like iced water The weather was warm throughout the day, so our appetite was on the lower side. However, heading back to the hotel, we knew that we would have wanted something in our stomachs before going to bed, so we looked around and found this modern looking center that it facilitated students. Inside, there are several places to sit down, cafes and food restaurants. There were more seating areas, but these were locked with a card key. Bon Me is situated near the entrance (unless there is another entrance on the other side of this building) and the cold noodles felt like the right time to eat them. I checked their online menu, and it didn't include the one that we ate, so I think it was a seasonal special. We also ordered iced green tea to drink with the dish. The dish arrived fast and we took a seat near the long hallway. Inside the noodle was vermicelli noodles and different vegetables were decorated nicely before we mixed it. Poured the sauce over the noodles, and saw that the sauce didn't cover most of it, so after some mixing the sauce was already gone on the bottom of the bowl. Taste wise, due to how little the sauce covered the noodles and vegetables, there was not much flavor. I couldn't tell what the sauce tasted like, so in all it tasted like I was eating just noodles and vegetables with no salt or seasonings. The tomatoes and the egg helped add an additional taste. As for the tea, this was refreshing, but it mostly tasted like iced water. The color looked like iced green tea, but the taste was non-existent.

A great place to grab lunch in the Smith Campus Center. I love Bon Me in general so being able to grab it for lunch is perk in the Harvard Square area. I love their noodle-salad bowls and typically get it with the glass noodles, tofu, and spicy peanut sauce. It's delicious and filling for a solid meal. At this location, you order on the screen at the counter, enter your name, and pay with either card or apple pay. I waited less than 5 minutes for my order to be ready after placing the order, so I would say they are definitely efficient. Might be a bit of a delay during rush hour times though. Bon Me has a lot of variety from noodles bowls to banh mi sandwiches to ramen. There is something for everyone and ways to customize to fit different dietary restrictions and allergies as well. I think this place meets the expectations in terms of having a quick, efficient, and consistent pick-up food service, while getting a nice meal out of it. Not overly pricey for the amount of food you get too. Not many tables around the restaurant, but there are plenty of tables that you can sit at around the Smith Campus Center, or take to go wherever you are off to next. It's mainly just a place to order and pick up the food.

I bought the chicken noodle pho and it had to be the worst pho I have ever had. Too salty and overall was low quality.

Came back once again and saw their menu prices are now fixed! Great to see a business actually listening to their customers. The online ordering service was out of order though so I had to go in-person early to place my order. Got the K-Town Throwdown which is a classic and so so good!

One of the best banh mi sandwiches i have had. The pork was so soft, almost like pulled pork asian style. The bread was fresh and had the right amount of crunch and crispiness without breaking your teeth. I loved the sauce! It wasn't too spicy ( which is great for me) but they do have other sandwiches that offer that spice if you're a spicy person :) The brown sugar milk tea was good. It wasn't bad. Just regular. I think my brown sugar consolidated too much at the bottom but wasn't a deal breaker. I probably should have shaken it up more a bit. I would definitely come back here again!!

I got the soba noodle salad with kimchi, peanuts with their Gochujang chicken, topped off with their Spicy Peanut and the flavors were fantastic! Staff was also really nice and gave me some recommendations which were great! The location had multiple huge live plant walls that made the area looked awesome. Will definitely stop by again for lunch next time I am in the area.

Wow, I had been their years ago, another site, tried it. The Singapore noodles cold, they then microwaved them, tasteless, sitting around for while, the opposite of fresh. Partner had the Ali pho, just as tasteless, must have been sitting around forever, rice noodles stuck together. Another disaster. Other noodle options available in Harvard Square, go ANYWHERE else

I am a longtime devotee to Bon Me, as it is my absolute all time favorite food truck in Boston! We had some time to kill in Harvard Square this afternoon before jetting off to an Elite Event in Somerville, and dinner wasn't being served there, so we figured why not come check out the new restaurants at the Smith Center at Harvard? The building itself is gorgeous and very eco friendly, with large floor to ceiling walls covered in plants and a rooftop garden that is open to the public in warmer months. Year round, the interior features ample seating, lots of natural light, and a warm and welcoming environment. The Smith Center features lots of food choices, including Whole Heart Provisions (a locally based vegan chain), SwissBakers (pretzel bread for the win!), Blackbird Donuts (closes at 6 PM while everything else is open later... sad trombone), Pavement Coffee (gotta get that pre-class caffeine), Oggi Sandwiches (I have heard good things - next time!), Saloniki (a Greek restaurant, and the only truly "sit down" restaurant in the place), and of course, Bon Me, which I got this afternoon. Like most of the food offerings in Smith Center, Bon Me is a brightly lit and cheerful kiosk where you step up and order your food, then take it to a nearby table to chow down. It's a very similar setup to the stall that Bon Me has at the Boston Public Market. In the few times I've been to both of these locations, they've eliminated the physical ordering to an employee, and instead, customers punch in their order on a screen. This isn't my favorite thing, and it kind of feels like one of those "robots are taking over everything" kind of Black Mirror-dystopian moments, but at least there's no excuses if the order is wrong! Even though you don't really interact with the sandwich makers, I found the customer service to be kind of awkward and cold, and I really did miss the upbeat interactions I had with the truck employees. Oh well. The brick and mortar location with more kitchen space offers more protein and menu options, and I was excited to see my all time favorite, the tender and flavorful Coconut Braised Chicken, as an offering for a salad topper. I also added on some veggies, like roasted butternut squash and charred scallions. My salad was filling and tasty, and I really enjoyed it. Bon Me is yummy, but can be pricy. My salad and iced tea came to $16, but hey, it's Boston after all, and this food is definitely worth it!

Namesake sandwich was good. Braised pork on it was very juicy and tender. I'll be back here to try the Korean style banh mi that they have. Also under $10 which is nice. And right on campus

I've tried Bon Me multiple times from their food trucks, but only the Vietnamese coffee. I went to the Smith Campus Center location for lunch to try a food item and got the Namesake sandwich. As for portion size, it is HUGE. I was pleasantly surprised at how large the sandwich was, especially paying $8 for it. The baguette held everything together well, but the pork was a bit dry, and there was too much spicy mayo added. Every time I took a bite, the spicy mayo was just dripping out and got messy. For something that is a Viet inspired item, I would say it's sub par. I had a craving for banh mi and couldn't make it all the way out to Dorchester to Ba Le for the real thing, so as a substitute, I think it did ok.

Please train your staff on how to read orders better. Ordering at the Smith Campus Bon Me is through a monitor at the counter with no human interaction - even when you are the only cusotmer. Despite being detailed with an order, they had screweed up my orders 100% of the time. Unfortunately, it's the only game in town since the Kendall locations are closed on the weekend. The last time I ordered a salad with extra meat and extra noodles, I asked for extra sauce since Bon Me tends to sauce lightly. Not only was my large salad sauceless, I only recieved a single half full sauce on the side. Dry salads aren't good, Bon Me Team. So today I typed in my order and specified very clearly to please add peanut sauce to the salad + add extra sauce. After a 25 minute roundtrip drive to pick up my order, plus having to find parking, I get home and my double-size salad with extra meat and extra noodles has NO SAUCE and a single sauce on the side - enough to cover 20% of the salad and the rest was dry. It may sound minor, but my dinner was lousy after the effort I made. They did the same thing to my boyfriend's salad. We are long-time loyal customers, but will never order from the Harvard Square location again.

Bon me used to be my favorite food truck in harvard square! Glad to see they have a nicer location inside newly-renovated Smith campus center. This new store is right inside the main entrance. There are a few tables and some seats around their booth. What I really like is their self-ordering system. It accelerates ordering line a lot. Also makes decision making process easier. I usually have a sandwich here. I like their pork sandwich with carrot. Pretty healful. Will hit this place more for weekday lunch.

Bon Me God! This place delivers in all aspects: quality, quantity,& pricing. A huge banh mi with lots & lots of meat, perhaps even too much meat & a vietnamese coffee for a little bit over $10. Theres really not a lot of Vietnamese options in the area so the addition to this in the Smith center is great! The banh is served on soft crunchy french bread and the pate & pickled veggies really tie it together. I definitely prefer chicken or tofu but this pork is not too bad. The Vietnamese coffee is strong & definitely could use more condensed milk but overall all in all, this is a great meal to enjoy.

One of my go-tos if I'm looking for a quick, inexpensive bite to eat. I like their food truck and was quite excited to hear they'd be opening a location in the Smith Campus Center, and I was not disappointed! My personal favorite is their banh mi sandwich, which is filled with flavorful pork and veggies. I've also tried their bowls, which are hit-or-miss (though generally not as good as the sandwich), and their bubble tea, which was disappointing. Get the sandwich!

The female clerk refused customer to use the check-in offer on yelp. Some add-in items of the main dish are charged, but the clerk will not mention that until you see the bill.

This Bon Me gives the franchise a bad rep. It is very unsanitary the way the bread is handled and there is an unpleasant smell that came from behind the counter on my last visit. Also the staff is not very friendly and need customer service training.

Inconsistent food. I stopped by today for a rice bowl, and the white rice was so undercooked that there were many kernels that were barely chewable. Generally they've been okay in the past, though there seems to be a lot of staff turnover -- there's always someone being trained at the stand.

Agree with the other review: good quality, quantity, and price. Sandwich was bigger than I expected. Fair amount of veggies and meat, char siu pork wasn't dry, and enough flavor in both that the sandwich overall is more than just fuel for your tank. Bread comes out warm and toasty so try to finish as fast as you can!

Pretty good for some food truck types of food. The rice bowl is really nice, so as the people there.

I always enjoy the meats, sauces, and pickled vegetables here, but the rice quality is inconsistent. Today, it was so undercooked and crunchy it was barely edible. If your main attraction is rice bowls, you have to have edible rice!