Bun Intended - SW Food Hall

Food that looks good but disappoints. It seems like there is no quality/ taste control in place in the kitchen. The pork bao was as salty as the sea. The thai curry was so spicy that it felt like the spice box fell in. The broccoli bao, the grilled chicken that came with the thai curry and the thai coffee were edible but that’s about it.

If possible I would probably rate this at 3.5 stars. The server was very pleasant and helpful and it is located in a nice little food court. It did seem to have the most foot traffic in the court as well which is a good sign. I was just a bit disappointed with the food. It was alright but if you really like Thai food it didn’t taste that authentic. The flavors were pretty basic I felt. My chicken bowl was also really salty which made it not as enjoyable.

Great menu. The food is awesome and the service is too. The staff was so appreciative that we chose them. We went back to compliment them after we ate, and each staff member that heard us looked up from their work and acknowledged. We could feel the love of food!! Would definitely revisit next time in Asheville.

Special of the day was Massaman Curry. Added chicken (worth it!) Good amount for the cost. Tasty with just enough spicy kick. Located in the S&W Market. There was live music on Friday.

Ordered a ton of different items so we could get a feel for the menu. Food looked good. The PORK BELLY and grilled chicken BAO were unfortunately way too bready with the baos not being plaiable to hold the contents of the bao that everything kept falling out. We ended up eating the insides and tossing most of the bao. The pork belly being a slight better texture than the grilled chicken. The SALAPAO was a stuffed bun with shredded pork. Nice presentation- but again a bit too bready with not much of the pork filling inside. Would have been better it the pork had a bit more moisture to it with hoisin or something. The SPICY CURRY BOWLS ( chicken and pork) were quite decent and packed a good flavor profile with the coconut milk and spices. The spicy som tum- green papaya salad- was quite decent. The pork skewers were ok. As was the Thai tea with rum. Overall disappointment with the baos as that was what we were most interested in enjoying.

Located at the rear of the food hall on the ground floor. Cute spot with some interesting options, I went for the pork bun & a Thai tea! I was sad they were out of their Thai coffee as I was told it’s homemade freshly brewed daily. Overall the tea had a pretty good taste, reminded me of the sachets I use from my local Asian grocer. The bao could’ve used maybe bigger pieces of pork or just more pork. Not bad for the price.

I ordered the coconut braised pork bun and the grilled chicken “build your own bowl” with the spicy Thai sauce. The coconut braised pork was okay. The meat didn’t have a lot of flavors to it but the bun was good (it wasn’t soggy). The grilled chicken bowl was good when you eat it all together especially with the spicy Thai sauce. The grilled chicken alone tasted like it had a lot of cumin and reminded me a lot of Indian food. If I had to rate the sauce by itself, I would give it a five star - it was spicier than most sauce I order from other places and it tasted great!

Excellent spot with great service. The rice bowl was great. Fair warning - the hot sauce is actually hot. If you enjoy a little forehead sweat, it's the sauce for you. Otherwise, the other sauce (peanut?) is the one for you.