Jennifer M.
Yelp
We were downtown for a show at the Straz on a weekday. We didn't have time to eat before the show and Shiso Crispy was open and not a long walk at all.
First, I was surprised (not disappointed!) that this was a food truck. No worries at all. There are some cute little covered tables and bar height chairs to enjoy your food and it was a gorgeous night.
We ordered Bang Bang Chicken Bowl and two orders of Bao Buns to share, the tuna and the short rib. This was a one man operation with a lot of customers to feed so it took a bit for the food to be ready. No problem at all.
When it did come, one of our orders of Bao buns was missing. Easily remedied. The Bang Bang Chicken was very good, but not a whisper of heat in the vicinity. Like it was temperature hot, but where was the Bang? Mush less the Bang Bang? The rice was terrific. But dang I wanted some kind of heat from the chicken.
I opened up the Bao buns and my heart sank. They were COVERED in a dark vegetal substance. I hoped it was seaweed but in my heart, I knew. I have a pesky and ongoing allergy to cabbage and these days, restaurants are straight up leaving it off of descriptions and surprising me with it. I get that menu boards have limited space, but when the dish has three components- bun, meat and slaw (and loads and loads of slaw), it's worth mentioning. Especially since the word slaw only has four teensy letters. My friend did a taste test and yep- purple cabbage. For Pete's sake.
I spent a considerable amount of time removing every speck and sliver of cabbage and trying the tuna bun. It was fine. I know why it had a slaw, and am sure I'd have liked it much better had I been able to eat it as intended. But had I known the slaw was a component I wouldn't have ordered it at all.
If I'm in the area and need sustenance, I would definitely get a bowl with that delicious rice. But sadly, I'm not rushing back.