Jade Z.
Yelp
I was shocked to see that a beautifully decorated bar could fit in the storage section in front of the bathrooms at bow market but they pulled it off! At the same time, this limited space means limited food prep capacity and it definitely shows.
The drink menu has cocktails with interesting components but I don't think they come through. I ordered the Rain or Shine bc I was curious about the MSG and torched apple, but received the Whisper of the Heart, which was very girly and pretty but only tasted smoky of mezcal. Our waitress did get me the right drink eventually, but it also was whisky dominated, so what's the purpose of the MSG?! The Daybreak matcha mocktail was the tastiest.
For food, we got the duck confit gyoza, which came with an oddly large bowl of nuoc Cham to dip, but it tasted and looked like water. I appreciated the thin wrapper of the gyoza, the duck inside was savory and I liked how it wasn't ground meat, but there really wasn't anything special about this lukewarm dish. 3/5
The scallop crudo had delightfully tender and flavorful scallops, but all the random accoutrements (~Vermont maple cinnamon nuoc cham, lemon balm paste, peach) felt like afterthoughts. They complemented each other but overpowered the delicate scallops. 3.5/5
The Grilled duck breast and meatball was my favorite but a low bar. It was a bit odd to be served the giant amount of noodles on the side to put into the tiny bowl of broth. The duck breast had good duck flavor and texture, but the meatball was VERY moist and crumbly, almost like a crumbled tofu ball. The broth was delicious, sweet, sour, savory, I wouldn't know how to recreate it, but it "tickles your senses" as they say. 3.5/5
The salmon dish was highly confusing, we thought there'd be two types of salmon: sushi grade raw salmon and caramelized salmon. Turns out it's just a slab of cooked sushi grade salmon, which I'm confused by like why would you cook salmon that's made to be enjoyed raw?! The pandan rice was so plain like microwaveable rice, and served with limp cucumber slices and the spiciest red sauce drizzled over. 2/5
It's a cute vibey intimate spot for drinks I suppose, but not somewhere to go for a satiating meal.