Growing up in Singapore, I was exposed to great food of all cuisines, but especially Asian food (as one might expect). Whether it was Malay, Chinese, Indian or Japanese, I was fortunately exposed to it all. Moving to the U.S. for college meant a lot was going to change — my environment, the culture, the weather and of course the food and restaurants that would surround me.
Luckily, I landed in Boston, one of the best cities (in my opinion) in the country to find pretty decent Asian food, thanks to the diversity of people and students found here. When I'm not eating Xiaolongbao in tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurants or spending too much money on quality sashimi, I'll sometimes turn to fusion restaurants to get my Asian cuisine fix. Fusion restaurants are always a gamble, no matter the cuisine; it's very ambitious of a restaurant to not only create, but also successfully execute the combination of different cuisines' dishes. When done well, it can be highly successful — but done poorly, it can leave a bitter (or worse, ha) taste in customers' mouths. Fusion restaurants are almost always a hit or miss, which makes them an adventure to embark on.
Banyan Bar + Refuge, as described on its website, is "an adventurous, Pan-Asian Gastropub in Boston's South End with Chinese and Southeast Asian Fusion cuisines & creative cocktails." Banyan Bar + Refuge has an array of menus for different times of the day, including dinner, late night, cocktails and brunch menus.
Banyan Bar + Refuge opened July of 2015, just a year and a half ago and has gotten lots of attention for its innovative cocktails and adventurous dishes since. Intrigued, I decided to go for dinner a few months ago when my dad was in town, and was pleasantly surprised by the quality and execution of such unique dishes. We ordered dishes like the "Roasted Cauliflower Dumplings" served with toasted coconut sauce, yellow curry raisin compote and pepitas, as well as the "Salmon Poke Bowl" served with pickled onions, sorrel, soy cucumbers, plum hot sauce and furikake. I was impressed with the creativity of the dishes and have found it to be one of the more memorable meals I've had in this city. More recently, it came to my attention that Banyan Bar + Refuge had come out with a brunch menu — I had to go.
Before diving into the brunch itself, I think it’s important to address Banyan Bar + Refuge's ambiance — it’s gorgeous. It was dark the only other time I had been there, but the daytime light produced a completely different experience. It’s good to note though that Banyan Bar + Refuge is stunning at all times of the day. In the nighttime, the bar-restaurant is an incredible place to be on a Saturday night with friends. I’m not 21 years old yet, but I already anticipate going to Banyan Bar + Refuge once I am and look forward to sitting at the elaborately designed bar, sipping on one of their cocktails like the "Painkiller (On Tap)" made of 5 spice infused rum, pineapple, orange and coconut foam. The restaurant is located in the South End in a high-ceiling, exposed-brick-wall space with massive windows. I would guess that previously it was a beautiful warehouse-seeming space that someone saw extreme potential in (and boy, were they right). The décor and accents lean toward modern-contemporary, with a delicate touch of intricacies that make the space distinctive. For instance, there are branches that drape from essentially the entire ceiling which give the whole restaurant a whimsical feel. In the nighttime, the restaurant is just the right amount of dimly-lit, making it an ideal spot for a date or a fun night out with friends. Contrastingly, in the daytime there’s a wonderful abundance of light thanks to all of the windows in the space – it was a joy starting my day is such a lit up space. Not to mention, they still had hot pink and gold Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling for Chinese New Year, which I was a fan of.
Clearly I care about the ambiance of a restaurant, but let’s get down to what really matters– the food. Like I mentioned earlier, Banyan Bar + Refuge brands itself as an Asian-fusion restaurant, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on their brunch menu and see what they had come up with. Upon looking at the menu, I was quickly overwhelmed with the odd yet enticing-sounding dishes – the “Hash Brown” (served with garam masala, citrus yogurt and spicy tamarind ketchup), the “Smothered Breakfast Burrito” (with beef short rib + egg fried rice, gochujang salsa roja and mozzarella cheese) and the “Ginger Yogurt Parfait” (with granola, candied squash and mint). I’m not going to lie, I was simultaneously super excited and quite skeptical…It’s not something I’m necessarily proud to admit, but being exposed to authentic Asian food my entire life, I can be a bit of a snob and often am fearful for restaurants that attempt ambitious Asian-inspired dishes. Nevertheless, I was excited to see how Banyan Bar + Refuge would do (after taking 20 minutes to figure my order out, of course.)
My friend and I ended up ordering three things on the menu: the “Kimchi Grilled Cheese,” “Blackbird Benedict” and the “Stuffed French Toast.” Here’s how it all went:
First up, the “Kimchi Grilled Cheese”– a twist on your regular grilled cheese, filled with kale and napa cabbage kimchi, apple, smoked mozzarella and togarashi potato chips. This was exactly what I wanted it to be and more; the bread was fantastic — it reminded me of a cross between fluffy Texas toast and brioche — it was so fluffy and perfectly toasted. Between the slices of bread, the kimchi wasn't as spicy as it could've been (probably to make it more palatable for those who can't handle much spice) and the apple and cabbage added a fantastic, unexpected crunch and texture. I'm not a chip person, but these were tasty – I appreciated the thoughtfulness of seasoning them with togarashi instead of serving regular chips. This dish made for a sweeter, crispier and definitely more unique version of grilled cheese I've had in my lifetime.
Look at all those layers^^
Next, the “Blackbird Benedict” – Banyan’s take on Eggs Benedict — poached egg, Blackbird doughnut, Char siu ham, hollandaise. This was easily the dish that I was most excited as well as most skeptical about and the dish that actually drove me to go to Banyan Bar + Refuge for brunch. Eggs Benedict, on a doughnut? And Char siu? I didn't know what to expect. I don’t eat meat very often now, but grew up eating lots of Char siu pork… It’s quite a specific way to flavor and prepare barbecued pork, and I'd guess it could be hard to perfect in a setting where it’s not found in most restaurants (AKA Boston). The dish arrived and my friend and I looked at each with eager eyes; this is what we came for. First bite in, and I was immediately hit with the sweet, intense flavor of Char siu. I was really impressed by how spot-on Banyan’s Char siu was and how well it went with the hollandaise and egg. Surprisingly, I couldn't really taste the doughnut or any of its sweetness unless I really focused on doing so, but I think that’s a good thing – if the doughnut flavor had been recognizable, the dish might've consisted of too many rich ingredients. If anything, the use of the doughnut served as a unique deviation from the English muffin. Surprisingly, the salad on the side (while not looking particularly notable) was well-dressed with citrus flavors and ideally salted. It served as the perfect refreshing and crispy companion to the dense and indulgent Benedict setup.
What would the point of ordering Eggs Benedict be without some #yolkporn?
Lastly, but in no way least, the “Stuffed French Toast” (with roasted apple + cream cheese, panko crust and miso butterscotch). At first, this struck me as the least Asian-fusion-esque and the least unique of the three dishes we ordered. I was mistaken; the panko crust approach to this French toast created a highly memorable dish, making each bite begin with a wonderful crunch, followed by the moist, decadent filling. The French toast sat in a thick miso butterscotch syrup-sauce, which fascinated me. Miso, traditionally a savory Japanese paste made of fermented soybeans, was excellently combined with a rich butterscotch sauce to form a dense, indulgent "syrup" for the delicate French toast.
This was probably the heaviest dish, but in my opinion the best (note: I have a major sweet tooth). I’m normally not a fan of cream cheese with anything but bagels, especially not in sweet contexts, but this dish was a rare exception; the cream cheese was perfectly infused with the roasted, sweet apples inside the toast, which created an excellent taste and texture. I would come back for this dish alone.
Overall, Banyan Bar + Refuge's brunch offering exceeded my expectations and has me salivating just thinking about my next visit. It's important to note though, that if you are craving a plain-vanilla, traditional brunch of eggs and home fries or blueberry pancakes, this brunch menu is not that (which is why it's so great, in my opinion). If you make the great decision to go to Banyan Bar + Refuge for brunch, expect the unexpected and go in with adventurous tastebuds. I went in both skeptical and excited and left impressed and full, with my never-ending need for Asian food satiated.