Wasn't the best. I am from California and am very familiar with authentic Asian cuisine. This is a mix of many cultures and neither hit the the spot. The crab ragoons were a bit salty. The lychee martini was good, I ordered two. The ribs were also good forgot to snap a picture. Would not recommend the rice, almost made me want to throw up. read more

Boku Kitchen + Saloon - Lychee Martini - Pan Asian Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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Boku was recommended to us by a good friend of ours who is a bartender. She always gives us great recommendations so we didn't hesitate when she told us we had to check this place out! We had a eventful foodie day so we mainly just stopped in the have a couple of cocktails and a small bite. I ordered the berry domaine and my husband ordered The 88. We appreciated the drinks very much! We love a good complex drink so I'd undoubtedly give them a 5 star review on that alone. However some of the dishes that we chose just didn't hit the spot for us. Let's start with the good! The pork potstickers were great, no complaints. However we actually went to Publico (same owner) earlier that day and had such amazing ribs so we decided to compare and contrast. We ordered the Hong Kong ribs, while the flavor was great the texture just wasn't there for us. In their defense this was solely based on comparison to the ribs we had at the previous restaurant. We also ordered the tempura baby corn, I was not impressed by taste but quantity wise they certainly didn't skimp! I will certainly return to explore the menu more! This time I'll come with an appetite. read more

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This place is AMAZING! Absolutely no complaints but more than that I can not say enough great things. The atmosphere is fun and inviting, the staff is beyond 5 star service( shout out to reveca, who even tried to get the recipe for one of the dishes for us) and the food is some of the best I've had in years! We ordered the Char Siu Pork Bao Buns, Pho Noodles, and Spicy Noodles. All of our dishes were presented beautifully while being cooked and seasoned perfectly. We will 100% be back. I've seen photos online in reviews of past customers experience with the spicy noodles it looks as though Boku has evolved and improved since your visit and I highly recommend you come back and give them another try because I don't think I can live without them now! Additionally, their mixologist has curated a fantastic line up of intriguing and stunning cocktails that look as good as they taste. read more

I loved this place. Great appetizers and our waiter was the nicest person ever. Food came really fast, and they were rather large portions. Loved it! read more

Terrible service. Harassed my 21 year old daughter. Manager was extremely rude and unprofessional.

Boku is 10/10 for Happy hour - $5 apps were on point, both the potstickers and wontons came out hot and fast. Also the bartender, Hannah, was super knowledgeable and such a good time. Will definitely be back again read more

The food and cocktails were amazing!! Nakiya did an amazing job! Very sweet and knowledgeable about cocktail and how they are made!

Bar is always great! Bria has excellent customer service, along with Ray and Angel from previous visits. Food is hit or miss for me.

Delicious and authentic! Awesome service. Tried this out after loving Publico. Great location on Gervais Street stopped in after shopping at Urban Outfitters. read more

Giving one star out for the benefit of the doubt. We made a reservation well ahead of time and the only thing that was relatively good was the service. Food was dry, chewy, and use your imagination to describe the rest. Drinks; that's a game on its own. Not only did drinks take over an hour to arrive to the table, but the drinks we actually received was the third round of drinks we ordered. Round one got lost in "broken glass". Never got the additional rounds we ordered. For our inconvenience, drinks were comped; too bad we never actually got drinks. 10/10 would recommend if you are ready for a shot experience and a long wait. read more

Liz Brooks was amazing! Delicious Asian fusion food with yummy desserts! I'll be back.

Liz was the best server ever. We had a big group and chaotic order. She got everything perfect and was so kind. Great food and amazing people. read more

The food was fresh and delicious! Our waitress Sarah was so friendly and professional and took great care of us! We will definitely be back!

Terrible food on Monday afternoon. Leftover from the weekend and nasty. Totally disappointed by this experience, we sent food back once and should have done it twice. I will never ever be back there. The Summer Rolls were old and falling apart, rice wrapping was brown and defied being picked up without spilling its contents. Ugh. Just don't go. read more

Very nice place. Great for date night or dinner with friends. A good menu selection. The food was good, not outstanding but good. Our server was great. read more

We walked by Boku on the way to another restaurant and the colorful mural on the wall and dining room atmosphere caught our attention. The Thai Mule (made with saki) was recommended by our server and she was right- it was spot on. We also enjoyed Bao Buns, Potstickers, Crab Rangoon and my husband's favorite Hong Kong Ribs. The food was fresh and delicious! If you are looking for a fun atmosphere, great service and delicious food in the Vista, try Boku. read more

This place has a great atmosphere and okay servers but the food is really ass unfortunately.

The service, atmosphere and food are usually AMAZING. On an average night this place is 5/5. However, AVOID THIS PLACE DURING THE SUMMER. Since USC is on break, this place is desperate for business so there is a live dj playing entirely too loud. Everyone, including the staff, has to yell to even hear your order. The menu is dramatically restricted also. Normally, on a Saturday night you can still expect to eat some of your favorite ramen bowls. Tonight, the options are limited to two ramen options and appetizers. It's understandable that the menu should change a bit to reflect the lack of business during these months, but all they have managed to do is effectively ruin the unique atmosphere that has brought me, my family and guests here time and time again. Service is severely handicapped as well as the wait time is dramatically longer than other Saturday nights where we have visited, and now we are told that we don't even have one of the two ramen options they initially limited us to. I would love to try this place again but apparently the only way to get decent food, service and access to the actual full menu. Tonight was very unfortunate for everyone involved. read more

Half Decent food. Very heavy. Very fried oriented. The fried rice was mid tier and nothing special. Tasty Rangoon.

Boku is definitely an amazing restaurant for Asian cuisine. The food, the drinks, the atmosphere..... impeccable. The cherry on top of it all was the server, though. Kayla did an outstanding job with her explanations of drinks (especially the lychee martini), our starters (pork bao buns and vietnamese spring rolls), and entree (black tea marinated fish). We also ordered a sake bomb, and she was gracious to show us how to set it up and take it down. Thank you Boku and Kayla for an amazing experience! read more

You will love this place. Great server who took care of us. The food is fantastic.

First time dining here. Pan Asian selections. My daughter and I had a hard time deciding as it all sounded and looked good! Food was excellent and wait staff was wonderful! Shout out to our server, Kordell, who was attentive, had great suggestions and was just all around outstanding! Will definitely dine here again and try something new to enjoy! read more

My Husband and I don't eat meat. We came here for the Vegetarian Noodle Ramen. They cook the Vegetarian Ramen in CHICKEN broth. If it's cooked in Chicken broth it's not vegetarian!! Not Vegetarian or Vegan friendly. read more

The food is genuinely bad and does not correspond to the prices. At least the atmosphere is nice.

Been intrigued by the bright green building for a few months and went to try it with friends this Sunday. We were all very pleased with our experience. Cute atmosphere, good cocktails, and great food. Will be back soon for sure! read more

Service and drinks were amazing, the food was completely awful though. All the dishes could use more flavor and be properly cooked. Pho noodles were undercooked and broth had no flavor whatsoever. General Bob's texture of the chicken and flavor was also inedible. Has potential but must fix food. read more

The Brussels and Ribs were awesome! Our server, Reveca was so helpful and made my first visit the best one. I will be back and ask for her! The Roku Sling was tasty!!! read more

So this new Asian restaurant has some awesome ambience for starters. It is so cute inside and feels kind of upscale. We started off with some cocktails which were really good (the waiter later told us one of bourbons previous bar tenders helped develop them). After we were seated our waiter promptly got to our table and was awesome recommending things and just being great in general! On to the food-this place gets three stars simply because I feel like maybe the kitchen needs maybe a little more time to get things right. We got a sweet and sour soup that was not good (it had an off putting aroma) and sweet and sour chicken that was more sour then sweet. Maybe don't get anything sweet and sour? I also tried their poke bowl which was pretty good and I tried their spicy pork noodles which were super spicy but had a good flavor. So I guess if you go here-definitely stick with the noodle dishes for now. read more

Their service is declining at a rapid pace!! We ordered a takeout order around 11:50AM and was told it would be ready at 12:10. Showed up at 12:15, it wasn't ready and was told 2 minutes. 20 minutes later it still wasn't ready. I left and came back finally at 12:50 I got the order AND IT WAS INCORRECT. I ate it but it wasn't what I order. It was OK but not great. The restaurant was not busy and their seemed to be plenty of staff. It's probably just apathy and laziness because there was obviously no sense of urgency. I use to love this place but they are back sliding at this point you can get better service from your cable company.. lol read more

Very excited to see what the future holds for this place! Their drinks are INCREDIBLE! My one comment is that my second drink was not as full (about 1/2) as my previous but hopefully was just a one-time thing. We got the dumplings and the sweet and sour chicken. Atmosphere is really cool, great for just drinks or dinner. read more

The service was very slow. We waited an hour before we even got our appetizers, quickly followed by our entrees. The food was somehow both overcooked and undercooked simultaneously. The beef was burnt to a crisp in some places and almost entirely raw in others. The pork was raw and cold, while the noodles were so overcooked they were falling apart. The seating area is also very cramped and unpleasant. All said and done, We spent about 2 and a half hours waiting for very bad food. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. read more

I honestly had so much hope in their restaurant. Food was terrible and the hot and sour soup honestly looked like dark clam chowder... it was thick and smelled absolutely putrid. We had to tell the waitress to bring it back. I'm not entirely sure what kind of Asian food it was but that was NOT for me. Most of the foods we ordered (honey chicken, spicy noodles, garlic noodles, and char sui noodles) were inedible. read more

Had a great time while we were in town for the evening, DJ is a great bartender and put us on to our first sake bombs. Had the edamame, gyoza, bao buns, and crab rangoon, recommend all of them. Upscale and casual at the same time, will definitely go back and glad we stopped in for dinner and drinks! read more

Went to Boku during Vista Lights & it was wonderful! Recommended to me from an Employee, Hunter. Really enjoyed the pot stickers & spicy noodles! read more

This restaurant/bar recently opened and has a lot to offer. The atmosphere was lively and the meal (poke salad) was great. They had a well stocked bar and a good variety of draft beers. The bartenders (Brynne and Angel) were exceptional as my glass was never empty. I highly recommend checking this place out. I'll definitely be returning. read more

Everything was so delicious and the cocktails were amazing! Reveca was an amazing server and was so helpful in suggesting menu items! I can't wait to visit again!! read more

Service was okay but the food was terrible had the garlic noodles and had way to much garlic to the point it was unbeatable and the plates were just way to expensive for what they were never going back there again read more

Food is always fresh and delicious! The design of the bar is unique and very welcoming to guest who just walk in. The drinks are amazing and always very fresh tasting compared to places that will use a lot of mixers or artificial flavoring. I recommend this restaurant to all my friends. read more

Brunch was excellent. We ordered almost everything on the Dim Sum brunch menu and it was stellar. Chloe F. Was our server and did an excellent job as well. We will be coming back often. read more

i came with a group of 7 girls ready to drink and eat and spend a lot of money. we're all 22 years old, but we got denied service. we asked the manager how they determined that the IDs are fake and he said they have a scanner. we told them their scanner is broken because we are literally all 22, then he admitted they just "look" fake. on top of that, they were out of so many menu items that we wanted. we tried to order 3 different items off the menu that were out, and one they didn't even offer anymore. we ended up waking out- their loss in sales read more