Sao

My wife and I had an incredible experience at Sao last night. From the moment we sat down, our server, Demetri, was fantastic. He was extremely knowledgeable, answered all of our questions, and guided us through the menu so we could put together a great meal. The food was absolutely outstanding. We ordered several seafood and steak dishes, and every plate was delicious. We also loved our desserts. We can't wait to come back.

My boyfriend and I decided to do a walk-in around roughly 5pm and the anticipated wait time was 4 hours… needless to say we waited 4 hours to try one of the BEST meals I’ve had in a while! I’m a big fan of MAWN but SAO blew me away. The sweetness of the oysters, the freshness of the seafood, and the ambience?? Phewww! The chirashi bowl was the star of our night. That’s not to say all the other dishes we tried had didn’t have me drooling mid-bite. Now, I’m not one to ever write reviews, but SAO deserves to be glazed. I would definitely go back here and order again, and again. I’m actually looking at pictures and reminiscing about the meal I just had. That’s all. If you’re ever in Philly, I would try to walk in and snag a table.

So impressed with Sao! One of the best dining experiences I’ve had in a while, and we love to try new restaurants. Innovative, flavorful, surprising and delightful! Dmitri was wonderful, friendly and attentive, giving us great recommendations. Everything was delicious, so flavorful: fresh oysters, specialty beef skewers, soft shell shrimp, and the hoe cake (topped with trout salad and roe). The hoe cake - now I get why this is such a hit here - the combination of sweet, buttery cornbread-cake, savory and creamy trout salad, and crunchy roe balanced each other perfectly and exceeded my expectations. The little neck clams were a bit salty for my taste, but everything else was so good I look forward to coming back to try more dishes. Recommendations: lower the salt level on clams and add ve

On top of amazing food, we also got to dine with freaking JASON KELCE two tables away from us!!! If he’s also eating at Sao, you know it’s good. Here’s what to definitely order: - Hamachi Crudo - Dayboat Scallop Crudo - Head on Soft Shell Shrimp - Garlic Fried Chicken - Hoe Cake (ask for this to come out towards the end as it’s half sweet/can sub for dessert basically) - Scallops in Crab Gravy (similar to Khao Soi sauce at Mawn) We thought the chicken cutlet was on the dry side. Needed the fish sauce caramel on the side at least for dipping.

fantastic meal. The soft shell shrimp was perfect and similar to the ones at Mawn. Scallop crudo was seasoned very well. Hoe cake was amazing — it’s like a hot buttery, sweet cornbread top with crab salad and roll. The combination just made it very fantastic. Scallop with crab gravy was served on rice on a bowel. The over all dish was slightly salty but the scallops are taste. Pumpkin spice woopy pie was not too sweet and very well executed. We thought overall it was better than what we had at Mawn and Kalaya. Will try to come back.