Bamboo on 2nd

Atmosphere: Really nice. I can definitely see why people keep bringing up NYC in their reviews, although as a former New Yorker, I have to say nothing is quite like home: P Still, I appreciate the hip vibe and the modern furniture and dishes. Bamboo manages to be cool without coming off as too austere or sacrificing cozy.
Service: Good. We had a young woman serve our party of 7, and she was very nice. We were seated immediately– we arrived around 5:30 on a weekday. Pro tip: go early if you don’t want to wait!
Food: Quite good, but not wonderful. I tried their Pork Belly ramen. For 16 dollars I thought it was a bit overpriced, but it is worth a try if you’ve 1) never had ramen or 2) if you’ve been ramen-​deprived in Birmingham these past few ______(months, years, weeks? Insert appropriate term here). The pork belly was delicious, but the ramen was sadly overcooked. That being said, the broth was decent and the serving size was just enough to fill me up (I was quite hungry that night).
I hope to be back to try the sushi, the Momo, and maybe some Ono Ice come summertime. I always love coming to 2^nd Ave N, and Bamboo is definitely a great dinner option if you’re ever in the area.

I’m not a sushi snob so reader beware. Compared to the other places I eat sushi this was far and away the best. The quality of the ingredients used is where the difference is. Great food. Cool atmosphere on 2^nd avenue. Get there early though because it’s not a big restaurant.

One of the gems on 2^nd Ave. North in Birmingham, Alabama. I’ve been here several times and each time — it just gets better! The service — ALWAYS a friendly and engaging experience. The menu is solid — the rolls are amazing but my favorites are the ramen noodles! There is a current special on the menu — miso ramen — beautifully light and balanced miso with your choice of proteins. I had the soft boiled egg with sprouts — amazing! If you’re looking forward to a little Asian fusion with a kiss of true southern hospitality — check out Bamboo on 2^nd — you won’t be disappointed. (it can get busy so be prepared for a short wait with a beverage — they have a full service bar and make the best martinis too — it’s worth the wait ;)

If you’re looking for authentic Japanese this isn’t it, but it’s still a great restaurant/​bar with an approachable and reasonable menu. Try the pork belly ramen bowl and some hot sake on a cold night. It’s like a snuggie for the senses. The space overall feels like something I’d find in Philadelphia or DC — trendy, dimly lit and definitely a good place for a date.
Is Godzilla still playing on an endless loop at the bar?

Went here on my birthday with my family. Only a 5 person group, and they seated us with another family all at one table. That made my meal feel less special because we were weirded out. The other family kept asking us about our meal when all we wanted was to spend time together. The waitress seemed confused because of the seating arrangement as well, and all of our entrees came out at different times. The sushi and skewers of pork belly were great and they have a great selection of sake. However, I wish they would value the customers’ comfort and experience over the modern aesthetic of the décor. 5 of us shared 3 rolls of sushi, one bottle of sake, three beers, one order of pork belly skewers, two ramen bowls, and a bahn mi sandwich for around 200 bucks.

My wife and I have been wanting to check this place out for awhile and finally had a chance. I’m all about great service and that’s just what we got! We went with another couple and had a blast. Tried several different sushi rolls and all were great along with a noodle bowl that my wife had. Our server suggested a cold Rose saki that was so good we ordered another bottle. We will most certainly go back but I will also add one last thing. Be prepared to drop some $$$ on your meal. We all were shocked when we got our checks. If I hadn’t of been for such good service my review would be considerably different. This won’t be a regular stop for us but we will go back.

I was really excited to try this place because a lot of people have been raving about it. We expected there to be a long wait the night we went and were okay with that. We were told it would be about an hour for 9 people (we had to wait for the 1 community table because they said they could not push together tables in the back) but the wait was really about 30 – 45 minutes.
Unfortunately for us, there was no room at the bar to order a drink. We were told not to even try and to do so and instead try to go to any of neighboring restaurants while we were waiting for a table. It was a Monday night so El Barrio, Collins Bar, and Paramount were closed. Unfortunately the hostess told us they would be open. Instead, we spent some time at Pale Eddys and then hung out in the corner of the restaurant. Three quarters of our group was there when some open seats opened up at the community table so the hostess was nice enough to seat the party that was already there. It worked out nicely that as people were leaving next to us the rest of our party arrived.
Our waiter had good intentions and a nice demeanor but he was INCREDIBLY pushy. He very much so reminded us of a used car salesman. When I say pushy I mean he really wanted everyone to order MULTIPLE drinks, appetizers, entrees AND desserts. At one point he tried to guilt us in to ordering more than what we wanted by telling us the kitchen was going to close (it was 7:30PM and they didn’t close until 10PM). He also paused after each person ordered and tried to convince everyone to order more. It was an incredibly uncomfortable and awkward experience for us. Between 9 people, we each got at least one drink and ordered 3 appetizers, almost 2 sushi rolls each, a few sandwiches and skewers and one dessert for the birthday girl. This was ample for us without having to be guilted in to ordering more.
As for the menu… I don’t like cucumber in sushi and a majority of the rolls have cucumber in them (I think there were only 2 – 3 that did not). I ordered the beer battered roll and tried some of the Wham Bam roll as well. It wasn’t the best sushi experience I have ever had but it was adequate. The fry on the roll was a little too thick for me. Unfortunately because it took a very long time for our rolls to come out the temp/​texture on the roll was very strange. I also ordered the Vegetable Bahn Mi because I was very excited that Bamboo on 2^nd is the only place in Birmingham with a vegetable Bahn Mi. My favorite thing about Bahn Mi is the crispy bread, pickled veggies, and spicy sauce. Unfortunately for me, I got none of the three with the sandwich. The bread was more chewy than crispy, the pickled carrots were sparse and the only pickled vegetable on the sandwich and the mushrooms were cooked very well but they were more vinegary than anything. It was a weird texture and set of flavors. Sriracha couldn’t fix this sandwich for me. I did not end up finish the sandwich unfortunately.
Negatives: I really really wanted to like this place but between the pushy service and average food I did not completely enjoy my experience. Positives: The prices are pretty reasonable and the wait time is manageable.

Best new spot in Birmingham, AL

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome.
Set-​up:
Super cool place. The dim lighting made it perfect for date night. The layout reminded me of a rectangular box… plenty of seating along the side and looked like quite a few spots at the bar. I sat in front, right by the window. I felt like I was front seat at the aquarium watching all the people walk by on the street.
Food:
Pretty damn good. We grabbed a couple of items: The Ramen bowl with chicken (Excellent– felt very authentic. Wasn’t very spicy though), Grilled edamame (Really good), and the spicy Salmon roll (Nothing special. Good sushi, but nothing spectacular)
Service:
Really great. Although I do believe it was her first night working, the young lady who took care of us was really sweet and polite.
WOULD I BRING MY MOTHER HERE:
Uhm, I think this spot is better for date night. Didn’t seem like the best place to bring a family of 6+ or more. However, there were a couple of large seating areas towards the front of the store. I would think that if you are bringing the family, you should expect a slight waiting time (There was a family/​party of 8 who waited almost an hour before they were seated and the restaurant was not very busy this particular night).
Overall, this is a great spot in Birmingham. Very Hipster, modern, trendy, romantic, new, fun, «west-​coast-​ish» vibe from this place. I will be coming back here!

Was in town to watch a show at Alabama Theater and Unilocaled to find a good place to get dinner. The first place we went to had a 45 minute wait so we came out. Saw a place across the road and checked on Unilocal.Bamboo on the 2^nd had good reviews so decided to give it a try.
It was crowded and the only place we got (a party of 3) was at the counter. The menu arrived quickly and the server took our drinks order and came back promptly.
The restaurant serves Asian Fusion food with a heavy Nepalese influence. Nepal is tucked in the Himalayas between China and India. So the cuisine is neither Chinese nor Indian and hence unique.
They serve an assortment of small plates, salads, sandwiches and even Sushi.
I ordered Bangkok Chicken from the side plates followed by Lemongrass Honey Sriracha Chicken Skewers. The Bangkok Chicken had a very unique flavor and I will recommend this to everyone. You just cannot go wrong with this. The Chicken Skewers were good and cooked well and came with nice hot and sweet Honey Sriracha dipping sauce.
My wife ordered Momo’s, which are dumplings but these were served in a bowl with a little broth called «Thupka». Not much but just to get the Momo’s bathe in it. This was followed by KFC «Kathmandu Fried Chicken», small chicken drums battered and fried. The batter had unique spices including ginger.
My daughter ordered Pork Belly Sandwich and was not too happy with it. It was over salted.
The place had a good vibe to it. However 3 hosts to great you did seemed going overboard! :-)

The atmosphere is very lovely. It’s not Japanese at all but it still makes for a great dining experience. It’s loud enough that it feels casual but fancy enough that going in just jeans and a t-​shirt would give you a few looks.
Don’t get the supreme crunch roll. It’s like a philadelphia roll but only cream cheese. There is so much cream cheese in each roll that they probably put an entire container of Panera cream cheese in this to make it hold.
The salmon skewers were amazing. There were three sticks of large salmon chunks that vanished as soon as they were served.
The drunk boba was good. I’m not sure why milk tea places in California haven’t caught on yet. The boba had vodka in there somewhere but the sugar smoothie taste covered it up. The hot sake was even better.
When it’s your birthday, they bring out a lighted candle stuck onto a pile of wasabi. I didn’t know whether or not to laugh or cry at how the wasabi was utilized.

Walking in you have the ambiance that you left Birmingham and you are somewhere in New York City.
You have the nice but slightly entitled host and hostesses. This is not a bad thing in my opinion it just adds to the ambiance of being in New York.
They do have a great option of calling your cell when your table is ready so you can go enjoy drinks at their bar or walk down the street about a block and enjoy several others waiting out your long seat time.
Food: The food I have tried over several trips has been delicious and well prepared. I highly recommend the Korean bbq chicken kabobs! The meet is moist and well seasoned. As for other dishes the tuna tar tar has been moderately high quality. Saying that, I am very picky on my tuna quality so do not take that as a negative comment. As my dinner guest have expressed the sushi was tasty as well.
Drinks: They do seem to have an experienced mixologist behind the bar as they have churned out some delicious drinks with great variety.
Price: Reasonable for quality and ambiance9. No more than an average low grade sushi restaurant in price just with better quality food.
Sorry for the long review, I hope it was worth it!

Bamboo is a combination of fantastic food and a vibe that you’re in NYC or Chicago.
The atmosphere is chic and the food (and I have had almost everything there) is some of the best. I recommend the KFC, the dumplings, any of the skewers and ramen.
The drinks are great too. The bar is first come, so I try sitting there for dinner especially when a good game is on tv.

After having sampled some of the chefs menu fare over at Blue Monkey, my boyfriend was ecstatic when he moved on and opened his own place. Apparently… so was the rest of downtown Birmingham.
Despite only being open for few months, Bamboo on 2^nd already has a good enough reputation to pull in the crowds on weekend and week nights the same. We visited on a rainy Saturday evening, and although I anticipated an hour or more wait, we were seated in about 20 minutes!
*If you do wind up with a long wait here, don’t give up! Instead, put your name down and then head across the street to Collins bar for pre-​dinner drinks and or games. They’ll call you when your table is ready and give you about a 5 minute time window to make it back.
AMBIENCE:
Chic and modern, with a warm combination of bamboo accent and white laminate. There is music playing, but not loud enough to hinder conversation, and there are a few TV’s up behind the bar, but not on every wall surface, so you can still function and converse without being sucked into TV distraction.
PRICES:
You’re looking at between $ 10-​$ 15 for a sushi roll.
Entrees (ramen, etc.) will set you back $ 9-​$ 18.
Appetizers are between $ 8-​$ 16.
Drinks are the usual, about $ 10 cocktails.
FOOD:
Albeit not the most affordable sushi place around, the flavor and recipe creativity is worth the high ticket. After much debate, we split the Spicy Ceasar Salad, The Godzilla Roll and The Wham Bam Birmingham Roll.
+Spicy Ceasar Salad ($ 8) — fantastic flavor! Although not «spicy» per se, there was a punch of taste in the dressing. Topped with crunchy strips (wonton?) and grated carrot, the texture was enjoyable as well. I would go back just for this salad!
+The Wham Bam Birmingham Roll ($ 12) — tempura had a strange flavor that took a couple bites to get used to, but the presentation and flavor combination (other than the tempura) was rockin’! Worth a try!
+The Godzilla Roll ($ 15) — when they warn you that the sauce on top is spicy, they mean SPICY! We thought we could handle it, but unfortunately, it’s not one of those spicy flavorful sauces… it’s one of those «spicy just for the sake of spicy» sauces. I don’t think it added anything to the roll and so we just scraped it off. The roll, sans sauce, was fine, but nothing special. I don’t recommend it.
My date has sampled the ramen in the past and said it was fantastic, along with the salmon roll.
Overall, a fabulous date experience.
I would NOT bring big groups here. The atmosphere is not set up for it and I really think it would be more hassle than an enjoyable experience.

Five stars for something that doesn’t happen often… I ordered a certain sakè the waitress recommended, didn’t like it, and she replaced it with my original request for no charge. Awesome.
We were headed out of Swan Lake at the Alabama Theater with thoughts of sushi since we had wine for dinner at the ballet (sorry, not sorry). Four blocks later and we found Bamboo to be hoppin’…were told a 30min wait but were seated in 5 due to vacancy at the high top seating in front left. Were given ample time to decide (not rushed), received reco’s from the waitress, had the pork belly skewer, some sakè, ordered 2 rolls per and ate it all! Little pricey for a sushi dinner, but then Americans should probably just eat less lol
We’ll be back here before ya know it

Ate at the bar. Stephen waited on us and did a great job. The Raman with porkbelly was his recommendation and it was fantastic! Thanks to my friend Tomas for insisting we go here. Definitely a fun, unique place for Birmingham. It feels like an LA restaurant. One of the owners Bernie and the chef Abisheik came by and checked on us each a couple of times each and really made everyone feel welcome and important.

What a great addition to downtown Birmingham! Finally fresh sushi I can brag about to my friends on the West Coast. This is a fusion spot where one can find great Asian cuisine and even a few dishes from the Pacific Islands.
Not featured on the menu but they will make rolls rice free and cucumber wrapped. I hope they offer brown rice option soon.
Really good appetizers and the service was good. Wait time for food was a bit long but overall a great spot.
Tip: Take advantage of their call ahead seating option.

Momos = yum!
Bahn Mi = pretty good
Ramen bowl = delicious
Sushi = perfect
Great prices too.
Really busy so go early or late if you don’t want a long wait.
Needs some sort of dessert to round out the meal but other than that, it’s wonderful. GO!

Finally an asian restaurant in Bham that executes all of their food well.
Ambience/​Service: We came at the end of the 1^st week of opening and service was quick and appeared efficient. We were greeted and asked if we wanted a bar seat, sushi bar seat or table, to which we said any was fine. We got seated at the sushi bar which was pretty fun. There are angled mirrors so that you can watch the sushi chefs making their food. Service was attentive with all aspects of the meal.
Food (I’m vegetarian): Since me and my friends have gone to Everest Sushi many times, we knew the sushi was going to be good. What has never been on either menu is the veggie roll. It has cucumber, avocado, and (the secret ingredient) fried yuca. Pretty delicious. I opted to try the Thukpa, a presumably Tibetan or Nepalese vegetarian noodle soup dish. It was great. The broth was a bit under-​seasoned at first but as you kept eating, the flavor seemed to expand. It has wood-​ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, carrot strings, silken tofu cubes and I think rice noodles similar to what you’d get in phở. I feel like ramen noodles would have gone well in this too. They also have a vegetarian bahn mi (Vietnamese) which is also well-​executed. The bread is a good balance of crunch and soft and the pickled veggies are spot on. Three different dishes from three different asian countries, all of which are well-​executed. This is how a good pan-​asian restaurant should be designed.
Overall: I said it at Everest and I’ll say it here. Abhi’s exactly the kind of chef/​owner I would want to support. He works hard, puts out great food, and clearly takes pride in every dish he puts out.

We went on the 3^rd night that they were open. So I am cutting some slack and giving the four stars. The ambiance of this place is awesome! It is very modern, wide open, and has a cool vibe to it. The one thing I didn’t like were how close the table were to each other. A majority of the tables are two tops with a booth bench along the wall. And chairs on the other side. It was very hard to have a conversation without hearing two other conversations going on. But that space would open up if you had a bigger group than just 2.
The service was incredibly slow. Once again, 3^rd night of business, so that is excusable. But a 15 minute wait before anyone even came to our table was pretty ridiculous. They also don’t have their liquor license yet. And apparently we did not get the memo that you could brown bag your own. So if you plan on going before they get their license, keep that in mind.
We started with the Filipino Egg Rolls. I was a much bigger fan than my wife. But I will agree that it could be better with some meat other than turkey (ground pork would have been the bomb). But the sauce that came with it was incredible! We even dipped the lettuce underneath the rolls in the sauce to enjoy. We also got the pork belly adobo skewers. I thought they were pretty tasty, but I have honestly had better pork belly. Then we got a couple of rolls. The Fire and Wham Bam Birmingham. They were both tasty and well made. But we would try different ones next time.
Overall, this is a cool new restaurant on the happening area of 2^nd Avenue North. We will definitely be going back and trying this vast array of a menu. I am on board to try the ramen next!