Bossam Bar

Bossam Bar has been replaced with some restaurant called ‘Oriental Fusion Grill!’
I got their menu through my mail slot this morning — the limited menu sells sushi and hibachi. I have no idea what their food is like, but I am really sorry to see Bossam Bar go. Their menu was unique — cheap, healthy, and tasty.

Big fan of this hidden gem on Jeweler’s Row as a weekday lunch option.
They have plenty of inexpensive and healthy menu items (the rice bowls in particular– they start at $ 4.95), and you can easily eat in without exceeding your lunch hour. As a patron of the Tampopo that used to occupy this location, I was happy to see that Bossam also offers sushi, so I can still get my sushi fix if I’m in the mood.
This is a tough spot for a restaurant — very little foot traffic on that block of Sansom except those buying or selling jewelry, and the entire area is pretty dead after 6:00. I assume that’s why Tampopo closed up shop. Here’s hoping Bossam Bar can get by on word of mouth!

The food is still pretty good, but when I went yesterday, the service was off-​putting. The woman at the front counter was wearing hospital scrubs (in a restaurant. really?) and was eating her lunch while she was taking my order. Mouth full, licking her fingers, then handling my money and someone else’s food order. Gross.

I really like this place. It’s good and great for just something quick! I only gave it four because sometimes the menu is hard to decipher.

Was looking for a place that was open around 4pm for a late lunch and Unilocal came to the rescue. I was sold at Korean Taco.
Arrived around 5pm and the place was pretty empty, only two other customers. Although I was planning on ordering tacos, I ended up getting Beef Yakisoba and the bf got three spicy pork tacos. The yakisoba was good, though it was missing something to make it great. I wish they put some more substantial veggies in in like broccoli, peppers or mushrooms instead of just cabbage and bean sprouts. I don’t think the panko topping did anything for it. The tacos were reallly good – they had a good amount of spice, and were full of meat lettuce, carrot, cabbage and a delicious smoky sauce. I thought they were a little heavy on the meat, as opposed to some other reviewers.
Loved the upbeat music too.
We’ll definitely be visiting Bossam Bar again when we need a quick, inexpensive and tasty meal. Oooh, and it’s a BYOB!

Unfortunately, I was embarrassed when my card was declined numerous times. However, I had seen what others were eating, and knew that it was my goal for the day to acquire this as my lunch. So, I went to an ATM, and was upset that I had to pay the $ 2 fee, but I brought my money back, and I’m sure they were not expecting me to return. So, the young man at the cash register graciously gave me extra meat on the house, though the chef did not seem to take as much pity on me upon shaking his head at me to let me know my card did not work. It usually takes quite a load of food to fill me up, but after about half of my meal I was comfortably stuffed. I got the spicy pork bowl, and it was a tad bit too spicy, even for me, who thrives on spiciness. That, however, will not stop me from recommending the spicy pork to others! Next time (and there will be a next time) I go back, I want to try the bibimbap, which also looked to be quite a generous helping.

Jeweler’s Row is an odd place to hide a Korean taco bar. But maybe it is hidden because the food here is pretty meh. Twice I have come here, once at the height of the lunch rush and once at the beginning of the dinner rush. Both times empty. Both times they abruptly informed me that they were out of galbi, suggesting I order the bulgolgi as a replacement. Now I am not Korean, but I do know very well that bulgolgi is not galbi. Not even close. With no other options though, I have tried the bulgolgi and spicy pork tacos, served with a mountain of oddly assorted greens, overly salty grilled onions (?), and a too-​easily-​breakable tortilla. The meat does not wow me with flavor, and I feel like I could have made something of similar quality by buying the pre-​marinated meats at H-​Mart.
The concept of «Korean tacos» typically stirs up a lot of excitement and mouth watering in me, but unfortunately Bossam left me extraordinarily underwhelmed. I feel like I would like this place more if it were a food truck. And if they put kimchi quesadillas on the menu.

Would be 5 stars, but for the $ 1 brown rice charge.
The vegetarian options are extensive and excellent. I love the tofu tacos, vegetable soon dubu, tofu bibimbap, and the kimchi rolls are sour, crispy, umami goodness. They clearly use high quality ingredients, so I don’t mind that the prices are higher than other work lunch options (I usually spend almost $ 11 here, while I’m usually below $ 8 elsewhere). However, the brown rice surcharge on top of already somewhat high prices really irks me. But again, the food is very good.
The only other complaint is that they use an unnecessary amount of plastic and Styrofoam for to-​go orders. They clearly take great care in presentation, even for those who aren’t going to eat in the restaurant, but I’d rather the presentation suffer and have less garbage to throw away.

A friend of mine told me there was a korean taco restaurant in philly and I was absolutely ecstatic. Perhaps my standards were set too high from previously amazing experiences elsewhere, because what I got wasn’t as delicious as I had hoped.
I LOVE spicy pork, so I got the spicy pork burrito. Once I found out they served sushi, I decided to try their crunchy spicy tuna roll, which I had never seen before. Again, this is me comparing this burrito to a previously awesome experience. and this burrito didn’t have nearly enough meat as I hoped it would. They also don’t have cheese. which is a personal love of mine in korean taco restaurant burritos. The crunchy spicy tuna roll wasn’t bad except the tuna wasn’t very fresh. left a fishy taste in my mouth as I was leaving the restaurant. also left me wishing I had a bite of something else before leaving.
As for pricing, it’s not bad at all! They have such an array of items on their menu, I am definitely coming back to try them. Even though the burrito wasn’t my ideal, the spicy pork was pretty darn good! The bibimbap looks great and so do the bowls. so I’ll be back!

I resist change. Tampopo on jeweler’s row was a staple of mine on those days when i was in the mood for a healthy lunch. I would always purchase the grilled salmon with brown rice. Worked for me. Then one day I noticed that Tampopo was closed and had been replaced with Bossam Bar.
I walked by tampopo’s replacement quite often, but was reluctant to try it. I resist change (see above). But one day, I left my lunch at home and wanted something on the healthier side. Not a ton of options in that regard. Looked up Bossam Bar online to peruse the menu, which is a bit chaotic. There are what appears to be dozens of items to choose from on the menu.
I narrowed my focus and went for the tofu veggie bowl with brown rice. Yes, the brown rice costs $ 1 extra, but my bowl was only $ 4.95 to begin with, so no biggie.
I have to say, bossam may be nudging me toward the direction of «change is good.» I thoroughly enjoyed my bowl. First, the sauce was savory and flavorful and not at all overwhelming. The tofu was pan-​fried, i believe, but not greasy. and i liked the firm texture. The main thing I enjoyed about the bowl, however, was the addition of veggies. I used to just get three baby carrots and a broccoli floret with my order at tampopo. At Bossam Bar, I was presented with cabbage, zucchini and carrots. Exactly what I wanted!
Sometimes, change can be good.

I like the food at this place a lot. The chicken and beef are good quality (haven’t had the other meats), the vegetables are fresh, and the menu is diverse. When they opened, it was amazingly inexpensive. Since, they’ve bumped up their prices (by as much as 20% on some items!). I tried to stop going in protest, but I can’t — it’s just too good!

The Korean Taco craze has finally hit Philly. So I know that all the Korean restaurants here in the city are catching on and adding the taco to the menus. Like Kiwa they have spicy pork, galbi, tofu, bulgogi.
I ordered the 2 Spicy pork and 2 galbi. 4 tacos for $ 9 is a pretty good deal I think and they pretty much fill you up. When it came out I thought the tortilla wrap were pretty small for the amount of meat the try to cram in. It can get a little messsy. Inside the taco it comes with lettuce, cabbage, and grilled onions and on the side it comes with a side of «salsa». The salsa tasted kinda like ginger dressing but it blended into the taco nicely. One good thing about it is everything is cooked to order so it took a little while to get the galbi one but it was pretty much worth the wait. Also the spicy pork one was well marinated and it was pretty tasty. Since I am Korean I was thinking it would be a little more fusion food, but it wasn’t. It was
I think I will come back to try the other food items on the menu and see how it compares to other korean restaurants in philly.

After months of missing bibimbap and mourning the demise of Tampopo on Jeweler’s Row, I finally noticed this new restaurant in Tampopo’s former space.
I was thrilled to see bibimbap was a staple of the new menu and picked some up today. It was as good, if not better than, Tampopo’s version — lots of fresh healthy vegetables, lean grilled chicken and rice (unlike Tampopo, unfortunately, brown rice is $ 1 extra). Really fresh and delicious– I’m looking forward to trying their signature bossam wrap.

I don’t know whether I was just REALLY hungry, or what, but the other day I wandered in there and ordered the tofu burrito, and it was the best damn thing I’d ever eaten. Seriously. Every bite I took I was thinking in exclamation points, like «OMG!» and «This is so good!» and «What IS this!?! It’s amazing!» and it came with this spicy sweet side sauce that I can’t stop thinking about. In fact, I’ve just decided that as soon as I finish writing this, I’m heading over there to get another. Yum!
The only drawback is that there’s never anyone in there. Which makes no sense.

My office took a gamble and we ordered from this place. I must say, I felt super full and yet super healthy. I had the tofu bibimbap (I don’t know how to pronounce that still), which was a large bowl with rice, tofu, cabbage, and carrots. It was so delicious and yet I couldn’t finish it. It also came with a side of miso soup — which happens to be one of my favorite soups, so double score.
The only thing is it’s a wee bit pricey, so possibly one of those «once a month you treat yourself» kinda places.

I’m not sure when these guys took over. This used to be the south of broad locale of Tampopo. I was craving some teriyaki chicken. So, I stopped in. It’s a friday night in late fall in jeweler’s row. The place was dead. The three guys working were just so giddy to have a customer!
The menu is a little different than Tampopo, but old standards are there. You actually get more in your bento box than Tampopo.
The box is divided into 4 squares, just enough rice, a lovely piece of fried tofu and potatoes that taste like they were nikujaga style, some pickled ginger, salad with gingery dressing and the chicken. Plus some miso soup!
I’m so full I didn’t even eat the miso soup yet! The chicken was tender and moist, the sauce was just right. The potatoes reminded me of my sisters japanese mother-​in-​laws cooking. Like they have an obachan hiding back there behind the counter making nikujaga!
Very quiet for dinner and probably bustling for lunch. Impressed! A great little gem among jewelers row!