BAMBOO Asia

The Japanese place is very fresh and very reasonable priced! It’s definitely filling as well so they’re not skimpy on the quantity.
The staff is also very friendly and always a pleasure to see.

They quality is pretty decent. Unfortunately a few months ago they changed the base salad from baby lettuce to kale. Normally I am down for kale but if it is being served as a salad then the leaf really needs to be stripped of the core and the leaves need to be massaged a LOT, otherwise you get super bitter and tough foliage that is gross to eat. Also there are way too many green onions in the salad mix, big old honkin’ chunks of green onion which is unappetizing and overpowering.
I wish they would bring back the baby lettuce or give the consumer the option to choose salad or the kale. I like to go there after the gym but I don’t want to load up on carbs right after because the only other options besides an inedible kale salad base is brown rice or noodles.
I do like most of the toppings outside of the stir fried green beans as they are normally oversized. Overgrown/​oversized green beans tend to have a starchy quality which isn’t pleasant to consume, it also makes the establishment seem like they are trying to go cheap on ingredients.

The perfect place for a group of people undecided about what to eat. There’s something for a wide swath of people, for many different occasions.
When you walk in, you’ll see three smaller booths, as in a food court. Each member of your party can go to whichever one they want, and everyone walks away happy.
I personally like the sushi bowls or the rolls, or the curry — depending largely on whether I want something cold or hot. The food is good. I probably eat here around weekly, and I could probably eat it much more frequently without getting sick of it.
There is some seating inside, but it’s not much. Instead, you can take your food to-​go, grab your napkin and water, and head just a little bit south on Montgomery St, to the Wells Fargo building. They have a nice rooftop garden open to the public, and it’s a nice place to eat if the weather permits.

A few days ago, I ordered online through Unilocal,and that was through eat24. When I arrived to pick up my order, they didn’t have any record of my order but the lady helping me was amazing and very understanding and I was able to reorder without paying again. The food is pretty good for a fast food Asian themed restaurant so I was satisfied. :)
It sucks that Unilocal didn’t send me an email about my order and I never had an eat24 account :(

If you take Chipotle, multiply it by three, change the ethnicity of each part, and put it in a rented property in SF, you have Bamboo.
Inside the space are three stations serving Vietnamese, Indian, and Japanese food. At all of the booths, you can opt to build your own bowl/​salad/​wrap, choose a protein, and finish with toppings and dressings. If you’re not good with mixing and matching the right toppings and dressings, you can opt for a special, which all booths offer.
On the particular day I came, I opted for a kale salad bowl with spicy tuna, ahi, avocado, edamame, and seaweed salad. It was really delicious and fresh! However, at around $ 11, it wasn’t quite as filling as I thought it would be. Oh well, it is SF, what are we to do… Anyway, if you’re looking for authenticity, wrong spot. But it does the trick if you’re craving something Asian.
There are a lot of seats in the middle of the space to sit, but honestly, just grab your food and go eat somewhere outside (if nice weather is apparent)! There are a ton of outside public spaces to prop yourself down on and munch away! ~

For the rice bowl you can choose one type of rice, one protein option, and two vege options followed by a variety of other vegetarian toppings. The curry shrimp was tender and the vegetables tasted fresh. Overall, it was a healthy meal. I arrived an hour before closing so they were out of some toppings such as avocado.

Services is quick. Food is decent. Sometimes its better than others, not as consistent as I would hope. Probably the freshness of the fish varies (doesn’t sound good). Todays visit was not as good. About 12 dollars with tax for a Japaneses bowl. It’s like a poke bowl which I like. Concept like pacific catch restaurant but taste and presentation of the food doesn’t even come close to Pacific catch. Japanese Rice Bowl Special, brown sushi rice or white sushi rice. Salad is an option more expensive.
Recommend sauce with the rice or salad bow, the **ginger ponzu. Too heavy with the spicy miso. Wasn’t good.

Indian, Viet or Japanese on the go, all in at one place? Sounds good to me!
This is one of my go to places for lunch time, its super fast and lots of variety. The place is split into Indian, Viet and Japanese food. You can make rolls, bowls and salads. My favorite is the Japanese section, you make basically make your own sushi roll and your own bowl either with rice or salad. They have a lot of different ingredients ranging from sauces, toppings and main entrees.
It is a bit more on the pricey side, portion are OK, depends who makes your bowl. Some are generous and some not really.

Lunch in the FiDi means some game time decisions. Lunch in the FiDi with coworkers involved means some serious brainstorming to satisfy diets and tastes. BAMBOO Asia kind of does it for you and I more than kind of love them for it.
Premise: In one large space they have 3 ‘booths’: Vietnamese, Indian and Japanese all serving the same ‘Chipotle’ style concept. Choose your vessel — salad, rice bowl, or wrap, choose your protein, then have your way with toppings and dressings. Sounds awesome, right? It kind of is.
There is cafeteria style seating in the middle, so your party can go their own way and meet in the middle. Seating is limited, so if you are planning to eat, be mindful that they are long tables and not singular tables where one can save seats.
I went Viet style with the 5 spice chicken salad. A bed of kale topped with warmed bok choy, 5 spice chicken thigh, and some other toppings that escape me. I opted for some extra jalapenos which was a great call, because the salad did fall a little on the tasteless side. It was über healthy, fresh, bright and super filling, but it needed a bit more pizazz. Maybe a spicier dressing? I also think next time I would ask for no bok choy. The warm vs the bitter kale just didn’t work for me.
Friends had the Japanese bowls with fresh spicy tuna and tobiko and were pumped.
Far from authentic, but large portions, fresh food and that fast casual environment makes this a no brainer for a work lunch.

Interesting concept that could use some help in its execution. As others have noted, there are three separate stations: Indian, Vietnamese and Japanese. Each one has a choice of bowls or something else (sandwiches or rolls). Each is make your own style.
The service was lackluster. Usually when you deal with a «make your own» station, they try to be helpful and guide you through the process. Here, they barely cared. It was the same for the person in front of me at the Japanese station and for my lunch-​companion at the Vietnamese station.
The food was OK, but also disappointing. I got a bowl at the Japanese station with standard stuff (rice, tuna, salmon, edemame, etc…) The server had a very heavy hand with the sauce, so everything ended up tasting way too sweet. I also tried a chicken bahn mi, which came off somewhat bland.
With just a few small tweaks this place could be really good. I just hope they make them.

If you’re not entirely sure what you want for lunch but, are craving something with Asian roots, Bamboo Asia is a good choice. With three different options inside: Indian, Japanese, and Vietnamese you can go nuts! :0 The lines are pretty crazy long but, they shuttle people in/​out pretty quick so just wait it out.
I decided to go with the Japanese fare today and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a «make your own» kind of concept so there are plenty of options. The kale salad bowl with spicy tuna, ahi, avocado, edamame, seaweed salad was really good. The fish is rather sub par when it comes to sushi grade stuff but, did it hit the spot? Yes. My favorite part was the final toppings you could add to your bowl. Let it be know that I TERMINATE fish eggs so, to see Tobiko as an option made me super happy.
Do yourself a favor, grab a bowl to go, and sit on the veranda at the Wells Fargo next door. Just head into the lobby, get in the elevator and hit button «R». It was such a nice day today and super stoked I made the decision to meet up with my peeps. Till the next sunny day BAMBOO…
Boom.

~$ 11 for Vietnamese brown rice bowl + 2 veggies + 1 protein
my food:
— chicken here is oddly reminiscent of asian box. sad that they don’t offer white meat chicken
— kale salad was good, but could be marinated longer (very tough stems)
— cucumber and bean sprouts — loved the cucumbers. bean sprouts not as much flavor
the place:
— choose from vietnamese, japanese or indian
— chipotle style meals
tips:
— good for takeout, lines move quickly
— didn’t see any chicken options at the japanese station

Went there again after a long break (about 6 months or more). They updated the menu and changed some items. I use to come here around early dinner time: 4:30 — 6:00 pm, and usually they had all the items, and everything was really fresh. I use to love the spicy trio from Japanese station.
So this time I went there planning on getting my favorite spicy trio but they didn’t have it anymore. Because they didn’t have anymore spicy fish options, I decided to try scallops and salmon. The standard number of protein (fish) was 3 before, now it’s 2, and 3d is an extra. Technically bowls are more expensive, size of protein is smaller, they’re out of most of the items by the dinner time, quality is much lower compare to how it was. Mehhh was pretty disappointed
After reading other customers reviews, I see how lucky I am for not getting sick.
They need to change or close the business, that’s pretty sad

Despite reading a review that mentioned that they got sick after eating here, I decided to go anyways, and invited a couple of friends along. I usually pride myself in my fairly strong stomach, but no one was spared, not even I, by the god awful quality of fish that was served at the Japanese station at bamboo Asia.
The concept of the restaurant is cute. I love options, so this was ideal, especially because you can customize your bowls, which is why I wanted to give this place a try. I came for an early dinner and decided to try the Japanese station.
When I got to the station, I noticed many of the trays were empty, so I asked the server if they will be refilled, and she just said no. I really wanted to try their marinated edamame, but too bad I guess. So ok, whatever, I’ll just order anyways. Got a bowl with crab, salmon, and paid extra for scallops on there too.
The cashier had no manners whatsoever, and walked away after I paid, without handing me my food. So I stood there for a second wondering if I should just grab it from across the counter or if I should wait. But no, she went along on her merry little life behind the counter, so I just grabbed my bowl and sat down.
The portions were pretty large, and I didn’t finish my bowl, so that’s usually a plus. I was pretty happy with it until I got home and had massive diarrhea from the terrible fish they had. My friend texted me afterwards and told me it didn’t sit well with him either and he had to pull over in the middle of driving to find a bathroom. I’m too embarrassed about recommending this restaurant to ask how my other friends faired after this horrendous meal.
This place should be CLOSED DOWN for making people sick. The fact that this has occurred more than once is absolutely absurd! In addition they need to teach their servers and cashiers something called MANNERS.
If you like being treated like crap and taking massive runny craps, or if you want to challenge your body to a torturous game, Bamboo Asia is the restaurant for you!
P. s. Unilocal should include a new icon or sticker to add to a review if a restaurant made someone sick. This place is a health hazard.

Convenient with 3 stations to order from (for Japanese, Indian and Vietnamese). Dining tables in the middle of the room. All stations seemed to move quickly with limited options you can customize.
Vietnamese Station — faster than Fresh Rolls and hearty portions. Meat isn’t as tasty though.
Will update as I visit the other stations!

They have three different stations, each catering to a different cuisine (Indian, Vietnamese, and Japanese). Walking in reminded me of the dining commons back in college with all the stations surrounding the tables and seats in the center. I only can comment on the Japanese station since the bowls there was the reason I wanted to try this place. They let you customize your bowl with three veggies and two proteins.
I got the bowl with brown rice, tamago, eggplant chips, and seaweed salad along with the unagi and salmon. Load it up with the dynamite sauce. Really flavorful and at a reasonable price. It was filling yet I did wish I had a bit more unagi instead of just the two pieces. Still, they were at least big pieces and not teeny-​tiny microscopic pieces. The eggplant chips? (I think that’s what it’s called) were unique to me since I never had anything like that before and it was sweet and crispy. I would probably snack on a whole bag of those if I can.

This used to be my favorite lunch spots. I went so often the people I work with knew the three choices I always made, but they recently revamped the whole menu and all my favorite choices are gone. The ingredients are so limited I can’t even come close to recreating what I loved to get.
I understand that this is probably a much cheaper way to run the business, but after paying the same price for a less flavorful dish with cold meat, I’m out. Sorry Bamboo, I’ll be headed elsewhere.

For what it is, its decent enough. Bamboo Asia is composed of three stations (japanese, Indian and Vietnamese) each with pre made food (fresh though) that you can mix and match together to create your meal.
I had a Vietnamese rice bowl with five spice chicken. The food is decent but it really doesn’t blow you away. I was displeased by the frugality with the chicken that I was served. Cost 11 dollars; I feel like for the same price I can get tastier food in the area. The concepts good but I think it’s a case of trying to do many things so everything ends up being just ok and not great

Mmm, a spot of all my favorite things. A little sushi. A little Indian. A little Vietnamese. All well priced, all well made, all damn tasty.
I got the wasabi crunch sushi and it was awesome. Giant, covered in sauce, and amazingly tasty.
I also really enjoy that they make it right in front of you. Damn classy move.
I’d be back here in a second. So good.

My coworker loves this place so I checked it out last Thursday. Wow, this place is pretty awesome! Really, clean, very green, with 3 types of cuisines to choose from; Vietnamese, Japanese, and Indian.
Japanese station. I had a Northern Catch bowl which consists of salmon sashimi, tempura shrimp, avocado, cucumber, mango, tempura crunch and lemon slices. This was super good!
It was more impressive when they were making it. Besides valuing the quality of the food, they also value presentation. While they were making it, presentation was on point! Even though my food was to go, they still made it look really nice. I even saw the one who was in front of me and his sushi was so pretty and visually presentable. It made me want to order his food!
I would recommend this place, especially if you work in the financial district area. Great place for a to go lunch order.