Written By: Chloe Thornton
BoBo Cafe is a cozy Japanese restaurant tucked into a small shopping center. My mom and I discovered them after looking for somewhere to go out for lunch. They are the first ramen shop to open in Harrisonburg, specializing in ramen, nori tacos, and bubble tea. One of the most impressive things about them is their extensive tea menu which has over 50 different types of teas and drinks, with lots of toppings to go with them.
After looking over the menu, I decided to try their Gyoza dumplings as an appetizer, as well as their spicy tonkatsu ramen. To go along with my meal I also ordered the taro milk tea with coconut jelly and tapioca pearls. My mom decided to order 2 appetizers as her meal; the crab rangoon, and their harumaki spring rolls. She also ended up ordering the winter melon tea, without any add-ins. After waiting a fair amount of time for our food, we ended up getting our appetizers at the same time as our mains. The last thing to show up was our drinks, however, everything was definitely worth the wait.
The first thing I tried was my dumplings. They came with the standard sweet dipping sauce, which was a nice balance to the flavorful, savory tas’/te of the dumplings. They were perfectly fried and had a nice golden brown coloring. Next, I moved on to my ramen which came with a big soup spoon and some nice wooden chopsticks. The broth was spicy but it also had a nice touch of sweetness as well. The pork belly was tender and really soaked up the broth juice giving it a perfect flavor. The bamboo roots and mushrooms added some nice earthy flavors. The only thing I wasn’t a huge fan of was the fish cakes, but that’s just my own personal preference and they seemed to be cooked well.
I also tried some of my mom’s food, so I could try more items on the menu. The crab rangoon was nice and crisp and had a flavorful filling. The spring rolls were good as well but didn’t really stand out that much. My taro milk tea was one of the best I have ever had. You could really tell they put a lot of time into making it and I overheard one of the staff talking about how they use real milk instead of powder. The coconut jelly had an interesting flavor and texture, they weren’t bad but I’m not sure I would order that again. The tapioca pearls are a boba classic and have a nice texture and flavor. I hadn’t heard about the flavor of winter melon until my mom ordered it, but I was pleasantly surprised. It had an earthy and minty flavor. It tasted a bit tart but in a good way. It kind of felt like a cross between watermelon and cucumber.
One of the downsides to our meal was the service. It was just a bit slow, especially considering we were the only people in there for a while. There were a lot of waiters as well, but it seemed like they just wanted to hang out and talk to each other. The waiters were nice and besides being slow the service was good. The pictures on their website are identical to the food they serve, and their presentations are impressive. They have lots of items on their menu, so the food we tried barely scratched the surface. I would like to go back and try some of the other stuff they serve, especially since one of their newest options allows you to cook your food right at your table. Their portion sizes are pretty great and the two of us ended up having some leftovers to take back home. The restaurant itself had nice decor and they even had a television in the back playing anime. They had cute illustrated pictures of their menu hanging up on the walls so you could see what some things looked like.
All in all, we had a really great experience, so if you are looking for some good quality ramen and boba and you happen to pass through the area, I would recommend BoBo cafe.
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