Historical February–March 2015 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
You might not have noticed Bobo Noodle House before.
The odds suggest that when you typically pass the northeast corner of Skinker and Forest Park Parkway on your way to or from work.
In either case, thoughts more pressing than your palette probably command your attention.
If you have a chance, however, ignore your automobile for an evening. Open your door, and step out. Stroll down to Skinker, and head towards the intersection of Skinker and Forest Park Parkway. Look up, and you will see the Bobo banner hanging outside of the space just north of Kayak’s.
This unique spot is the creation of longtime St. Louis restauranteur Zoe Houk and her chef Ny Vongsaly.
If you wait until spring, you might overhear bits of conversation from diners seated at the sidewalk tables. You might see some of the neighborhood dog owners walking past, gently leading their pets to the water dishes on the sidewalk. Even if you cannot wait for warmer weather, the inside of Bobo’s will welcome you with soft lighting, gentle music, and a smiling host or hostess. You order by the entrance, and then said smiling host or hostess shows you to your table.
While you wait for your meal, you can pass the time watching the chefs and cooks work in the kitchen, or simply soak in your surroundings.
The light fixtures pleasantly diffuse their light with paper notes and drawings arranged in globes around their bulbs.
The tables march in a serpentine pattern, letting the server and other guests walk close to you without forcing you to continually pull in your chair.
We would have loved to spend the rest of the evening enjoying the surroundings, or at least until we were sure that our oldest boys had put the younger ones to bed.
But alas, the server brought our sustenance presently. For appetizers, we ordered the chicken summer rolls with hot and sour peanut sauce, and the crispy vegetable spring rolls with honey chili sauce.
The chicken summer rolls make you think of summer, no matter what season is outside.
The soft outer shell contrasts nicely with the fresh vegetables it contains.
The crispy vegetable rolls reverse this dichotomy, with the crunchy shell encasing the steamed vegetables. Both sauces complement the rolls beautifully, and tempt you to finish them off with a spoon.
But that might be awkward. For Cristina’s main course, she ordered the mixed greens with mango and ginger vinaigrette.
The bitterness of the mixed greens draws out the sweetness of the mangoes perfectly, and the ginger vinaigrette tantalizes your taste buds, drawing you back for bite after bite. Sean ordered the grilled salmon fillet with egg noodles and bok choy, with extra salmon.
The grilled the fish perfectly, enough to provide a firm texture, bot not so much that it lost its moisture. Something in the egg noodles and bok choy made Sean sweats profusely, but then again, Sean sweats profusely whenever the temperature rises above 60 degrees.
He can’t help it; he’s Irish. Just to make sure you are smiling when you leave, Bob gives you a fantastic sesame seed ball with bean paste after your meal.
It really is fortunate that they did not bring those out once we were seated–if that had happened, we likely would have just demanded an unlimited supply and refused to order anything else. So, the next time you are in the mood to take a stroll for dinner, try Bobo Noodle House. Or don’t stroll anywhere, and just give them a call.
They deliver.
Original photograph caption
Dish at Bobo Noodle House. Descriptive caption supplied.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, February–March 2015.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Opening odds suggest that when sentence is incomplete in source. Printed palette, The grilled the fish, bot and sweats variants retained, not silently substantively rewritten.
Original source: SD_Times2015_02.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
