This restaurant is tiny but mighty! The food is amazing, one of the best dishes in the city is the hoe cake and the mee caton. Also, the service was amazing, especially for a new restaurant. Every server was friendly and knowledgeable. I had two separate dinners here about two weeks apart from each other and everyone from the host to the person refilling the water was great! If you can get a reservation to this place, drop everything and go!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Daniel Piccari
Food was solid. My wife and I ordered a couple of rounds of drinks and three courses worth of food. The server dropped the check on the table at 65-70min into service. It felt rushed. The courses also felt a little rushed. I would have probably ordered another round of drinks if we didn’t feel rushed. The sister restaurant Mawn was similar with its pacing.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
j reviews philly
the flavor here is insane. the seafood special noodle dish felt like it was made with so much love. oysters and chicken skewer special were also amazing.
please come here it’s so good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alison
Some of the best food and service I've had anywhere in Philly. Everything is great, but the honey butter hoe cake will live rent free in your mind!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Summer Cao
fantastic meal. The soft shell shrimp was perfect and similar to the ones at Mawn. Scallop crudo was seasoned very well. Hoe cake was amazing — it’s like a hot buttery, sweet cornbread top with crab salad and roll. The combination just made it very fantastic. Scallop with crab gravy was served on rice on a bowel. The over all dish was slightly salty but the scallops are taste. Pumpkin spice woopy pie was not too sweet and very well executed. We thought overall it was better than what we had at Mawn and Kalaya. Will try to come back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Melissa Leplon
Incredible dining experience and we had the pleasure of watching Chef Phila at work behind the bar. Food, service, vibes - it was all *chefs kiss*. I will be thinking about this meal for days to come. I would say I can’t wait to go back but let’s be real, I’m probably not getting another reservation LOL. Cannot recommend SAO enough!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
mary albus
Absolutely incredible food, cocktails, service, and atmosphere!!! We wandered into here and were able to sneak a spot at the bar. We had the several dishes and not one of them disappointed in the slightest. Incredible flavor and thought put into each!The beef Mee Catan was ridiculous, the veggies on the cutlet were the cherry on top, and our only disappointment was feeling too full to eat dessert. Will 100% be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Y
Fantastic flavors. The scallops are the best I've ever had. Pictures cant even do it justice but I will try. Not a bad dish on the menu.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Elizabeth Heidecker
Best meal of my life! The service was comforting and kind. They took a peanut and soy allergy very seriously. Gave us a special treat as it was my birthday! Overall best restaurant experience ever. Can’t wait until I can land another reservation!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Hitman Sananikhom
Wow, this place is amazing! My girlfriend has been trying to get a reservation here for a while, and luckily she finally landed one through her friend. We started with the clams, which were fantastic. We also had the aged hamachi, the mee canton, and the honey butter hoe cake.
Admittedly, we thought the hoe cake might not be the best choice, but we were so wrong—it ended up being the standout dish of the night. The texture and flavor were unbelievable. I highly recommend ordering the hoe cake!
The service overall was excellent, although our server personally wasn’t very attentive, which was tough to watch since I work in the hotel hospitality industry. Thankfully, the rest of the staff really stepped up—several servers and bartenders checked in on us while we were dining at the bar, and it made a big difference.
I also want to give a big thank you to Demetrius for making us feel comfortable and taken care of. We will definitely be returning!
My friend and I had reservations for 5:30 but got in a right at opening (we were very excited and hungry) and were seated right away. We looked over the menu and wanted to order just about 1 of every item but held back due to realism 😔. We settled for two of each oyster (one pp), 2 crudos, and 3 hot dishes. We skipped the fried shrimp and papaya salad since we’ve had them at Mawn before. We absolutely love those dishes but wanted to try new things since it was a fight for our lives to get the reservation (had been trying since July). We absolutely loved the crudos. Our fav the aged hamachi! We would have drank the seasoning or soaked it on rice if we had any. The dayboat scallops were so fresh and the perfect texture and sweet taste.
Hot dishes: Bang Island Mussels had a great sauce that would be good w bread to dip or a side of rice to soak the soupy sauce. The dark horse was the special Canto inspired seafood Mee Caton it was easily our fav hot dish of the night. We were so perplexed that the flat rice noodles had a crisp still while being drenched in the delicious seafood gravy. Canto person approved!!!!! Lastly, the hoecakes!!! We were so full but could not stop taking “one last bite.” Even my gluten sensitive friend said very worth the gluten! Same for the Apple Spiced whoopie pie that we would nibble but absolutely killed. Opps!
All in all, we knew we were not going to be disappointed and easily spent more than we should have because we didn’t want to miss out. Expect to shell $50-100pp but you’ll end with a fully belly and amazing service! Dimitri kept us and everyone around us smiling and laughing the whole time. Phila keep doing your thing! We’ll see you all again soon!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Candace Whaley
I absolutely loved my experience. The ambience , the music, the hospitality were all A+. My camera game was not the best with this because I was so into the food/music/convo. I didn’t have time to really focus on the photos. However, I hope you take my word for it. l have good taste. Lol So put your notifications to score that resy on Open Table.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Krista Kutz
Truly amazing, every dish exceeded the next. Had to get the hoe cake since it’s all the craze, absolutely worth it. The crab gravy was out of this world. Service, cocktails, no complaints!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Timothy Reilly
Exceptional dinner, highly recommend the tuna carpaccio. Also our waiter Dimitri was not only a consummate professional but just a downright cool human being.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alexander
The hoe cake just works and is a must order. Across all the dishes there was similarly great execution and a unique combination of flavors. Sao was an amazing experience.
This restaurant is tiny but mighty! The food is amazing, one of the best dishes in the city is the hoe cake and the mee caton. Also, the service was amazing, especially for a new restaurant. Every server was friendly and knowledgeable. I had two separate dinners here about two weeks apart from each other and everyone from the host to the person refilling the water was great! If you can get a reservation to this place, drop everything and go!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food was solid. My wife and I ordered a couple of rounds of drinks and three courses worth of food. The server dropped the check on the table at 65-70min into service. It felt rushed. The courses also felt a little rushed. I would have probably ordered another round of drinks if we didn’t feel rushed. The sister restaurant Mawn was similar with its pacing.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
the flavor here is insane. the seafood special noodle dish felt like it was made with so much love. oysters and chicken skewer special were also amazing.
please come here it’s so good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Some of the best food and service I've had anywhere in Philly. Everything is great, but the honey butter hoe cake will live rent free in your mind!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
fantastic meal. The soft shell shrimp was perfect and similar to the ones at Mawn. Scallop crudo was seasoned very well. Hoe cake was amazing — it’s like a hot buttery, sweet cornbread top with crab salad and roll. The combination just made it very fantastic. Scallop with crab gravy was served on rice on a bowel. The over all dish was slightly salty but the scallops are taste. Pumpkin spice woopy pie was not too sweet and very well executed. We thought overall it was better than what we had at Mawn and Kalaya. Will try to come back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Incredible dining experience and we had the pleasure of watching Chef Phila at work behind the bar. Food, service, vibes - it was all *chefs kiss*. I will be thinking about this meal for days to come. I would say I can’t wait to go back but let’s be real, I’m probably not getting another reservation LOL. Cannot recommend SAO enough!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Absolutely incredible food, cocktails, service, and atmosphere!!! We wandered into here and were able to sneak a spot at the bar. We had the several dishes and not one of them disappointed in the slightest. Incredible flavor and thought put into each!The beef Mee Catan was ridiculous, the veggies on the cutlet were the cherry on top, and our only disappointment was feeling too full to eat dessert. Will 100% be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fantastic flavors. The scallops are the best I've ever had. Pictures cant even do it justice but I will try. Not a bad dish on the menu.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best meal of my life! The service was comforting and kind. They took a peanut and soy allergy very seriously. Gave us a special treat as it was my birthday! Overall best restaurant experience ever. Can’t wait until I can land another reservation!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wow, this place is amazing! My girlfriend has been trying to get a reservation here for a while, and luckily she finally landed one through her friend. We started with the clams, which were fantastic. We also had the aged hamachi, the mee canton, and the honey butter hoe cake.
Admittedly, we thought the hoe cake might not be the best choice, but we were so wrong—it ended up being the standout dish of the night. The texture and flavor were unbelievable. I highly recommend ordering the hoe cake!
The service overall was excellent, although our server personally wasn’t very attentive, which was tough to watch since I work in the hotel hospitality industry. Thankfully, the rest of the staff really stepped up—several servers and bartenders checked in on us while we were dining at the bar, and it made a big difference.
I also want to give a big thank you to Demetrius for making us feel comfortable and taken care of. We will definitely be returning!
- the guy with the magnificent hair
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
TLDR; Hoecakes worth the gluten
My friend and I had reservations for 5:30 but got in a right at opening (we were very excited and hungry) and were seated right away. We looked over the menu and wanted to order just about 1 of every item but held back due to realism 😔. We settled for two of each oyster (one pp), 2 crudos, and 3 hot dishes. We skipped the fried shrimp and papaya salad since we’ve had them at Mawn before. We absolutely love those dishes but wanted to try new things since it was a fight for our lives to get the reservation (had been trying since July). We absolutely loved the crudos. Our fav the aged hamachi! We would have drank the seasoning or soaked it on rice if we had any. The dayboat scallops were so fresh and the perfect texture and sweet taste.
Hot dishes: Bang Island Mussels had a great sauce that would be good w bread to dip or a side of rice to soak the soupy sauce. The dark horse was the special Canto inspired seafood Mee Caton it was easily our fav hot dish of the night. We were so perplexed that the flat rice noodles had a crisp still while being drenched in the delicious seafood gravy. Canto person approved!!!!! Lastly, the hoecakes!!! We were so full but could not stop taking “one last bite.” Even my gluten sensitive friend said very worth the gluten! Same for the Apple Spiced whoopie pie that we would nibble but absolutely killed. Opps!
All in all, we knew we were not going to be disappointed and easily spent more than we should have because we didn’t want to miss out. Expect to shell $50-100pp but you’ll end with a fully belly and amazing service! Dimitri kept us and everyone around us smiling and laughing the whole time. Phila keep doing your thing! We’ll see you all again soon!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I absolutely loved my experience. The ambience , the music, the hospitality were all A+. My camera game was not the best with this because I was so into the food/music/convo. I didn’t have time to really focus on the photos. However, I hope you take my word for it. l have good taste. Lol So put your notifications to score that resy on Open Table.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Truly amazing, every dish exceeded the next. Had to get the hoe cake since it’s all the craze, absolutely worth it. The crab gravy was out of this world. Service, cocktails, no complaints!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Exceptional dinner, highly recommend the tuna carpaccio. Also our waiter Dimitri was not only a consummate professional but just a downright cool human being.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The hoe cake just works and is a must order. Across all the dishes there was similarly great execution and a unique combination of flavors. Sao was an amazing experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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