The talk of the town in the last couple of months has been a wonderful restaurant in the Five Corners area of the seaside town of Edmonds.

Bar Dojo, located at 8404 Bowdoin Way, offers Asian-style fusion cuisine so just about anyone can find something they like. The meals are served tapas style with great presentation and variety. With 4.3 of 5 stars in over 500 Yelp reviews, it was a must try.

The restaurant had style that you could notice right when you entered, with unique wooden blinds and dimmed lighting for a relaxed atmosphere.

The music played was calm and groovy, and matched the atmosphere wonderfully.

I was approached very quickly to be seated and the host was very courteous and professional. I was seated off in the corner of the establishment, which slightly hindered the experience, but not overly so.

The waiter was very patient and helpful while I tried to decide what I wanted. There were so many varieties and options, it was not easy. The food came out very quickly and I was very pleased with the overall service.

I ordered a variety of items so that I could get a good representation of their dishes and flavors. I stuck to smaller dishes since I was eating alone. Here are my choices and impressions:

Birria Egg Rolls 8.8/10 – The egg rolls came with a side of consommé and a few radishes. The rolls were extremely crispy and the perfect temperature, the birria meat was very tender and melted in your mouth. The radish and consommé paired very well with the egg rolls and enhanced the flavor exponentially. 

Pork Belly Nachos 8.2/10 – The pork belly nachos were very loaded with toppings and came with a side of avocado yuzu kosho salsa. The pork belly was very tender and melted in my mouth. Every ingredient was well portioned and the flavors went very well together. The nachos had a sweeter kind of flavor, and when I added the salsa on top it that took them to the next level.

Pork Xiao Long Bao 9.2/10 – Served with a layer of chive oil underneath each dumpling and an assortment of veggies, each dumpling seemed to explode in my mouth with flavor. The chive oil paired great with the dumplings adding an extra spice that enhanced the flavor extremely well.

Spam Mac Salad 7.3/10 – Served in a bowl with a generous portion,  it tasted like most other mac salads that I have had and was slightly underwhelming. The spam was a nice touch but didn’t adding much extra flavor.

Overall, the food was excellent, very flavorful and every dish had its own uniqueness. The style and atmosphere of the restaurant was hard to compare to with its distinctive looks and music. The service was what you would expect from a nicer restaurant like “Bar Dojo.” It is most definitely worth the experience and I would definitely consider going again. If I had to rate the restaurant as a whole I would give it a solid 8.8/10.

To see the full menu or to make reservations, go to the Bar Dojo website.