XO Makes a Tasting Menu Feel Like a Very Good Dinner Party

A plate of fried chicken may not sound like the opening move in a polished multi-course dinner, but XO has a knack for putting familiar food in a more considered setting. Here, the chicken can arrive crackling-crisp and remarkably tender, paired with a sauce that gives it far more personality than a standard comfort-food order.

XO is built around prix fixe tasting menus rather than a broad, conventional menu. Dinner moves in a sequence of courses, bringing together local-Asian flavors, carefully arranged plates and a welcome willingness to have fun with things like dumplings, fried rice, potato gratin, ice-cream cake and mochi.

The tone is not stiff or ceremonial. Portions have enough substance to make the meal feel like dinner, not simply a series of tiny demonstrations, and the cooking keeps flavor in the foreground.

The appeal of the tasting format is the steady change in mood from one plate to the next. A meal might begin with cool, clean seafood, turn toward something crunchy or rich, then land on a hearty main before finishing with sweets that are as visually playful as they are satisfying.

Course counts have varied with the season and special occasions. Seven- and nine-course meals have both appeared, along with holiday and Valentine's Day menus, so the current lineup is best treated as a fresh collection of possibilities rather than a fixed script.

At the main-course stage, the format has also allowed diners to select entrees that can be shared around the table. That makes XO particularly pleasant for a small group willing to pass plates and compare favorites.

XO's cooking gets much of its character from the sauces and supporting textures rather than from a single showy ingredient. A hamachi sashimi crudo, for example, has been served with miso-sesame vinaigrette, aioli, orange and shishito. It is a bright, layered way to begin: silky fish, savory sesame notes, citrus and a little green heat all on one plate.

The scallop course has taken a more luxurious route, pairing pan-seared scallops and shrimp with a crunchy bubu arare crust and a creamy shellfish beurre monté. The contrast between a crisp exterior detail and that rich seafood sauce is very much XO's style.

Even the vegetable-driven Beet Lotus course is not content to be merely pretty. Shiso gel, emulsified chimichurri and crispy quinoa give it herbal lift, a little tang and an audible crunch. The menu repeatedly finds ways to keep soft, creamy or tender elements from becoming too samey.

The fried chicken deserves its attention because it captures the restaurant's basic idea so neatly: start with something people already love, then give it enough care and sauce to make it feel new again. Versions have included adobo and buttermilk fried chicken, with the crisp coating and juicy meat doing exactly what they should.

Loaded potato au gratin, topped with a cheese crown, is another course that does not pretend richness is a vice. It reads as hearty and indulgent, especially amid a menu that may also include raw fish, greens and lighter textures.

Grilled kalbi pork belly ssam has brought together juicy, tender pork, gochujang and pickles. The pickles matter; they cut through the pork's richness and keep the dish moving.

Other reported appearances include kim chee fried rice, wagyu fried rice, radish carpaccio and Xiao Long Bao. Pad Thai has also stood out for its full flavor, and the kitchen has accommodated a request for less spice in that dish.

XO's service has an unusually hands-on quality. In a small operation, the people cooking, serving, tending bar, hosting and preparing dessert may overlap, which can put diners in direct conversation with someone who knows how a dish came together.

Courses may come with explanations of ingredients, sauces and the ideas behind the menu. That is useful with food this layered; a quick introduction can make the difference between seeing a pretty plate and noticing why shiso is there, or why a creamy shellfish sauce is paired with a crunchy seafood crust.

The atmosphere remains friendly rather than lecture-like. It works for a birthday dinner, a family meal, a date-night tasting menu or a table with visiting friends who would rather talk through a dish than rush on to the next one.

Dessert at XO has a sense of humor. Brown-butter bunny mochi has been a standout, soft and fluffy with a light sweetness rather than a heavy sugar hit. Bunny-shaped pieces and chocolate mochi samples add a little visual cheer to the end of dinner.

There has also been an ice-cream-pie or ice-cream-cake-style dessert that takes a familiar freezer-case idea in a more polished direction. Cookie crumbles, rum-chocolate sauce and coffee ice cream give it a deeper, more grown-up profile without making it overly serious.

One suggested move is to alternate bites of bunny mochi and the ice-cream dessert. The soft chew against cold coffee ice cream and crunchy cookie crumbs is a fine small experiment to conduct at the table.

A-5 wagyu fat caramels have also appeared as take-home sweets. They are the sort of unusual extra that can prompt a second look at the counter before heading out.

The dining room is relatively small, comfortable and simply styled, with an artsy edge rather than a formal dining-room look. A feature wall of mounted dishware and plants gives the space a distinctive focal point.

Black walls and limited natural light create a darker, more intimate setting. It is a room that favors conversation across the table and keeps attention on the plates arriving one after another.

XO is an indoor dining experience, and its small room suits the paced nature of a tasting meal. The menu format, course count, add-ons and individual dishes can change with seasonal or special-event offerings.

Free parking has been available in front of the restaurant and in a nearby free lot, with street parking also an option. Recent meals have commonly fallen in roughly the $50 to $100-or-more-per-person range, and drinks can bring a total closer to about $100 per person.

A lamb add-on has been offered with some tasting menus, though add-ons are not a permanent promise. The better expectation is a dinner with enough surprises to make each course worth discussing before the next one arrives.