Saburba

Just an update to say I've been back numerous times, and they are consistently great.

Great, great... And great!  Love the food and the staff!

I had lunch with a friend at Saburba this week.  This is mostly a take out place, although they do have four very small tables.  It's a cute place, and I'm very happy they're using local food as much as possible.  Since I had never been there before, I asked the woman behind the counter what she recommended. She quickly indicated a few of their specialities, but when we asked for more details, she had to refer us to someone else in the kitchen.  I had the pork Ramen bowl.  The pork in the dish was very tender and tasty, and the house made ramen were good - but overall I found this dish just a tad bit salty for my taste.  A couple of other reviewers referred to small portion sizes.  I haven't tried evreything on the menu, but my ramen bowl didn't feel small to me - it was just about right, portion-wise.

Because I've heard people raving about their donuts, I stopped on a Saturday morning for the "housemade" chai and a home made donut. They do only drinks and donuts/bars/treats on Saturdays.  I was 5th in line and waited about 15 minutes for my turn. When I got to the counter, the line behind me was out the door.  I was glad to see many of those people holding their own, reusable coffee cups.

I am not a chai expert, but my chai was little more than faintly flavored hot water.  (The chai I have had at other places is much more flavorful.)  It was $4 for an 8 ounce serving.    The doughnut was extremely fresh with a wonderful, airy and tender texture inside and a slightly crispy outside, but didn't have a lot of flavor. I think the majority of the flavor comes from the icing.  The donuts are $1.50 each.

Saburba is a very casual place, with very nice people working there.  I hope they last, but it's typically been a tough market for a coffee shop/restaurant to survive. There is another shop opening soon within a block, so it'll be interesting to see what happens between the two.