Wusong Road
Ready for a vacation? An escape to a lush tropical paradise. Where the food is as flavorful as it is fun. And the exotic Tiki drinks are sweet and strong. Then you need to visit Wusong Road.
Tucked away in the historic century old Conductor’s Building on the edge of Harvard Square, Wusong Road transports you to another world as soon as you step through the door.
Jason Doo – Chef/Owner, Wusong Road: “What we really wanted to do is create a tropical escapism bar. Something that makes you feel like you took a journey, just steps away from the hustle and bustle of the city outside. With the music, the vibe, even the lighting here were very specific. It’s like you’re going to a hotel bar somewhere in Southeast Asia.”
This two-story restaurant and bar is filled with all things Tiki. And much of this fun stuff comes from Chef-Owner Jason Doo’s personal collection.
Jason Doo – Chef/Owner, Wusong Road: “We very specifically go for the really kitschy, really bright, really beautiful, really fun objects. We do not shy away from color. We do not shy away from things being cute. I don't know when restaurants had to become so drab. We didn't want that type of place. We wanted a place where you can really go relax, come in your flip flops, a really colorful shirt in the dead of winter in New England and just chill.”
As you chill, check out the colorful cocktail menu, filled with fun drinks made with fresh juices and mixes, while you dine on Asian inspired tapas that proudly showcase elevated takes on Chinese-American classics.
Jason Doo – Chef/Owner, Wusong Road: “Here, it's kind of the love story to American Chinese cuisine. We want to celebrate the diverse tableau of Chinese cuisine, the greater umbrella, because American Chinese cuisine is its own style food that we feel often may get made fun of, or is the butt of a lot of jokes. And we want to elevate that here and try to do the best that we can. So we do keep things like Crab Rangoons, Peking Raviolis, things like that on the menu, because we're not a place for foodies, we're a place for fun.”
To begin your journey through the Wusong Road menu, there are dishes like Coconut Ribs with caramelized lime, House Fried Rice packed with egg, peas, Chinese sausage, and scallion, and Crispy Basil Chicken with lots of dipping sauces.
Jason Doo – Chef/Owner, Wusong Road: “You get the hot honey mustard, we do a kung pao ranch dressing for it, we do the traditional mandarin orange sauce for it. It's about fun interaction. And it's also about allowing the guests to choose their own adventure here.”
And any adventure here definitely needs to include an order of Crab Rangoons.
Jason Doo – Chef/Owner, Wusong Road: “I grew up with Crab Rangoons. I love Crab Rangoons. For us, we make sure we make a very damn good Crab Rangoon. Most Crab Rangoons I have to say is mostly cream cheese. Ours is basically 50-50 of the crab to the cream cheese. So it's a really really really crabby tasting Crab Rangoon and I love it.”
Another favorite, with an interesting local connection, are the Peking Ravioli, which actually got their name right here in Cambridge in the 1950’s.
Jason Doo – Chef/Owner, Wusong Road: “Cambridge is the hometown for the Peking Ravioli. Joyce Chen invented it here. When she opened her restaurant, she was only surrounded by Italian immigrants, could not sell them Chinese food, until of course, she renamed it from Jiaozi to Peking Ravioli.”
Because Wusong Road is as much a bar as it is a restaurant, there’s plenty of great bar snacks on the menu, like spicy Tater Tots with sambal ketchup, and, believe it or not, Aloha Sliders.
Jason Doo – Chef/Owner, Wusong Road: “When you open a bar, the first thing everyone tells you, no matter whether it's your accountant or your friend, that you need a burger. And we're just like, well, it's a Chinese restaurant. Can you really have a burger? And then we're like, you know, it's Tiki. Let's just do it. And let's just do it fun. So we do caramelized pineapple, Swiss cheese, we grind our own Angus beef, and then we do these little pineapple slider rolls. And I think they're adorable and they taste delicious.”
But for something even more adorable, get a load of the Wusong Bao, available in your choice of a Crispy Chicken Cutlet served on bun that looks like a chicken, or Chipotle Pulled Pork on a bun that looks like a pig.
Jason Doo – Chef/Owner, Wusong Road: “When you go to Hong Kong, when you go to Singapore, when you go to Taiwan and all those places, bao and bao forming is an art there. So here we just took that art and when we do, we do it in a more playful sense. We have a chicken katsu slider essentially, and we make it like an angry chicken. And then we have a pulled pork char siu bao, and make it like a little pig. We try to make everything fun, bright, colorful, just kind of like when you look at Tiki culture, we really try to make everything special.”
Rounding out the menu here are upscale dishes like six hour Braised Pork Belly with Hard Boiled Egg over rice, and the show stopping Duck Tasting, made to feed the whole table.
Jason Doo – Chef/Owner, Wusong Road: “We have these massive steamers baskets, and they come out with the entire duck all laid out in all its glory inside the basket. We roast the breast Peking style. We make a Duck fried rice with the pulled duck legs. We take the wings and we deep fry those with orange sauce, so you get fried duck wings. Then we have our own homemade bao, a papaya slaw, and all the sauces.”
And whether you come for a grand feast, or tropical treat, fun times are ahead at Wusong Road.
Jason Doo – Chef/Owner, Wusong Road: “This is the type of place where you come, you enjoy a meal, you have a few nice drinks, like I said, it’s just like you're escaping to that tropical bar somewhere in Southeast Asia. That's what the goal was and I think we're starting to achieve that.”
