WeFuse

Walked by today and the place looked closed; bar and chairs were gone. Hopefully just construction. No mention on Twitter.
–puzzled

addicting-​ly good. a sample of my credit card statement for each month: wefuse, koriente, gas, groceries… repeat.
the seared tuna bento box is rock solid. you crave it. you need it. you’ll go home and try to make it. and you’ll still come back.
i’m usually not a fan of carrots, but these are the perfect blend of cooked and raw. the rice is even exceptionally good. why? i don’t know. the vegetarian is also delicious, but it’s hard to order when the afore mentioned dish is also waiting for you. tunas before tofus, bra. and it all ends with some surprise fruit coated in chocolate. sometimes if you’re there long enough you get two. then angels sing and a puppy is born.

Lunch downtown can get a little challenging if you want something besides Tex-​Mex or a sandwich.
Good Pan-​Asian food, or even something that vaguely resembles it, is something you have to seek out in Austin (makes me miss Portland!)
Wefuse is a great healthy lunch spot. Its a little on the spendy side, but lunches downtown below $ 8.00 are pretty much nonexistent. The Bento boxes are very fresh and come with a bunch of tasty sides like rice, dumplings, bean sprouts, and other veggies. Salads are rock solid too.
To top it all off they give out FREE chocolate covered strawberries at the end of every meal.

I first started going to We Fuse when it was called Fusebox and it was at the Dobie. I love that we have this location now downtown and so close to where I work. I usually get the Roasted Chicken Bento Box and I love it. The staff there is always very friendly and although it’s a small place, I usually don’t have a tough time finding a place to sit.
The parking is downtown parking of course, but the location is not right in the middle of everything so I never really have trouble with parking around there. I love this place and I highly recommend it for lunch.

Wish I had a place like this for lunch near my office! I might go broke quickly but at least I’d be eating great, healthy food (and sipping yummy iced tea) while doing so!
I had the seared tuna bento box (but substituted asparagus for the carrots — they were very accomodating). Everything in it was delicious (though the tuna and dumplings were somewhat swimming in sauce).
I was surprised by how un-​crowded it was at 12:15 on a Friday afternoon! I got my food to go and appreciated the chairs they put up for people to wait in.

Yummy sushi/​bento boxes, four (!!!) different kinds of iced tea, and super fast service!
While crowded, We Fuse had a bright and cheery atmosphere, down to the spring green walls. The cashier was nice and I was able to get my order taken care of quickly. They have a few stools on the side for carry out orders, which was nice; they seem to get kind of cramped!
If i’m in austin again, I will definitely check this place out again!

The food here is quite good. It’s around the corner from my office and I drop by occasionally for a meal.
I’ve tried a bunch of things on the menu and its all pretty good. I particularly like the tofu with the sweet chili sauce.
Why 3 stars? Well… I’ve gotten take out from here at least 4 times. When I get take out, I stand there waiting and actually get to watch them prepare my food. The first time I hoped it was just a fluke, but I watched the owner again today do the exact same thing. What is it that grosses me out? He prepares food without any gloves. I completely understand you’re busy, but I watched him open the oven, then dip his hand into the soba noodles to pull out some for me, handle some other things, go back to prepping food, etc.
Before he started working on the food, he also processed the orders by punching it in on the computer and then started in on the food.
I like the food and think he’s a nice guy, but seriously, use some gloves dude.

I’ve been a fan of this place ever since it opened its doors, in fact, my arm is in one of the two pictures shown. (my minute claim to fame) It’s had a few little ups and downs as staff and hours have changed over time, but by and large it’s very consistent and extremely tasty. The quality and healthiness is a HUGE plus as well. Despite that you’ll walk away extremely full if you scarf down a whole bento tray, you’ll know that you didn’t gorge on deep-​fried mystery meat from Wendy’s.
The salmon bento tray has always been my favorite — I couldn’t possibly improve on it, although the menu changed slightly so now I always substitute the bean sprout salad for a sliced avocado half. (They don’t charge extra either.) I love the asparagus, as it’s always tender and crisp; and the dumplings are excellent comfort food. This is definitely my ‘I am starving and want to reward myself with a healthy, filling meal’ place near campus. (Salmon, asparagus, and avocado happen to be some of my favorite healthy items, so I guess I got lucky when this place opened.)
The only complaint I guess I have is that the tea offered is typically very weak for my taste, and it isn’t exactly iced down, so it always melts the ice in your cup right way. (Thus diluting it further.) I typically just get water now, since it’s cheaper and I don’t have to bother with sweetening it.

Ten years ago, anyone who would have opened a cute little Asian fusion café on Fourth & Brazos would have (a) spent all their time chasing the vagrants out of their bathrooms, and (b) gone out of business in a few months since the area was basically a wasteland. Ah, how times have changed.
We Fuse is, well, a cute little Asian fusion café. The interior is small, clean, modern and fresh looking (whites and spring greens) with around 10 tables and a long counter. The menu is trim — about 6 salads and 6 bento boxes. We had a seared tuna on cucumber and seaweed salad, a tofu avocado salad, and a salmon bento meal with rice, asparagus, bean sprouts and veggie dumplings. The total for two salads and a split bento was around $ 23 — not bad for a very tasty, very healthy lunch.
Don’t be surprised at the small portions when you get your food. They seem small but are reasonably filling. That said, if you skipped breakfast and are starving, this is probably not the best place to go for lunch. But if you had a massive Upper Crust cinnamon roll for breakfast, this is definitely the place to go for lunch.
One slight bummer — they have no desserts on the menu. However, they do stop by your table after you finish your meal and offer you a chocolate dipped piece of fruit. I was very glad to see the chocolate was dark! On our day, it was pineapple. That was nice. If the management is reading, I would suggest offering the fruit with toothpicks in them, rather than making you grab your piece by hand. I did wonder how many other people might have brushed up against the piece I ate.
If you happen to be at the convention center or one of the downtown hotels for a conference, We Fuse is your best bet for a quick, healthy, fresh lunch.

I was eating lunch for the first time at We Fuse today. I had the tofu bento box and the best part of my meal was the side of roasted tomato and goat cheese. the dumplings were so-​so. the asparagus tips tasted nice. the choc dipped orange slices are a nice touch.
Alas, I was eating at We Fuse, but I was thinking about Koriente the whole time. Ohhhh, Koriente [sigh] — you have stolen my downtown-​asian heart forever.

Hmm. I’m giving this place 3 stars because it’s decent when compared to all the other options in this limited area… This place is one of a kind in the limited choices around campus. Around campus, your choices are limited to sandwiches (which gets boringgg after awhile) or fast food that’s pretty unhealthy.
My boyfriend and I were tired of all the same stuff and wanted to try something new, so we ventured over to Dobie to try it out.
The menu looked awesome. All the combos looked appealing and we had a hard time deciding which one to try. He finally decided on the roasted chicken salad w/​goat cheese, dried canberries and I decided on the salmon bento tray.
The guy who rang us up was a little slow. In fact he was a lot slow. We took about 20 – 30 mintues to even order even though there were only 3 – 4 people in front of us. Then, he kept mixing everyone’s order up when he brought food out despite numbers that he gave out to each order to line up the orders.
Anyway, after reading the menu and ordering I was excited to see my food. When it did finally come out, I wasn’t really all that excited anymore. The food did not meet my expectations.
The salad was good, but is definitely something I could reproduce at home after a trip to HEB. I’d probably have to try a few times to get the dressing right, but everything else on the salad was something I could make at home.
My salmon was good too, but also something I could and have made at home in the past. The dumplings were forgettable, and the asparagus/​bean sprouts were in a sauce that was way too salty for my taste. In fact I think the sauce was just soy sauce… boring!
So this place is a good option if you can’t go home during breaks to make food and if you’re stuck in the campus area. But if you have time/​access, I’d just save money and go buy a huge ‘mixed greens’ bucket from HEB and make this shizzle at home for way less.
and, WTF? nobody offered me any free dessert!!! that might have made this go up a star or so. now i’m even more tempted to drop down the stars to 2!

Places like this are what makes recommendations (from Unilocal and coworkers) awesome.
I walked around the corner and was met by a line reaching the door. Good sign. The cashier had these big glasses on, and was really nice and cheerful. I got the seared tuna bento box to go. What a great first dish! I got «the deal» and the green ginger tea is delicious. I want more. Now. My tuna was cooked perfectly, and I really enjoyed the cucumber salad and ginger carrots.
Like others have mentioned, it is a great way to eat lite downtown, and not have to worry about going back to the office in a food coma. I will definitely be back!

We Fuse is my new favorite place for a quick, lite and healthy downtown lunch.
I had lunch here today for the second time this month and am all ready excited to try more of their menu. The Bento Boxes are substantial and filling without leaving you in a food comma — In my opinion the perfect amount of food for a workday lunch.
So far I have had the Roasted Salmon Bento that comes with rice, roasted asparagus, bean sprouts (with actual beans in the sprouts) and miso soup for less than 10.00 with tip. Today, I had a fantastic salad that included Roasted Salmon, grilled potatoes and asparagus tossed with mixed greens and a sesame soy based dressing.
Today, I also tasted my friend’s Miso Crusted Tofu & Avocado Salad tossed with mixed greens and a very yummy creamy wasabi dressing… That Creamy Wasabi Dressing must be lased with some addictive drug because I am going through withdrawl and need my fix less than 6 hours after my introduction to this addictive yummyness…

The best place to eat near the UT campus if you’re looking for healthy, quick (order at the counter), and overwhelmingly delicious.
The salmon bento comes in under $ 10 with tip, and has made-​to-​order roasted salmon with sriracha, and sides of rice, asparagus, bean sprouts, vegetarian dumplings, and excellent sauce. At the end of your meal, someone will usually drift by to offer you the free! daily selection of fruit, dipped in dark chocolate. Pineapple + chocolate, yes please. Pomegranate, sure!
The salads are substantial. To-​go orders are treated with respect.
It’s on street-​level, inside Dobie Mall, underneath the movie theater. The owner is the brother of the previous occupant, the much-​missed Café Matisse. This family knows something about cooking and customer service. The atmosphere is warm and pleasant, especially if you sit near the counter. Music last time was MGMT, upbeat and perfect for a quick lunch.
Why go to Wendy’s or hit up Madam Mam’s for the 12^th time this semester? Give yourself 45 minutes and try something new.

If you work at UT (as I do), this is without a doubt the best light, healthy, delicious lunch spot. You would not imagine that a place like this would be in Dobie Mall. The prices are not a problem for me, as they are not exorbitant for the quality. Yes, I have eaten lunch for under $ 3 at Wendy’s, but that doesn’t make me think that We Fuse is overpriced.
I enjoyed the miso-​crusted tofu and avocado salad as well as the chicken curry salad. Fresh Bing cherries and huge walnuts dipped in dark chocolate were the perfect way to end a light meal, and it definitely warmed my heart that they were complimentary.

I’ll echo what the other reviewers are all saying:
This place serves delicately prepared, fresh, light meals for relatively cheap. The chap working, whom I’ll presume is the owner, offered to subsitute vegetable dumplings for my iced tea in the combo when I hesitated because I’m not an iced tea fan (nor an Ice-​T fan, let’s just get that out of the way. That guy was a put-​on.)
I’ll be back, despite the musical selections that made me want to puncture my own eardrums whilst I dined:
Michael Bolton, Brian Adams, Whitney Houston.
(hence the four stars.)

Cool spot. I heard they just opened another location in the Frost Bank building downtown but decided to try the original location in Dobie Mall for the … scenery. The staff here, two college aged kids (boy/​girl) + a cook, was relaxed, friendly, and engaging.
The restaurant itself is small and has only bar seating, about a dozen seats at the window (looking into the mall, not outside) and another half dozen facing the prep area of the kitchen. It’s nice though with a modern simplicity, the long wooden bars have good lighting and fun bouncy art-​deco stools. There is also plenty of generic seating just outside in the mall. Charles Mingus was playing inside which sealed the deal on where to sit for me, that was followed by Gostland Observatory, two of my favorites coming up on the iPod playlist made the music one of my highlights. Although the guy said that he didn’t even like Gostland and rarely played it, mostly just jazz he told me.
For $ 10 you can get «the deal», any binto box + miso soup and iced tea (green, raspberry, and orange). I ordered the Seared Tuna Bento Box, which was 3.5oz of finely seared fresh tuna and came with steamed rice topped with sesame seeds, gingered baby carrots, tender steamed pork dumplings, and a cool cucumber salad. Everything was great; fresh and healthy. And the best part; fast. Everything order while I was there was served in under 2min., amazing for the quality of food. To top it all off, when I finished my lunch the girl offered me pieces of dark chocolate dipped pineapple… perfect!
Some folks have mentioned paying $ 10 for lunch, this is not outside of what I regularly pay for lunch and, as others have said, is totally worth the price. I recommend We Fuse, and look forward to trying the downtown location next!

We Fuse is my favorite lunch spot. The bento boxes feel like a perfectly proportioned, healthy meal. The salmon box is fantastic.
It’s about $ 10 for lunch, if you get a drink and a meal, but in a world full of cheap, fast food, it’s almost a pleasure to pay more for better quality.
I love the owner, he’s always coming by to make sure everything tastes alright, which says a lot to me about the quality of his food.

WeFuse is awesome. I first had dinner at this Asian fusion restaurant in Dobie mall last month with a group of friends. I was blown away by the diversity of the menu, quality of the ingredients and value for the Amero (oops, dollar) that is SOP at WeFuse.
I’ve had the shrimp bento (delicious) and chicken teriyaki bento on several occasions. Unilocal snobs: this is not your typical «Austin» bento — all of the entress are served with a selection of artfully crafted sides that accent the primary protein selection. For example, the chicken bento comes with roasted tomatoes with goat cheese, veggie dumplings, rice, a cool roasted yellow pepper/​leek salad, and an amazing sauce for the chicken. Delish!
Major ‘Yang’ kudos to the tai-​pan, Jon, who runs this place. Jon, I salute you sir. He’s got a great restaurant. Only downside: not open after 8 pm or on weekends (plus no booze). 5 stars anyway!
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Update: WeFuse has opened a new location downtown in the Frost Bank building. Still good as ever. Check it out.

yummy! I had lunch with a friend here today and I was way WAY pleasantly surprised. I had the Veggie Bento Deal and everything tasted fresh and delicious. The roasted tomatoes were especially good.
It’s a little pricey for lunch, but totally worth it. I am, after all, a huge dumpling (gyoza) fan (and I like them soft) — these were perfecto.
I’ll definitely be heading back when I’m on the Dobie side of campus.