Okinawan rice sandwiches, dumplings, sweet breads: Lobanton is focusing on Asian street foods in Providence

In late February, they quietly debuted Lobanton, a casual counter tucked inside Providence’s historic Arcade, America’s oldest continuously operating shopping mall. The menu leans into Asian fusion and street food that can mostly be eaten with your hands. Think of soft, sweet Asian milk breads, Thai basil chicken dumplings served with a side of spicy mayo, and Okinawan rice sandwiches with familiar fillings.

Some of their rice sandwiches feature Spam. Yes, the canned meat. “Spam was originally brought to Asia by the US Army. So it turned into a delicacy in almost every Eastern Asian country,” explained Lu.

In South Korea, you’ll see Spam in kimchi fried rice and gimbap. In Hawaii, there’s Spam musubi, where spam sits on top of avocado and rice with a seaweed belt wrapped around it. Budae-jjigai, or Army Stew, is a Korean dish that’s made with kimchi, gochujang, baked beans, ham, sausage, and Spam.

“While it’s so common in Asia, you don’t see it here in America as much anymore,” said Lu. “So when we tell people there’s Spam in the rice sandwich, they get really surprised.”

Other options include pumpkin tempura and curry sauce, or shrimp tempura with tonkatsu sauce (like a Japanese-style barbecue sauce) and house mayo. Other snacks include fried zucchini, lemon garlic-herb fries, and onion rings.

The breads at Lobanton are similar to what you’d get in parts of Asia: bright white, soft, and bouncy when sliced open. Some are glazed; others are filled. They opened with two: a sweet milk crumble and another topped with a cappuccino glaze.

“It’s like a brioche, but bouncier and with a coffee flavor,” she said. “It’s not as light as the traditional Asian bread where you tear it apart really easily, but it’s also not a brioche. We’re in the middle.”

Wang, a former catering chef in Taiwan, runs the kitchen. Lu, who previously held corporate roles at major companies like Amazon, keeps the business side running smoothly. It’s taken two years for them to open due to the complexities with the build out and governmental red tape, Lu explained.

“This space was vacant for so long,” said Lu. “There was no water, no electricity, just an empty shell of a space.”

The Arcade building has condo units on the ground floor that business owners can purchase and redevelop. The upstairs floors have residential micro-lofts that are less than 400 square feet. Other than a few standards, such as Livi’s Pockets and Rogue Island, there’s been quite a bit of turnover when it comes to food businesses inside the – over the last few years, particularly as workers have not yet fully returned to offices downtown.

Lu says she’s seeing more office workers trickling back, but there is a lack of lunch spots. Hopefully, she said, Lobanton can fill that hole.

Street food “in my language really means ‘anytime, anyone, and anywhere,‘” she said.

“You want food that you can eat really quickly, even standing up. But it has to be fulfilling and taste food,” said Lu. “We want to be able to show that to people here. The culture here does not do a lot of good grab-and-go. We want to show how we can do it, and the food is actually good.”

Lu said she hopes they will roll out new menu items soon, including traditional bento-style lunches with rice, salads, marinated side dishes, and chicken or salmon.

“We’re bringing in what people are used to, but also trying to teach people the versatile way of our food,” she said.

Lobanton is located at 65 Weybosset St., No. 125, Providence, R.I., 401-424-9855. Find updates on their Instagram.

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🍷 Around Maine: I’ve heard good things about Franciska Wine Bar in Portland, which just opened for business last week, serving Argentine Bodegón cuisine. Their wine list was put together by owner Alex Marchesini. Food & Wine released its list of the 15 best restaurants in the US. It’s a hodgepodge of places, and Mr. Tuna in Portland is the only restaurant in New England that made the cut.

🥃 Around Connecticut: Veritable Distillery has launched two new bottles: The Ship’s Bell Bourbon and Southwick’s American Gin. Their bourbon is a historically inspired whiskey made using open-top fermentation, with heritage grains and zero industrial additives. The gin is crafted using botanicals historically traded in the 18th century, with notes of grapefruit, pink peppercorn, and nutmeg. The B. Hive has just opened in Burlington. It’s a coffeehouse, roastery, and specialty shop with black-painted walls and brightly colored furniture. Plus, Mohegan Sun is introducing a new seafood festival this June called Savor New England.

🍽 Around New Hampshire: Do you love to eat in Portsmouth? You might want to thank Jay McSharry for the scene up there. He owns a dozen restaurants, ranging from seafood to Mexican. Read my colleague Kara Baskin’s conversation with him here.

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