BAO Soho

We Serve BAOs, steamed buns, and a range of Taiwanese Dishes in London.

BAO

BAO is a restaurant that serves Taiwanese inspired dishes that has three locations around London.

Each serving a selection of dishes that are unique to each restaurant.

Specialising in BAO, which literally means steamed bun, we steam our BAOs daily in our Bakery using a tangzhou starter and milk.

BAO began in 2014 as a six seater shack in a carpark in Hackney before we opened our first restaurant in Soho in 2015.

We are available for private hire and catering.

http://www.baolondon.com

Bao, restaurant review: 'Street-food-turned-Soho Taiwanese place ...

I and my equally hype-allergic companion Jack decide to have one of everything other than the dishes that are less appealing (century egg, daikon bao).

From the dainty glass of rich, comforting "peanut milk" (£1.50) to the biggest dish, a gooey, pickle- and egg-enriched bowl of guinea fowl chi shiang rice (£6), we sigh little sighs of happiness.

It's clear we've wildly over-ordered but are powerless to stop poking the dishes down (now that sketch becomes more meaningful)… If I had to narrow recommendations for when you visit – and please do, it is so worth the wait – I'd say this: the scallop with yellow-bean garlic (£3.50) is magnificent – the minced garlic softened in a dark, insanely umami sauce with a very good, fresh seared scallop.

We didn't need the house pickles, the sweet-potato chips or the turnip-top side dishes, but all added sugary, savoury, spicy, salty treats.

BAO, 53 Lexington Street, London W1, £50 for two, with soft drinks Four more foodie notes from the past week Sensational last-minute birthday dinner at my neighbourhood Japanese, which is at least the equal of showy West End places.

BAO, London, restaurant review - Telegraph

London’s Soho must be about the best square half-mile in the world for eating out, but we were going to BAO, a Taiwanese street food joint roughly the size and capacity of a decent living room, and nothing was going to stop us.

They wear white lab coats: if it wasn’t for the rich meat smells swimming out from the kitchen, Bao would make a convincing candle or health food shop.

The menu was a glutton’s betting slip: a little paper list of nine starter-like xiao chi, “suitable for sharing”, six of the titular gua bao (steamed white buns, filled with various delicacies) and four sides.

Next was the first bao, filled with fried chicken.

The veggie bao, filled with a fried daikon cake not dissimilar from a hash brown, felt like a bit of a carb crash.

BAO Soho

BAO is a restaurant that serves Taiwanese inspired dishes that has three locations around London.

Each serving a selection of dishes that are unique to each restaurant.

Specialising in BAO, which literally means steamed bun, we steam our BAOs daily in our Bakery using a tangzhou starter and milk.

BAO began in 2014 as a six seater shack in a carpark in Hackney before we opened our first restaurant in Soho in 2015.

We are available for private hire and catering.

Bao London review – Taiwanese bun street stall settles down in Soho

Although bigger, the menu is still focussed with just five gua bao, including a dessert option, and a choice of around a dozen bite-sized sides and small plates directly descended from Taiwanese street food.

The fatty, tender, slightly salty chunks of swine flesh were made even better by the tingly, sticky sauce and crisp, sweet shallots.

The Horlicky flavour of the ice cream was obscured though by the doughnut-like fried bao, although the bao was at least very soft, fluffy and free from any oiliness.

He quibbled over the pork confit bao though, disliking how the tingly, sticky sauce soaked right through to the rice flour bao in places making it a little soggy and claggy.

Much improved was the Classic bao, which this time around had adopted shredded pork that was almost as fatty, tender and salty as the swine chunks used in the pork confit bao.

Bao Review: Taiwanese Street Food Has Londoners Queuing Down ...

Restaurant Reviews This Taiwanese Street-Food Joint Has Londoners Queuing Down the Road Bao does bao that blows our mind By May 14, 2015, 1:00 AM EDT The queue along Lexington Street in London's Soho is the first clue to the popularity of Bao, a no-reservations Taiwanese street-food joint in Soho.

Source: BAO via Bloomberg But the buns—oh, the buns: They come loaded with beautiful meat, perfectly seasoned.

It flirts with your taste buds, moves through something a little more physical, and reaches the full When Harry Met Sally faster than you can sneeze, "Yes, yes, yes ...." The crumbed daikon bao is served with daikon pickle, hot sauce, and coriander.

Source: BAO via Bloomberg Then the confit pork belly takes charge, crispy shallots providing a crunch contrast to the soft meat.

Bao is at 53 Lexington Street, Soho, London, W1F 9AS; baolondon.com The dining room is small and diners are unlikely to linger.

Bao, restaurant review: 'Street-food-turned-Soho Taiwanese place ...

I and my equally hype-allergic companion Jack decide to have one of everything other than the dishes that are less appealing (century egg, daikon bao).

From the dainty glass of rich, comforting "peanut milk" (£1.50) to the biggest dish, a gooey, pickle- and egg-enriched bowl of guinea fowl chi shiang rice (£6), we sigh little sighs of happiness.

It's clear we've wildly over-ordered but are powerless to stop poking the dishes down (now that sketch becomes more meaningful)… If I had to narrow recommendations for when you visit – and please do, it is so worth the wait – I'd say this: the scallop with yellow-bean garlic (£3.50) is magnificent – the minced garlic softened in a dark, insanely umami sauce with a very good, fresh seared scallop.

We didn't need the house pickles, the sweet-potato chips or the turnip-top side dishes, but all added sugary, savoury, spicy, salty treats.

BAO, 53 Lexington Street, London W1, £50 for two, with soft drinks Four more foodie notes from the past week Sensational last-minute birthday dinner at my neighbourhood Japanese, which is at least the equal of showy West End places.

BAO, London, restaurant review - Telegraph

London’s Soho must be about the best square half-mile in the world for eating out, but we were going to BAO, a Taiwanese street food joint roughly the size and capacity of a decent living room, and nothing was going to stop us.

They wear white lab coats: if it wasn’t for the rich meat smells swimming out from the kitchen, Bao would make a convincing candle or health food shop.

The menu was a glutton’s betting slip: a little paper list of nine starter-like xiao chi, “suitable for sharing”, six of the titular gua bao (steamed white buns, filled with various delicacies) and four sides.

Next was the first bao, filled with fried chicken.

The veggie bao, filled with a fried daikon cake not dissimilar from a hash brown, felt like a bit of a carb crash.

Bao | Restaurants in Soho, London

This slick former street food operation brings Taiwanese cuisine in from the cold, with plenty of hit dishes and a great tea selection.

While it’s based on Taiwanese street food dishes, the kitchen pushes far beyond those boundaries.

Chef David Chang did something similar with Korean food in New York – the Momofuku founder’s steamed buns became a cult food item.

Other sorts of bao (bun) are more slider-like, such as little burger baps wrapped around soy-milk-marinated chicken, sichuan mayo and kimchi.

Xiao chi (small eats) are given equal prominence, reflecting their cult status in Taiwan, where much culinary innovation comes from street food stalls.