Location: London, United Kingdom
Cuisine: Taiwanese
I am thrilled to discuss one of my favourite London restaurants: BAO. The establishment has two restaurants, one in Soho and one in Fitzrovia. The Soho location is characterised by infamous long lines full of eager bao-fans. The Fitzrovia location takes reservations. Though the menus differ, both restaurants centre around the delicious bao.
You may ask, what is a bao? To start, baozi are a type of steamed, filled bun in various Chinese cuisines. Depending on the region of China, these buns will never in preparation and taste. A specific type, called Gua Bao (刈包) is a popular snack food in Taiwan and Fujian. It is a sort of open buns stuffed with meat and/or other toppings. The traditional filling for gua bao is a slice of red-cooked porkbelly, typically dressed with stir-fried suan cai (pickled mustard greens), cilantro, and ground peanuts. Sounds pretty yummy right? They are also known as Taiwanese hamburgers!
BAO in London is inspired by these Taiwanese baos. They are constantly innovating their menu and there is not a bad bao on the list. The restaurant also has other Taiwanese dishes.
As you can see from these photos, we ordered a range of items. While I do not eat meat, I still had plenty to taste. We even ordered the dessert, which is what that funky looking burrito up there is. Highly recommend it! Everything is delicious and mouthwatering in its own right, but the baos are really the stars of the show.
Come and try some baos! With a fun menu and DIY ordering system, you are in for a treat. Wait in line in Soho or make a reservation in Fitzrovia.
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