BAO Bar

The original BAO destination in London. Known for our steamed buns and range of contemporary Taiwanese dishes. We have 3 locations in London.

BAO

http://www.baolondon.com

Reviews and related sites

Cha Chaan Teng UK | Playful Fusion Chinese Restaurant - Holborn ...

This is ‘Cha Chaan Teng’ reimagined, remastered, and given a playful twist.

The spirit of a traditional Hong Kong Cha Chaan Teng with a heavy dose of contemporary London attitude – serving comforting Chinese classics, alongside curious fusion concoctions.

The sumptuous and kitsch subterranean diner, fuses 1950’s Pan Am decadence with the buzzing cafe culture of the original Cha Chaan Teng.

With a shot of modern Asian street art and a 1970s soul/funk soundtrack, our Cha Chaan Teng has been brought kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

BAO

Review analysis
food  

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 Bar returns to Netil Market | Latest news | Gastroblog | Hot Dinners

Still can't quite muster up the willpower to tackle that queue for Bao in Soho, but are missing their buns?

Well from this weekend an alternative is available as the Bao stall returns to Netil Market.

So from Saturday July 25, you can expect (along with some  Taiwan Gold Medal beer): Bao Bar will be at Netil Market, 13-23 Westgate Street, London E8 3RL every Saturday from noon to 3pm.

Cha Chaan Teng, London WC2: 'This is frankenfood' – restaurant ...

Review analysis
food   staff   drinks   menu  

It gives me the kind of shame I’d feel if I woke up post-bender to find myself the fifth Mrs Gregg Wallace It’s hard to do justice to the first thing we eat here, a version of the popular dim sum spring onion pancakes, cong you bing, but with added kale.

This homage to Hong Kong’s classic Chinese-western “tea cafes” is, well, bizarre, from the menu with its winks in the direction of cha chaan teng staples (macaroni soup, peanut butter and condensed milk toast, a rash of Spam) to the service.

And one of those trumpeted macaroni soups is less Hong Kong’s Mido Cafe and more an assault on the burgeoning ramen market, in which greyish chicken thigh meatballs, fried egg and a slab of kimchi jostle with lashings of gochujang.

I eat it with perverse pleasure; it gives me the kind of clammy shame I’d feel if I woke up post-bender to find myself the fifth Mrs Gregg Wallace.

The menu from the Mido Cafe, where I first had the famous silk stocking milk tea and condensed milk toast, might have limited appeal: omelettes, “raw egg with boil water”, a million iterations of the same soy-drenched instant noodles.

Bao | Restaurants in Soho, London

Review analysis
food   drinks   staff  

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.

Netil Market | Shopping in South Hackney, London

Review analysis
food  

While Broadway Market is clogged with whippet-walkers, busking indie bands and buggies, Netil Market (just a gourmet loaf's throw away) is an altogether more sedate affair.

It’s the brainchild of a local creative community based nearby at Netil House which has focused on giving space to local designers, and spills out of a little yard just behind the main building, with vintage homewares lined up along the pavement to welcome you in.

On top of a dozen permanent stands – among them a bike mechanic, a coffee roaster, a vintage glasses shop and a florist – there are extra market stalls that move in every Saturday, selling mainly crafts, clothes and trendy homewares.

The wildly successful Taiwanese restaurant Bao found its feet in Netil Market, and their permanent bao bar has a just-as permanent queue.

The market's open from 11am-6pm every Saturday, and there's some seating for those who prefer not to eat on their feet.

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