It’s a Bao Time

OVERPRICED AND LONG WAIT:
Don’t let the cute pun fool you into walking into this overpriced, mediocre eatery!
Wow, is this bao restaurant pricey relative to the other bao restaurants in the GTA. It cost $ 4.99 per bao and you definitely need 2 baos, a side (eg, their poutine) and a drink for a full meal. As such, it would cost almost $ 20 after taxes for what should be a quick, simple meal. We tried the duck confit bao and it was very dry and chewy. The fish bao was fresher and flakey though and we would recommend it.
We went there at lunch time on a Saturday and the place was almost empty. It should not had taken 15 min for the food to be prepared. There were four of us and it took several trips up to the counter to get our food. They did not serve it all at once to us so that was a little annoying. Also, they do not announce the food is ready so you have to constantly check the counter.
Other bao restaurants with comparable quality costs about $ 3.50 per bao or $ 6.50 for two. We will NOT be returning to this slow and pricey restaurant.

Went with a number of colleagues from work on a Friday afternoon. Was surprised when we showed up and it was empty inside, was hoping that it wasn’t a sign of things to come. I tried three of the bao’s and was very impressed. I’m told some of my friends went back for the banh mi and felt it left a bit to be desired, they decided to get the tacos instead and loved it. I’ve only ever had Mean Bao by the AGO and although I will go back, and loved the food, I do think it was a wee bit overpriced.

I had high hopes for this restaurant, but unfortunately it wasn’t the greatest experience. The location is great, the restaurant has an awesome urban look and the staff is nice. The food however, fell short.
We ordered quite a bit of food and avoided reading other reviews so as not to taint opinions. Overall, the baos were way too big for the small amount of protein used in any of the dishes. Also, the vegetables that are traditionally pickled (carrots, etc.) are not. This is unfortunate, as it would balance out the overpowering sauces they use for the duck confit, beef bulgogi and jerk chicken baos. The popcorn chicken was quite tasty and did not have an oily taste. The fish baos were the favourite, but once again, the baos seemed too large because of the small amount of fish. The piece of actually appeared large, but it was more batter than meat.
This reataurant has a lot of potential and I’m confident that with a few refinements like using pickled veg, larger servings of protein and making the sauces a bit less overwhelming (or simply using less of it — more sauce doesn’t necessarily mean better flavor) this bao joint will get many great reviews
Duck confit bao
Jerk chicken bao
Beef bulgogi bao
Fish bao
Popcorn chicken

At first I was hesitating to come based on the mediocre revies but since we were in the area and hungry, we thought we should give it a try.
To be honest, it was better than expected. We ordered the fish taco, jerk chicken banhmi, pork belly bao and fries. My favourite was definitely the fish taco. The jerk chicken was really good but I think because we ordered the banh mi, I personally like it more on baos. The pork belly bao was better than I expected too and it actually looked better than the other pictures posted. Guessing they are actually making changes based on people’s review. The fries were really good as well.
Overall, it was good, food quality was at least good when we went so would definitely come back to try other things.

I guess more of 2.5 stars. its a good alternative if you are uptown and cant get Banh Mi Boys. Came here on a Friday night, there was a family of 3 in the restaurant and myself and a friend, so it was not busy. The flooring was also slightly sticky, but not sure if that was just the tiles they have.
I got the fried chicken bao, it was frankly quite sloppily put together and falling apart. The lettuce was a bit soggy and the bun felt kinda slimy from it. I also got the Bulgogi kim chi fries, no complaints here. The portion was reasonable, fries were crispy. Enough kimchi, beef and green onions.
I would go back just because its the only place uptown for baos, but would not be running back anytime soon. Just holding your cravings in and go downtown

To be honest, I had put It’s a Bao Time on my ‘To Do’ review list. I couldn’t honestly come up with a review on this one after seeing the negativity on this place.
I’ve never experienced baos, at least not in this kind of modern format, so I don’t really have anything to fall back and base a solid review on how bao’s in this style are meant to be.
My fiancé and I actually stumbled upon this place when we leaving after a dinner’s night out at Kiku AYCE right next door, so we told ourselves we’ll give it a try since it’s something we’ve never ventured.
Upon entering, the place was completely empty. It was just me, my fiancé, two staff members and a TV playing CP24. On first look, I thought the place was kept very clean, has good interior design and straight forward of where you gotta order your food. The one thing that did irk me a little is aside from the main menu right above the cashier, they’ve got specials written on this huge chalk board, that on first glance I thought was just for design. But there was actually a few other food options to be offered and kicked myself in the butt for not looking more carefully.
We both ordered two pork belly steamed baos and a bulgogi kimchi fries to share, or it might be called a poutine, I can’t recall.
On first glance, the food looked really great! Presentation is what I expected of it since it looked relatively close to the menu picture above the cashier area, very Instagram worthy. On a personal level, I grew up never really eating pork so I have a bit of a sensitive pork tongue I guess you could say. The pork belly bao first hit me in the face with this really pungent pork flavour, though, don’t hold this against the restaurant since it’s not their fault, I just didn’t expect the pork flavour to be that strong. For whatever reason it tastes that strongly, I will never know, but after two bites I was done with it. I did like the flavour of whatever sauce was inside, the fresh vegetables and the actual bao bread (?) itself. It was light with that perfect amount of sweetness, I actually wouldn’t mind eating it on it’s own!
The bulgogi kimchi fries were a bit of a disappointment though. The fries were great on their own as they held up their own crispiness and delicious flavour among the heavy hitters of the kimchi and bulgogi. What got me down about this dish was how the kimchi tasted a little old … I know it’s weird to say, but it’s almost as if it was almost ‘over’ fermented I guess? Maybe not enough people order anything with kimchi so their using really old kimchi? I couldn’t really say. The bulgogi was nothing mind blowing. It tastes like my homemade bulgogi when I had first self taught myself how to cook, that’s what it reminded me of.
I really am willing to try It’s a Bao Time another chance since I don’t seem to know any other places like this in the Markham area as I am not as open to travelling downtown. I’m really looking forward to their Japanese karaage bao and their deep fried fish bao which also looked phenomenal!
I will most likely be giving an updated review on It’s A Bao time in the near future.

Nice to finally have an alternative to Banh Mi Boys (BMB) outside the downtown core, but it needs work.
To start, the location in my opinion is definitely not ideal for a brand new restaurant. Located at the back of the Commerce Valley Drive restaurant plaza, «It’s a Bao Time» (IABT) set up camp at part of the space which was once occupied by Go For Tea. If you didn’t know that Go For Tea had closed in that location (like I did) and didn’t stumble upon the restaurant by accident, you’d probably have a hard time trying to figure out where IABT was located.
The restaurant itself is nice and very clean with a very modern and casual vibe to it. Menu board on top of the register/​pick-​up window with lots of seats. I visited on a Friday night and it was fairly empty save for another family dining in. I hope it was only busy due to them being a new business.
Selection was just what I’d expect from a BMB style joint, with pricing I believe to be relatively close to their Toronto counterparts. I ordered the Pork Belly Bao ($ 4.69) and a Beef Bulgogi Banh-​mi ($ 6.89) as well as a Jarrito ($ 3) and waited about 5−10min for my food to come.
The bao was first and I felt it was a fairly decent size. It was definitely packed in nicely with the toppings as per the menu board, however I did find that the meat was clumped together fairly tightly. Same thing happened for my banh-​mi, as I ended up finishing all the meat before I could finish the rest of the sandwich and its other toppings. I do believe that a single banh-​mi alone could’ve filled me up though, as I had some slight regret eating two sandwiches around halfway to finishing my banh-​mi…
Overall not a bad place to go check out if you’re craving baos or banh-mi’s if you’ve got cravings you need to cure AND don’t wanna travel downtown if you’re not from the area. I’ll probably be back once my cravings return!

Dropped in out of curiosity. Got two baos. They tasted good but since it takes two to fill up/​not feel hungry, I think it’s a bit pricey. I think they would benefit if they had a buy one get second half off special.
The baos I tried were the pork belly and the Korean beef bulgogi, wouldn’t get the pork belly again but the beef bulgogi would make a yummy snack. — OH, I did however like how soft and tasty the actual bun was.

You order and pickup your food at the counter when its ready. The place was completely empty when I arrived at around 2:00pm.
Pork bell bao $ 4.69 — the pork belly meat was a bit tough on some parts. The pork belly bao at Mama Bear Taiwanese Cuisine is way, way better. The fatty parts are suppose to melt in your mouth but that didn’t happen at this joint.
Bulgogi bao $ 4.69 — decent amount of meat. There was some kimchii flavours in the veggie parts. Very messy to eat. Sauce is dripping everywhere and it made the bao soggy.
I think specializing in bao’s is not a bad idea since there are not too many around but the quality is not there. The location is terrible located at the back of the plaza. One person taking orders, one person preparing food. Seemed like a high school cafeteria type setup. Its more of a fast food bao at best. Don’t think this place will last much longer.

Tasty morsels packed into a soft Asian bun. I stopped in for a lunch and ordered the battered fish bao, and pork belly bao. The bun is fresh and soft, and the fillings are tasty. The fish was nicely cooked, which can really reveal a bad joint if they can’t get the fish right.
These buns can get messy, so be prepared with enough nappys! Small portions, but that makes it easier to sample multiple items, and at between $ 4 and $ 5 each, variety is on the menu. I need to stop back and try a few more variations.

*Just like the name suggested, the restaurant specialized in baos, but also banh mi and surprisingly Asian fusion tacos!
*Similarly to the concept of Banh Mi Boys, you are supposed to order at the cashier, pick up your food when it’s ready and seat anywhere. However the space at It’s a bao time was more spacious and it was really clean.
*Though It’s a Bao Time is a nice addition to the uptown food scene, sadly to say this place is nothing like Banh Mi Boys or Mean Bao, so don’t come here and expect the food to have the same quality as those restaurants.
–Pork Belly bao (roasted pork belly, lettuce with hoisin mayo) — $ 4.69
For $ 5 the bao was tiny and the pork belly was like a piece of bacon. I could tell the meat was frozen and it lacked any sort of flavors. The vegetables were just… cold lettuce with carrots, thus it would have been better to pickled the carrots to cut the fattiness of the pork belly. There was also supposed to be a hoisin mayo sauce but I couldn’t taste any of it. The bao itself was cold and not as soft as the ones I had in downtown, overall a very disappointing dish.
–Duck Confit taco (peking duck confit, lettuce and hoisin mayo) — $ 4.99
The duck confit was packed with flavors, tender and juicy! I think more sauce would have been nice and the taco shell was able to held all the ingredients together without breaking apart. Again what’s with the raw and bland vegetables?
–Korean Beef Bulgogi (seared Korean beef bulgogi, spicy kimchi, jalapeño, corn, scallion, and bulgogi sauce) — $ 4.99
The beef was soft and really good as well but lacked that sweetness that you often find in Korean beef bulgogi. The taco itself was not too spicy and I found the corn was a nice addition to cut the heat from the jalapeño. My only complain was that there was too much bulgogi sauce, either they added some extra or it came from the meat… I literally picked up the taco and tilted it for a good 20 seconds to get all the sauce out before proceeding.

Finally a place to get baos uptown. The menu was appealing but there was nothing that stood out. The prices were definitely on the higher side, possibly more expensive than downtown. Ordered three baos and the taro chips. Sad to say, everything was disappointing. Was expecting a warm, soft and light bun but instead the bao was wrapped in a checkered parchment paper, which made the bao kind of soggy.
The only good thing was the pork belly, it was a full slice of fatty pork. The other baos only had a bit of meat and was covered in sauce. The slaw on top for all three was the same, some cabbage, carrots, radish and cilantro. It was all wrapped up tightly in paper so it was a messy eat to unwrap. The slaw was falling out and the sauce everywhere on the paper.
Overall, will not comeback here for anything here. There will need to be huge improvements for this place to be considered again.

My husband and I arrived and ordered at 12:17pm and we didn’t get the food until 12:50pm. We could’ve gone somewhere had lunch and be back for the food to arrive.
We ordered the fish Bao, pork belly Bao, beef brisket Bao and bulgogi kimchi fries.
Fish Bao — decent, less bland compared to others
Pork Belly Bao — bland and the pork had an awful taste like a bad cut or about to go rancid.
Beef Brisket Bao — bland and chewy
Bulgogi Kimchi Fries — by far the best dish to order, crispy fries with a good balance of bulgogi, kimchi and sauce.
The reason I gave it one star aside from the poor tasting food, it’s the fact we waited for so long and yet there was no thank you for waiting offered from the lady at the cash. She just handed me the food without a smile.
I should’ve said what my husband suggested, «it’s a Bao time» when we picked up the food after 40mins wait. The name is bang on!

The bao filling was a bit on the small size especially for the price. but flavours were very good on the pork belly bao. the bulgogi kimchi fries also has good flavours but fries are too crispy and the bulgogi all stuck together into one large chunk. There’s a lot of selection of items to choose from, it’s a bit quiet, i think if it was more busy, the food might come a bit hotter. also took a pretty long time for the food to be prepared.

Came here on a Saturday afternoon for lunch. Aside from my group of 3, there was another family that was already there. Ordered the kimchi bulgogi fries, pork belly bao, and Japanese fried chicken bao. Fries were way too crispy, not enough sauce (mayo has no flavor) and bulgogi was too salty. As for the baos, the portion of meat is tiny… However, the bao itself has a nice sweet taste to it.
The three food items ended up being around $ 17, for that price and being around that area it’s overpriced.
Would I come again? Probably not, I’ll give them credit for at least trying to bring something like this to markham and the place itself being very clean.

I visited on a Sunday afternoon and was excited just from their punny name alone. It was also a bao time (sorry not sorry) something came to replace use-​to-​be Go For Tea location.
To start, it was very quiet with only another 4 guests sitting down. Maybe it was an odd time (3pm), or maybe most people ordered take out. The service was average, nothing spectacular.
I ordered a Korean Beef Bulgogi steamed bao, as well as a Pork Belly steamed bao. Sadly I was disappointed with both of them — the Korean Beef Bulgogi had some flavours but lacked harmony. To be fair, it may just be a personal preference to keep kimchi (spicy sour) separate from bulgogi sauce (sweet). The Pork Belly lacked any sort of taste. Quite literally, it was made with a slice of pork belly and cold lettuce. While there was Hoisin mayo, I could barely taste anything.
While I’m giving them two stars (one for idea and one for cleanliness), I don’t think this was worth the price/​effort. However, I do believe that the restaurant can easily improve their recipes by experimenting and perhaps reading the reviews they’ve been receiving thus far.
I will consider coming back if they improve.

Had high expectation as Asian is known for their baos! Before I head there on a Sunday morning, my friend was warning me to expect long wait. Arrived the shop with instant seatings. To be fair I think this place is a good option for a quick weekday lunch. However being uptown with so many cheap Asian meal option, this will not be my go to place. Bao is thick and dry, not enough meat and on pricy side. I prefer mean bao downtown way over this shop, cheaper tastier and better quality bao. Quite disappointed:(

Majorly disappointing.
The actual bao buns are large, but the meat fillings are sparse. My pork belly bao had one slice of pork belly inside the large palm-​sized bao, whereas most bao places would supply you with two. The bulgogi beef bao had roughly a tablespoon of beef in it.
I could forgive this meaty frugality, but on top of this it was altogether just super bland. If there was any sauce in there, it must’ve been a minuscule amount because it was like eating raw, dry vegetables in an equally dry, plain piece of bread.
The taro fries, while they tasted OK, were mostly small leftover crumbs like they were scraped out from the bottom of the fryer (like little taro Tic-​Tacs!). $ 5 is a hefty price to pay for this.
Ditto for the price of a bottle of water — regular cans of pop are sold at ~$ 1.50 and Jarritos and other bottled soda goes at $ 2.50. A bottle of water (not Fiji or anything expensive) also goes at $ 2.50. Yikes.
Two stars only for the polite staff.
Sadness.

Today is the second day for operations at this new establishment and I would have thought that they’d have a grand opening special but that was only the first day…
Me and my boyfriend ordered a battered fish Bao and pork belly Bao. I thought the fish Bao wasn’t bad but my boyfriend said the pork was way too greasy.
The beef brisket bahn mi was spicy so be cautious. They didn’t cut it in half which I thought was super annoying. The beef portion was really small but my boyfriend thought it was okay. I didn’t enjoy it at all and stopped after one bite.
The kimchi bulgogi fries were terrible unfortunately. The texture of the beef sucks, the flavour of the beef wasn’t good, and the fries were dry. It lacked sauce. It was just fries, beef and kimchi. Bahn mi boys is 100x better.
Prices are expensive for Bao and banh mi. I don’t care for price considering I spend more money than normal people’s rent on a monthly basis but there needs to be quality and that doesn’t exist here.
It’s too bad. I wonder if it will survive and if it wants to, it’s going to need to adapt and change. This place is nothing like bahn mi boys so don’t come here expecting that.
Again, this is only the second day of operation so maybe they haven’t figured it out… Time will tell.
This is part of the space that used to be go for tea.

So today was grand opening day so we decided to check out the place during lunch. We’ve probably went on the wrong day because they weren’t ready to serve a huge crowd. It’s a fast food style resto. You go up and order and wait for your number to be called. Order taking was slow. Food took a while to come out. They definitely need some kind of microphone system because people could barely hear the numbers being called out.
We’re order fish bao, pork belly bao, taro fries and kimchi fries. I’m use to huge portions for the price I’ve paid. Eating one bao for lunch is not enough. I would need at least 2 baos. The bao does taste good — in fact both the pork belly and fish was good. The pork belly was melt in your mouth goodness. The bao itself is fluffy with a slight sweetness to it. It was perfect. The taro fries in my opinion was pretty awful. It tasted like stale soggy fries. There was no crunch what so ever. The amount of dipping sauce provided was a joke. The kimchi fries on the other hand is much better.
The price tag for a bao is just under $ 5, so imagine order 2, that’s like $ 10 just to fill your tummy. If you want kimchi fries, tag on another $ 6. There’s so many other options in the area in that price range. At least right now they are doing a grand opening special of 10% off, so if you want to give it a try, you should go now.
Would I go back? Probably not, unless I happen to be not too hungry and I just wanted a snack for lunch.