Bao

Un mini resto dans Soho, juste à côté du pub John Snow haha ! Ils servent de la cuisine asiatique plutôt «moderne»: des minis bao burgers excellents. Leur petite taille permet d’en prendre 2 par personne et donc d’en goûter plusieurs ! Ils servent également d’autres plats en petites portions pour que vous partagiez entre vous ! En fait c’est comme un restaurant de tapas ! Ils vous conseillent très bien sur les choix et expliquent très bien les contenus des plats.
Mention spéciale et incontournable: le classic bao, le pulled pork bao, les chips de kale, le boeuf tranché, le bao sucré frit avec la glacé en dessert. L’adresse est de très bon rapport qualité prix, de mémoiré on en a eu pour 25/​30£ chacune, avec un cocktail, pourboire compris (nous étions 4).

Pour un midi, entre deux temps de shopping, ça convient parfaitement !!!
Avec mon amie, nous nous en sommes sorties pour 25£ à deux pour :
— deux bao au poulet frit
— un bao classique au porc
— du poulet frit épicé
— des aubergines miso servies avec une sorte de chips
— des frites de patate douce
Tout était bon mais très épicé ! Si vous n’aimez pas trop, ce n’est même pas la peine d’y aller, tout est épicé !
C’est vrai que la pâte à bao était vraiment bien réussie par rapport à celles qu’on peut manger chez SaAm ou chez Siseng qui né sont pas aussi moelleuses mais un peu plus élastique. Là, elle fondait vraiment littéralement dans la bouche et ça donnait une impression de légèreté folle. Les deux baos était délicieux, j’ai peut être eu une petite préférence pour le bao classique au porc effiloché qui était sucré salé avec une sauce épicée et des cacahuètes croustillantes, c’était limpide, c’était douuux comme dirait Fricotte !
Le poulet frit épicé était très bon aussi, le poulet était d’un fondant à l’intérieur ! On sentait qu’il avait été mariné plusieurs heures dans du lait fermenté ou je né sais quoi. Ca se mange sans faim ça !
Les frites de patates douces n’étaient pas toutes mollassonnes donc bon point !!! J’aurai juste rajouté un peu de gros sel par dessus histoire de bien marquer le gout mais c’était très correct.
Mon amie a beaucoup aimé l’aubergine a manger avec la chips. C’était pas mal, épicé, mais un peu gras et écoeurant.
J’en garde un très bon souvenir, en plus le cadre est agréable, je reviendrai !

The food is nice especially the sweet potato fries! But have to queue in the cold weather for around 30 – 40 mins as the shop is quite small and they’ve limited seats. Food portion not that big but you can try as many as you want. The most expensive food on the menu is only 6£ :)

Alright. You going to have to lineup but it’s definitely worth it. This was one of the most delicious lunches I have had in London. Grab yourself a coffee/​beer/​champagne piccolo and lineup properly– make it part of your bao experience.
When you get a table (yay!) you order from a cute Taiwanese style ‘fill in the number’ menu. Be hungry and order as much as you can if not everything. They will tell you which ones you need to order ‘1 per person’ of. The space is teenie tiny so eat in pairs or three max or you probably won’t fit. It’s light and it has maxed out on space utilisation.
On the menu you have 4 types of bao; classic (with a nice dusting of peanuts), confit pork (melt in your mouth pork belly), lamb (wow), fried chicken (which is more like a small slider). and an icecream bao. You also have lots of delicious starters and sides. There are the most amazing mushrooms, peppery scallops, pig’s blood pudding with an egg, trotter nuggets, an aubergine dip Taiwan style, fried chicken, beef and guinea fowl rice. Then there are sides of calvero nero with salted egg, pickles like you have never had them before and sweet potato chips.
If I were to chose something to recommend then I would say all of it. The bao is soft and fluffy. There is a great spice through all of the dishes and there is a nice balance of fried and veg, soft and crunchy.
All of the staff are great. The drinks list looks good. I’d start lining now…

When I read about a Taiwanese bun house that had opened up close to work, I had to try it out. As I approached Lexington street I could see what looked like an ad hoc bus stop — it was in fact the queue for Bao! A bit anxious that this may take too long for a lunch break, I joined the ever growing queue. After a short while a Bao staff came out and took in the solo diners — including me!
The restaurant atmosphere is cosy, and the staff members are polite. The menu is simplistic yet informative. I went for the crispy chicken with sesame buns with kimchi! Mmm! A small bun, but boy does it taste good! The peanut milk is also very cool and something I talk about at dinner gatherings a lot. Overall 4/​5, as cost was a little high for what you get — getting there early for lunch is advised as the queue can grow very fast!

When compiling a list of places to eat for a visit in London, BAO came up on my radar though Buzzfeed as a tasty place that had affordable dishes (though can quickly get pricy as you order a number of things since sizes are small).
There’s a queue that starts across the street. I went around 6−7pm and it was a good 45 min wait so maybe grab a pint at the pub on the same block to drink while in line. Was the food worth the wait? Yes. Is it worth the wait and price? Maybe once awhile.
The Pork Bao and Scallops were stand-​outs for me. Ambience was easygoing and service was great. The owner sometimes comes out to chat with people. Worth a visit if you can find a time where there isn’t a huge queue and you’re in the move for some bao.

3.5 stars for food
2 stars for price
The baos are good, but I wouldn’t go back and pay such a high price for such small portions after having waited in such a long queue. Even my tea was served in a tiny vessel — for two pounds I would expect more than a few sips.

Firstly, I love this place. I had waited for Bao to open a proper place since discoering it in Netil Market in East London and their little food shack.
Taiwanese street food, mainly of Bao bun form was a winner when I had gone to visit the market. Unfortunately like what seemed 100 others I queued up, in the rain, on a Saturday morning for what seemed like an hour. But I wanted to try this food bad. And boy was it worth it.
So upon sorting a meet to try the new shop in Soho, I again waited. this time for an hour. It was like Groundhog Day. It’s also the main reason why I cannot give this place 5 stars. It has ALWAYS got a queue. Whatever the time of day. Well ok maybe if you go about 2.36pm por something I’m sure it isn’t as bad.
But let me tell you about the food. There isn’t a bad thing on the menu. At all. I loved it. All of it. My favourite being the lamb bao, blood cake with egg and the guinea fowl mix bowl. You could get anything and be happy. Though I heard a murmur that maybe the bao buns might be smaller here.
I do love that they are social media happy, which means that they are very open to suggestions and a lot of ‘off menu’ items. So start mixing items… like putting an egg in a bao, or a blood cake in it, or doing something a bit photo worthy. If you ask nicely of course. And yeah, come as early from work as possible! Either that or bring a bottle of beer for the queue!

Brought here by another Unilocaled initially, I thought I would return for some Bao classics. That was rather nice and they had lots of other finger food which I was surprised could fill me up, but it did. The sake was pretty poor though and quite expensive I thought. Overall it appears this little number is well know tourist destination spot and u may have to queue a little outside. You can take in the public health history of the place as the snowy pub will inform those in the know.

Open in April 2015, Bao is one of the new trendy ‘it’ places to go in London.
Queues start at the opposite side of the road and lasts for around 30 mins.
Inside it is toasty and cosy with basic ikea style furniture.
The menu selection is pretty small — around 15 items to choose from. The waitress recommended we have 2 bao’s each (a sort of Chinese burger) and 10 other items to share between the 4 of us. We ended up ordering 2 bao’s each and 7 items to share between us which was plenty!
The items we ordered were a bit hit and miss (hence the 4 stars). The chicken bao was crazy delicious but the pork bao was too fatty and the lamb bao was just ok. From the shared items: again the Taiwanese chicken was delicious as was the scallops in yellow bean garlic, but the aubergine won ton was way too salty and the beef soup disappointingly unbeefy.
Prices per dish range from 3 – 5 pounds, but they are small and add up quickly.
Service was helpful and friendly even though it was rammed pack.
Overall I’m glad we went but wouldn’t do the 30 minute queue again!

We came here around 6pm and surprisingly the line wasn’t as long as I expected. About 6 couples waiting ahead of us. Which was about a 25 min wait. Quickly the line became very long — so try get there early if you don’t wanna wait.
Inside is very small. Although not cramped you’re very close to other people. Not a problem for me, to be honest, but we were sat next the worst couple ever — the GF was too loud and actually the worst person I’ve encountered in a long time. I won’t go into it too much butttttt they were annoying and distracting. :-)
Staff are very friendly and everything is served quickly and promptly. #Win
The food is very good! Like very very good.
The bao were tasty — we had the classic, lamb shoulder and fried chicken. I liked the classic a lot — tender pork with amazing flavours. The fried chicken was lovely also. I didn’t enjoy the lamb as much — I thought it was a bit too spicy and oily.
The beef strip was amazing! So tender and the flavours were subtle but delicious.
The trotter nuggets were great. I’m guessing by the name it’s pig foot meat that shaped my fried nugget.
The sweet potato chips were good; chunky, battered and had a nice drizzle of hot sauce on them.
Now here’s my problem. The portions. And I am not a big eater.
The bao are much smaller than the pictures suggest. I can easily pick one up with my forefinger and thumb. The server recommended 2 each but I think at least 3 is needed.
The beef strip is not a strip but more tiny patches of meat — delicious delicious meat, did I mention.
The trotter nuggets were okay — I think about 4 of small nugglets were in a portion.
The chips — there were no more than 10 fries in there. C’mon!
So to conclude, I like Bao. I really like the food. I just can’t eat here unless I plan on eating afterward or if I eat 4 – 5 buns and 2 starters each.

I have seen the crazy looking queues for this restaurant and always thought to myself «ppfffttt you won’t catch me queuing for some damn food» …HOWEVER, last night I put my pride all the way to the side and decided to finally see what the fuss was all about!
It hadn’t reopened yet for the dinner service but there were people still waiting! Yup! I joined them!
I was let in and it was very straight forward. Sit down and write the quantity of each item you desire… short but sweet menu!
I had the fried chicken Bao and the Guinea fowl chi shiang rice to begin with! HOW DO THEY PACK SO MUCH FLAVOUR IN SUCH MINISCULE THINGS??? They were positively delicious! I also had some rose and honey tea which made me feel like the emperor of China!
I was about to ask for the bill when I saw the words … «FRIED HOLLICKS ICE CREAM» … Not even the Black Plague could’ve made me leave after that! I ordered it of course and it was deliciously sinful! The donut in my opinion could be a tad bit softer but the ice cream is to dieeeeeeeee for!
Only criticism… The portions are a little too small in my opinion. I’m not a greedy guts or anything but if I pay £5 for a chicken bun I want it to be at least bigger than my toe! And nothing there was bigger than that toe and NOOOO I don’t have a massive toe either .So one could argue the value for money point … All together I paid £19 for the three plates and tea. It’s an experience so if you want something different go there! But if you want to eat well for under £20 .not the place.

Pros:
Ordered the Classic, Lamb Shoulder (highly recommended) and Confit Pork. I enjoyed the lamb shoulder the most that had a slight minty taste to it. The BAOs (buns) were super soft and fluffy.
If you are feeling a little adventurous you should try the Pig Blood Cake, would say it is an acquired taste.
Please order the Fried Horlicks Ice Cream, you won’t even want to share it!
Cons:
Appreciate the cute compact setting on but the interior space is pretty limited. Suitable for singles and couples, not quite a good setting for people with large groups (anything more than 4).
Due the limited space, it’s not stroller friendly. Also there are staffs walking in and out with hot food it’s probably not very suitable if you have an active kid. Also not a place you’d stick around for too long.
Quite a queue during lunch and dinner hours. Upon arrival you’d think there isn’t a queue but there would be one opposite the shop with a little BAO sign to indicate the queue line.
Price: Friendly :)

The food here is DELICIOUS.
The super friendly staff sat me and didn’t peep even if I said I was still waiting for a friend (and that friend turned out to be 15 minutes late), if you know how busy this place gets you’d know why this is a big deal. It was lunchtime and it was packed, and I hear if you come here at dinner you’re very likely to find a queue outside the door.
The place is extremely small, they’ve managed to cramp together a few tables so they might fit at least 15 people. Some of the seating spaces are around the bar, and at the end of the room there’s the hole in the wall from which you can spy on the kitchen.
I ordered a classic bao bun (they suggest at least three per head but… diet), one of their rump steak small plates (my favourite thing so far, even though it’s probably no more than 50g of beef) and the mushroom and egg thing. Of which I forget the name.
My friend also ordered the aubergine with the wonton fries and it was indeed tasty.
One thing that really threw me off (but that’s me) is that you could see they were washing glasses and they were LEAVING THEM OUT TO DRY WHEN THEY WERE STILL SOAPY.
I do not understand why people in the UK do this. WHY PEOPLE, WHY U NO RINS?
Anyway, I think it’s super weird but they’re not the only ones so not worth taking down another star for that. The one missing is merely because of how tiny the space is, and I do like a bit of space besides my elbows when I eat.
Also, the portions are a lot tinier than what they seem on the pictures. Amazingly tasty though, will definitely go back.

A place of mixed feelings. While there was a queue it was nice to have a Sam smith pint from the nearby John Snow while waiting. After about a 25 minute wait on a Saturday night (less than the waiter told us) we sat in a cramped table and immediately ordered:
Pickles– interesting flavors, sour
Classic bao– good flavor combination of succulent pork and bread crumbs.
Lamb shoulder bao– great meat and came with jalepeno kick
Pork confit bao– tasty but fatty
Beef strips– disappointing dish, thin rare slices of beef with little flavor and far too much fat. Unfortunate as we were choosing between this and the fried chicken.
Aubergine– tasty compote like dish on crunchy wonton.
Ice cream bao– thought it was all fried, turned out to be creamy ice cream in between a fried bao.
2 Taiwan beers– at £4.5 per can as far less than a pint, hardly a deal
Overall the baos were tasty, as well as the aubergine, but for over £40 for the meal, it seemed a little steep for street food. Also wish the couple next to us didn’t comment o every dish we ordered.

This small restaurant is worth queuing for and yes you will be queuing.
There’s very limited seats inside but the turn around is quite fast. I would recommend to go at lunch and a bit outside the usual 1 — 2pm to avoid the queue.
The food is delicious, although the portion are a bit small: we took 2 Bao and 1 side each. I could have eaten more, but I was a bit conscious of the price (between £5-£7 for a bun, that ended up being an expensive lunch).
That being said, the food is really worth the money and the wait.
Service is great.

Just a few things so you know what you’re getting in for.
1. Waiting: The place itself is tiny, so unless you come at a really random time you’ll probably have to wait a bit. The line is across the street in front of a sign with their logo. The wait goes by relatively fast though.
2. Fast: The food comes out super fast once inside — with that little space their service is top notch. While in line you might be given a menu to mark down what you want to quicken the pace.
3. Tiny: The place, the food. The bathroom itself is a little larger than an airplane toilet. Make sure you order enough — the bao’s are about the size of your palm. I ordered a tea, and the pot was about the size of a Bao as well. Seriously have never been served a drink so miniscule before. You just look at it and are you like — is this a toy? What.
4. Satisfaction: Everything I got here was very good. I would recommend getting the Confit Bao, Pig Blood Cake, Sweet Potato Crisps and Horlick Ice Cream.

Omg! It is totally worth the wait! It has been a while since I got this foodgasm and although London food scene is very attractive, only few restaurants can hit the right spots.
I tried the chicken and the lamb bao and both were flavourful and perfectly balanced. The sweet potatoes fries are a must and the garlicky scallop was a nice spicy touch. I didn’t try the iced/​fried Horlick ice cream because I was having desserts in an another place but would definitely come back!
Nevertheless to say that the team there is efficient and super nice!
Super recommended!

Great little place to go in Soho if you’re craving some cheap and tasty small bites!
We arrived at 8pm and there was a 30 – 40 minute wait. We followed suit with others in the queue who were grabbing drinks from the pub next door which was a great idea. even if it did mean that we were a little tipsy by the time we were seated in the restaurant!
We ordered quite a big variety of food as we were so hungry by the time we made it in. The spicy fried chicken and the pork ‘nuggets’ were pretty tasty. I’m not usually a fan of fried foods but the fried chicken tasted like good quality chicken breast (with no bones). We got an order of the sweet potato fries, which were coated in a light batter making them nice and crispy.
My husbands favourite dish was the guinea fowl rice– it was very flavourful and came as quite a substantial portion. It does come with pickles on top which I found a little overpowering — I’d ask them to leave these off next time. My favourite dish was the scallop– it came served on a clam shell and had a really interesting zesty dressing!
As for the bao, we shared a lamb bao and a confit pork bao. Both were delicious– the lamb bao has a Mediterranean flavour to it which I particularly enjoyed. We also finished with the ice cream bao. I have to say that I didn’t love it. but maybe I’m just not a huge fan of Horlicks.
Overall we had a really nice meal– we ordered one too many dishes for the two of us as we left feeling rather full! We will definitely be back, perhaps not at peak time as arguably I don’t think it is worth a half hour wait…

I am seriously obsessed with Baos! I just want to eat all the Baos in the world, so when i found out about this special place i knew i had to try it. But apparently i wasnt the only one. I already knew this place is always crazy busy with loooong queues…
Eventually decided to give it a go as was finishing work relatively early, or lets say on time! Got there for 6pm… Still too late, an hours queue on the other side of the road… But we waited… Patiently…
Ohhh, it was worth it! Awesome menu — a selection of 5 savoury baos & lots of little sides. Wonderful — the baos were great — we tried them all (except the veggie one!). Couldnt pick a favourite to be honest, porks are classics but chicken was surprisingly good and of course the lamb!
Actually one dissapointment (aside the queue!) The ice cream bao. Really nothing interesting, super ordinary. Basically ice cream with a bun! Would have prefered anothet chicken bao :)
Wonderful choice of sides as well — check out the photos to see what we tried, all wonderful! Couldnt pick a favourite either.
Ive got to go back to have some more of the same and try the rest of the starters… But need to figure out whens the best time to go and not queue, im assuming weekend late afternoon… I dont know but i need more bao in my life!
Side note to the staff — all particularly smiley and friendly!!!

Holy smokes I have been here twice already in the space of a month, notwithstanding that horrendous long queue across the road. So how was it?
MMm I kinda like Bao as you can get stuff here which reminds you of SE Asia which you can’t really get anywhere else around Central London.
Highly recommended items to order:
Peanut Milk (Yes, a glass of milk, with peanuts in it)
Horlicks Ice Cream (This reminds me of Fried Man Tou (buns) which Chinese people use condensed milk to dip into)
Confit Pork bun — I love the almond toppings, gives it that hint of sweetness, beware sometimes this gets oily
The aubergine crisps are quite cool to order once to try.
I didn’t like pig blood with the egg on it, sorry.
Fried chicken was too deep fried for me. Also it was quite spicy.
Service is fast. Place is tiny. If they didn’t have fast service that queue outside will be even more horrendous.
Come in a pair of 2. You will then get seated quickly. If you turn up at 11:50am you will get seated even more quickly. If you get there at 12:05 prepare to wait 10 minutes. Don’t think that if you come at 9pm you will get seated quickly. No, there will still be a queue outside. All day long.
There is one toilet and the way you get in reminds me of toilets on airplanes. Interesting?!
PS: The lady who deals with the queue is so awesome.

I’ve been a fan of Bao for I think as long as I’ve been in London. They’ve been a street food staple and are always delicious.
So when I learned they were opening their first real spot, my heart did little happy flips.
Turns out though, the spot is tiny. Only a little bigger really than their street food stall. And since they do not take reservations, are in the heart of Soho and quick, cheap and delicious, there is going to be a queue.
Wait in it. Or show up early and do an early dinner so you don’t have to queue. But either way, go.
We queued, and it moved quickly. I think we waited for maybe like ¹⁵⁄₂₀ minutes and this was at prime 8pm time, so not bad at all. You’re seated at tiny shared tables and everything is compact so much you’re going to bump into people or just be close to them all night.
You order off a paper menu that you make tick marks next to what you want. And oh man, the food we tried was good. Stand outs include the pulled pork bun and the lamb bun, both similar in design but different in flavour. I loved the lamb one. Mmm. The rice that came with an egg you mixed in yourself was tasty. And the beer strips, while small, were perfect.
Couple disappointments: the fried chicken was covered in hot sauce that was more spice than flavour, making it hard to eat. Sad, as it was really well fried too. And they ran out of their legendary fried ice cream bun, which I was really craving.
Still, the food is good, fast, cheapish (everything costs about a fiver) and it’s a fun atmopshere. If they were trying to capture the feeling of their street food stall, they nailed it.

Vous devez absolument tester Bao et quoi que vous preniez je suis sûre que vous allez vous régaler !
Le soir pour le dîner en arrivant vers 19h20 nous avons attendu une petite heure pour enfin avoir une table mais l’attente en vaut vraiment la chandelle ! Nous avons rarement aussi bien mangé et surtout ce sont les meilleurs Bao que nous avons mangé de notre vie ! Nous y sommes même retournés le lendemain midi car nous rentrions le soir même à Paris pour avoir un dernier moment d’extase culinaire chez Bao ! Cette fois là nous n’avons attendu qu’une vingtaine de minute car nous sommes arrivés 5 minutes avant l’ouverture et que nous étions dans les 30 premiers (il y a 30 places assises).
Nous avons testé toutes les sortes de Bao sauf celle aux légumes et qu’est ce qu’ils sont bons !
Le bao au poulet frit ressemble à un burger au poulet pané. C’est une merveille au niveau texture ! Le bao est moelleux à souhait, le poulet frit parfaitement, 2 sauces, l’une douce et l’autre bien piquante, elles se complètent parfaitement bien !
Nous avons goûté le bao classique à base de porc caramélisé, de cacahuètes, d’herbes fraîches, une merveille ! Cette fois ci il s’agit d’un bao plus plat, comme une pita ! Il est délicieux ! Moelleux, croquant, fondant… Le rêve !
Celui à l’agneau et l’autre au porc confit sont autant délicieux, pour résumer il s’agit ici des Bao parfaits (autant les brioches que leurs garnitures).
Les accompagnements sont également incroyables ! Le cake au boudin noir est subtil, les frites de patate douce sont exquises: ultra croquantes et fondantes à l’intérieur avec une petite sauce du style ketchup qui va parfaitement bien avec, les chips de raviolis servis avec un caviar d’aubergine bien relevé sont excellentes et la petite salade est parfaite, douce et aigre à la fois !
Les serveuses sont d’une grande gentillesse, la nôtre nous a même reconnu le lendemain midi !
Ils vous conseilleront de prendre 2 bao et 1 accompagnement mais honnêtement si vous avez faim c’est très juste !
Le soir nous avons opté pour 3 bao chacun et 2 accompagnements à partager, c’était pile la quantité idéale pour le soir.
Le midi nous en avons pris 4 plus un accompagnement chacun. A la fin j’étais vraiment bien calée mais pas au point de me sentir lourde.
Puis c’est tellement bon… Mon ventre n’est peut-​être pas des plus objectif !
L’addition peut vite monter si vous comptez manger en quantité correcte 50 £ le soir et près de 60£ le midi pour deux personnes car nous avons un peu plus mangé mais ça les vaut largement, surtout à Londres !
ps: Pour ceux qui connaissent Siseng à Paris, ça fait franchement revoir son jugement… Leur bao burger né paraissent plus aussi bons d’autant que chez Bao ils ont aussi leur bao burger au poulet pané donc on peut faire facilement la comparaison et c’est plus que nettement meilleur ici. Ils me semblent désormais simplement moyens à Paris et pourtant je les aime énormément ! Idem pour les frites de patate douce qui sont franchement d’un autre monde chez Bao ! C’est juste que chez Bao on côtoie la perfection, simplement.