BAO London

A Little Taste of Taiwan

For anything, queuing is uniquely London; lines may sometimes stretch back interminably for whatever event. However, queuing for a restaurant is relatively unheard of. The nature of queuing outside a restaurant either means one of two things: either their management is poor, or the food is just too good. The restaurant BAO is definitely in the latter half – and for good reason too.

There’s no beating around the bush: queuing is a part of the experience for this restaurant. There are no reservations: first-come, first-served. It opens at half-past five; and yet, the queue has already formed outside the restaurant long before. Passers-by might mistake the queue to be for a bus, but it’s all too familiar for the customers: whether they’re first-timers, or regular attendees, they all acknowledge the wait. It’s easy to discern the novices: naively entering the place, told to queue up with the rest, balking at the quickly forming line. They then either join or leave; just depends if they have the patience.

Once ushered in, the realisation at how small the restaurant is sinks in: there’s no more than thirty seats available. A small piece of paper is placed on the table; this is the menu, made to be written down on, similar to a list. There’s three options: ‘xiao chi’ (literally meaning ‘small eats’), ‘gua bao’ (the eponymous white buns), and the sides – the most expensive item is six pounds. The staff suggest two buns to each person – the reason becomes clear a little later.

One reason why two are recommended might be due to the difficult choice to make: countless reviews pour in, proclaiming the ‘classic’ is the best, whilst others swear by the ‘fried chicken’ option. It’s hard to choose just one which reigns supreme over the others – as a compromise, why not have two and decide for yourself? The food soon arrives, and there’s another reason why two are needed: the portions are relatively small, quickly finished within the space of a minute. Finishing such a small portion makes it difficult to appreciate the tastes, but, surely enough, everyone seems to love what they’ve chosen. To wash it down, there’s one more decision: browse through a wide selection of beer, wine, and tea, or have another bao, a ‘fried Horlicks ice cream’ option.

No one likes to queue, and the owners accept that: during the wait, the staff go out and ask whether they would like any refreshments while they wait; never ignorant on their demand, it’s a nice touch to subtly say: ‘thank you for being patient with us’. Its atmosphere is a direct reference to its humble beginnings. Having started out as street food, its owners would never have predicted this much fanfare over its dishes. Furthermore, it harks back to up-and-coming restaurants in Taiwan, where this was very much the norm: small, crowded areas for businesses that had no time to expand their shop for fear of losing their customers. It’s often regarded as a reference point of how well your restaurant is doing.

BAO currently has three branches: one in Soho, one in Fitzrovia, and its origins in Netil Market. Its Fitzrovia branch is regarded as a grown up version of the Soho branch: a space to watch chefs work below, and a space for dining and cocktails above. BAO has had many rave reviews, and it doesn’t seem to be stopping; it manages to offer relatively inexpensive food, staying true to its origins of street food. BAO adopts a modern approach to food, whilst still referencing its roots, to offer a fantastic cultural experience of Taiwanese food.

Soho branch: 53 Lexington St, W1F 9AS
Fitzrovia branch: 31 Windmill St, W1T 2JN
Netil Market: 13-23 Westgate St, E8 3RL