london: bao, soho.
i ate a lot in london (and C, who has the stomach of a bird, had no choice but to try to keep up). it makes sense, then, for me to blog about what i ate. i usually plan our food pitstops, but we chanced upon bao in the most singaporean way ever. we were wandering around in soho, rounded a corner, spotted a queue for a restaurant that was across the street, and decided to just join the queue. of course, after that, we googled as to what exactly we were queueing for, and it enticed us enough to stay in the queue.
we'd really lucked out, though, because we'd reached just prior to them opening for lunch. even so, we waited for about half an hour.
we were handed an order chit while in the queue. so many things on the menu tempted me it was hard to narrow it down (figuring that the baos were minuscule in portion we were planning for this to just be a snack). with the help of google we made our decision, and proceeded to entertain ourselves by watching people go up to the storefront, ask for a table, then get told by the staff that the queue was there, and... *cue shocked face*.
we were handed an order chit while in the queue. so many things on the menu tempted me it was hard to narrow it down (figuring that the baos were minuscule in portion we were planning for this to just be a snack). with the help of google we made our decision, and proceeded to entertain ourselves by watching people go up to the storefront, ask for a table, then get told by the staff that the queue was there, and... *cue shocked face*.
we got a table by the bar, and quickly placed our orders. service was quick and efficient. first thing that came was the peanut milk (£2). two baos came shortly after- the classic (£4) and the confit pork (£4.50). i was more excited by the confit pork initially, but it proved to be too fatty for my taste, and i ended up liking the classic better. it was basically pulled pork (a very aromatic rendition) with fermented greens and a generous dusting of peanut powder sandwiched between fluffy, pillowy buns.
but my favourite, however, was definitely the lamb bao (£5)- the pulled lamb shoulder matched really well with the coriander sauce. i was initially hesitant about ordering it because i'd have to eat it alone (C refuses to eat lamb) but i was so glad i did. C doesn't know what she's missing out- i offered her bites but she plainly refused (more for me, then).
the only letdown, i felt, was the eryngii mushrooms with century egg (£4). i could hardly taste the century egg. should probably have just stuck to the baos.
food was good. fusion at its best, really. if i lived in london i'd probably brave the queue for it again. it was surprisingly filling, too. never intended for it to be lunch, but we ended up being so full that we couldn't eat anything else until dinner.
bao
53 lexington street
W1F 9AS
http://baolondon.com
but my favourite, however, was definitely the lamb bao (£5)- the pulled lamb shoulder matched really well with the coriander sauce. i was initially hesitant about ordering it because i'd have to eat it alone (C refuses to eat lamb) but i was so glad i did. C doesn't know what she's missing out- i offered her bites but she plainly refused (more for me, then).
the only letdown, i felt, was the eryngii mushrooms with century egg (£4). i could hardly taste the century egg. should probably have just stuck to the baos.
food was good. fusion at its best, really. if i lived in london i'd probably brave the queue for it again. it was surprisingly filling, too. never intended for it to be lunch, but we ended up being so full that we couldn't eat anything else until dinner.
bao
53 lexington street
W1F 9AS
http://baolondon.com
