Bao Fitzrovia

Fitzrovia location

Ever since Bao London moved from street food in Netil Market to a permanent space in the west end people have made a swarm in long queues waiting for a piece of their fluffy clouds of milky Taiwanese buns. I failed on many attempts trying to queue at the Soho branch. It just the same for the Fitzrovia branch and how lucky for me to find it just down the road from my current workplace.

The menu

The trick is to go around the hours of 12-12:30 pm and you be guaranteed a seat on the first floor at the high counter bar. You surround the kitchen where staff serve up drinks and wash dishes. Seated up high on stools, it’s advisable to get 1-2 xiao chi (small eats) and 2 bao’s the core dishes at Bao London for a fulfilling lunch.

You are given a sheet of tear off paper similar to the ones in dim sum parlours where you tick off what you want on the paper and hand it back to the server.

I went on ordered the XO sweetcorn, beef cheek and tendon nuggets, cod black, short rib bao and the peanut ice cream ring dessert. Also with the homemade peanut milk to boot.

Peanut milk comes out no bigger than a shot glass, knocking it back within 5-6 gulps. It’s seriously delicious, creamy and milky,  a thin consistency.

Beef cheek and tendon nuggets (£4.75) come in pairs, rounded nuggets of golden crumbs, sprinkles of sea salt, enclosed in a crumble of rich-tasting meat, with a smear of acidic looking green sauce.

The short beef rib bao (£5.75) came up next, waiting to burst open piled on meat. Meat is soft and tender, balanced with pickles.

Cod black bao (£5), comes in a speckled grey bao, a squared fillet of cod made with squid ink batter, layered with ng and hot sauce.

The next two dishes are the least favourite and I would skip when I visit again. Oddly one of the xiao chi XO sweetcorn (£3.50) came after my bao’s. Piping hot cut from the cob, sweet corn is coated in spiced beef butter and xo sauce.

Dessert took a long while to be made, I saw the chef ran upstairs to get the tub of ice cream and must have to wait for it thaw before preparing the dish together.

Peanut ice cream roon ring (£4.50) is rolled up to resemble a summer roll, a soft crepe wrapped around ice cream and coriander.

In total the bill came up to around £25, it takes quite a few dishes to be full, but it’s worth the money.

31 Windmill St
W1T 2JN

https://baolondon.com/
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W1T 2JN{/google_maps}