Bao to the test
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| Beef, Taipei Butter Rice at BAO Borough |
It has been over 2 years since I last visited Bao, the ever-popular Taiwanese restaurant in London. Since then, it has slowly expanded into 3 sites, so clearly they are doing something right, as it is popular to both the locals and tourists. Many places have since tried to copy Bao but without much success, while Bao is still going strong. I headed back to Bao Fitzrovia and also visited its new site at Borough to do a direct comparison, as I have noticed each site has some very different items, apart from the iconic bao dishes.
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| Pork jowl at BAO Borough |
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| Spiced Beef Butter Scallop at BAO Borough |
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| Glazed Tofu & Taiwanese Pickle at BAO Borough |
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Taiwanese Fried Chicken at BAO Borough
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First I visited the new site Borough, the spiced beef butter scallop was served as a skewer, it had a nice smoky tone, along with a mildly sweet taste, it was enjoyable but a touch too expensive at over £8 for a few slices of a scallop. The hero dish at Borough was the aged beef butter rice, the seasoning of the beef was perfect, and taste-wise was also really comforting, but I found the beef a touch too chewy. For Fitzrovia, I had its signature aged beef in soy, and it was simply fantastic, it was not overly salty with nice umami taste, together with a lovely soft tender texture. The fried chicken chop with egg yok was also wonderful, it was well fried, nice tender meat with a great blend of spice rubs.
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| Pork Bakkwa, Kimchi Sauce at BAO Fitzrovia |
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| Classic and confit baos at BAO Fitzrovia |
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| Beef Cheek & Tendon Nuggets at BAO Fitzrovia |
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| 21 Day Aged Grilled Pork Belly Rice Bowl at BAO Fitzrovia |
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| 40 Day Aged Beef Rump Cap, Aged White Soy at BAO Fitzrovia |
Overall, I found the quality at Bao Fitzrovia just a touch better than its new site at Borough. Everything was just more refined for me. I suspect it has a lot to do with the kitchen team at Fitzrovia has been together for a while and Borough is the new kid on the block with a new menu in place. The Bao dishes across both sites were more or less the same, showing they really have perfected the production so it is only a question of time before it becomes a mini-chain empire. For me, I enjoyed its small dishes far more than the bao as they are generally more interesting and packed with dishes you won't often find elsewhere in London.
Food 2.5/5 (Brough)
Food 3/5 (Fitzrovia)
Average cost without drinks and services:
£45
31 Windmill St, Fitzrovia, London W1T 2JN
https://baolondon.com/
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