Bao

Bao
53 Lexington St
London W1F 9AS

Bao is one of those restaurants that is hyped so much that I was quite nervous about going - but I found myself in the area around lunch time and decided to treat myself to a solo meal, something that I am getting fonder of. It lets you order exactly what you want, eat at whatever pace you feel like, and not have to worry about whether your dining companion is enjoying themselves. Especially with the dumb queues - I would feel horrible dragging someone else along to wait and then for the meal to suck. Thankfully the meal was good, though I'm not sure I will queue again, since a meal there adds up quite quickly and some elements were a bit repetitive. I had four things - house pickles, the mushroom and century egg dish pictured above, a classic bao, and the guinea fowl rice. I think because there were pickles in the guinea fowl rice, it ended up tasting a little too similar (possibly my fault for ordering both but I didn't know!) The mushrooms were the best dish for my tastes - savory with a hit of fresh cilantro. The bao was a little sweet for me, but they often are - so again, no fault of the restaurant, just not quite my thing. I see why people like it - but if I have to wait I'm going somewhere that excites me a lot more.