BAO Noodle Shop - (Near Tower Hamlets, South East)

4 /5 Kimmy: Today , was my first visit to the restaurant. as nice welcoming by front of house staff. As it wasn’t busy I can pick where I can sit. The restaurants has a open kitchen, but kitchen staff doesn’t wear hair net. It was a swift fast service, seating is very tight as it’s more of a snack and light stop off restaurant. Portion is not a share size, minimum spend about £20 per head. It also has downstairs private small group party. Overall flavour Bao, try the Classic Braise bao , chickens wings and the braise pork Rice bowl.

4 /5 Maya: We went to BAO on Redchurch Street and we got seated straight away, and ordered two baos, cucumber salad, bone marrow noodles, and fried chicken. Everything was nice and the location of this resturant is great, but overall it didn’t blow us away. For the price, you can definitely get better food in Chinatown. Good atmosphere and solid dishes, just not amazing value for money

4 /5 Matthew Ho: I came by for a late Friday dinner recently — I was dining solo, so was able to snag a bar seat along with the window without a wait, but it was quite busy, so I’d definitely recommend a reservation. I ordered the beef noodle soup for my meal, which was not bad. The beef was very tasty, and the noodles were chewy and well-cooked. However, I thought that the broth was too salty for my taste, and the portion size was on the smaller side. Since I was still a bit hungry, I decided to get an order of the classic braised pork bao, which was delicious! The braised pork was so savoury and juicy, and it contrasted really well with the sour pickled suan cai. The peanut powder and fluffy bun rounded out the overall authentic flavour (confirmed as a Taiwanese person myself). I did find the price point to be a bit high — although perhaps that’s to be expected in this neighbourhood :) All-in-all, the dishes were quite yummy, though, and I would be keen to come back again sometime.

4 /5 Festus Ifiti jr: I had dinner with some friends here this week. I was looking forward to this place because I love a bao. This restaurant was packed which is what you want to see. It means that the food is good. I would recommend booking a table here in advance, dont be spontaneous and walk in. You might be disappointed. I thought the restaurant was small but then we were lead towards another room which was lovely and inviting. I felt like I was transported to East Asia. The food is simply amazing. I must have had every meat bao available and the noodle soup was lovely as well. Im a great believer in quantity but there is also quality at this restaurant. I washed the food down with a peanut butter drink which was interesting to drink. The service was good. I have no issues with the staff, they were all lovely and friendly. They also explained the menu too. One of my friends waited more than hour for his food, thats was the only downside. I had a lovely time here. I cant wait to come back again.

3 /5 Jia Lim: The worst of the branches - chairs are really uncomfortable. Theyre not chairs really, they are stools with no back support and my friend got back pain after we sat there for a little over an hour. There is no space for you to place your belongings at all. Some tables are next to a coat hanger but ours was not, so we had to keep our coats on and carry our bags while eating. Fine for street food in a street market, but the are charging restaurant prices, service staff then tried to put my belongings on the floor which is gross. Seems he had no sense of hygiene. They dont do the beef bowls here. The only rice bowl they have is the braised pork rice. Fried chicken breast was authentic, but the lime juice poured onto the batter made it soggy in some parts. Beef noodle broth was rich and had some depth. And the noodles tasted fresh rather than factory made. The bone marrow noodles were the best dish we ordered but really oily when you get to the bottom. It seems they added chilli oil when bone marrow is mainly fat anyway. Wouldnt come back to this branch.