BAO

Happy New Year from us! Here’s to 2024. May it be better than 2023, 2022, 2021 …

The Classic BAO is a classic for a reason. The reason why BAO exists: 12-hour slow-braised pork belly with peanut powder, fermented mustard greens and coriander in a fluffy BAO. But even the classic can be re-imagined ...

Cue the Veggie Classic (it's about time) launching at BAO Marylebone today. We invited our BAOverse Tier 3 passport holders to BAO last month to taste-test the Veggie Classic before anyone else. And after some rigorous testing - it's now finally live!

And that’s a wrap. Goodbye Taipei, farewell. See you next time. It was fun. Maybe we'll see Mini BAO travel the world, who knows. But a big thank you to everyone who came. And a special mention to the Foodie Amber team for making it happen. Dolly and our ex-bakers for saving the day. And our current and ex-team who graced the hatch

BAO @ FRIEZE
11th - 15th October

It’s always a pleasure to be back at Frieze Art Fair. We say this every year but it feels like a homecoming. After studying for four years at the Slade School of Fine Art, in which we would frequent Frieze yearly, it's great to be representing there albeit in a different way than what we would have imagined back then. Catch us at Frieze London …

Welcome to our first Lonely Man Convention in Taipei Beams. We had this idea to create a future invite-only Lonely Man Club where there are congregations or conventions! We share a lot of values with Beams and so thought it was a great idea to build a lonely man convention set in their shop to celebrate their 10th year. Dreaming that people perfecting their inner lonely man wander here and congregate here, on their solo trip to Taiwan, ready to get their placard and Taiwan Travel Club wear and back off into the streets of Taipei.

If you are in Taipei, come visit us at our A Stand x BAO Popup on 新中街１２號 road launching tomorrow. Wednesday 4th to Sunday 22nd October between 12-5pm.

如果你人在台北，歡迎來我們BAO與@foodieamber A Stand的快閃外賣。位於民生社區新中街12號
。10月4日至22號，週三至週日。我們將於路邊小窗口販賣迷你刈包套餐

We have always asked ourselves, if we ever came to Taiwan, what would we exist as? 20 years ago, I would be standing on the streetside, in my school uniform, in Gong Guang market on a sweaty late afternoon, eating a Gua BAO. Who would have known, fast forward 10 years, that I would be serving BAO in London in 2013 after my studies had finished. Now that another 10 years have gone by, we are privileged to get the chance to bring BAO (in some form) to Taipei as part of the A stand x BAO popup.

But back to the initial question - in London we ‘import’, using our unique and creative perspectives, our interpretation of the Taiwanese way of life. In Taiwan, you can easily get gua bao on the street side, probably only 100m from the popup. So a kind of... full circle moment. Import Taiwanese Culture to London and as a ‘return trip’ we are exporting BAO culture to Taipei.

School of BAO!

Last week, we invited Pao from Pao Pop n Pickles to BAO Kings Cross to give our chefs a workshop on fermentation. Our chefs collected commonly wasted ingredients from the kitchens to be turned into ferments, including sh*take mushrooms which we use in the broth for our noodles at BAO Shoreditch.

Pao will be returning later this year to run another workshop where BAO kitchen scraps will used in the production of Doubanjiang - we can’t wait to see (and taste) the results!

To celebrate London Design Week, we’ve collaborated with Yu Mei Huang and Para Para Umbrellas.

Order now via Convni ☔☔

FAYE CHANG HAO! We are celebrating the Moon Festival proper Taiwanese style eating barbecue whilst the moon is at its fullest.

New York meets London in London! Eric Sze of 886 and WenWen taking over BAO Borough. One Night only. 20th Sept. Book your tickets now on the BAO website or via the link: http://sevn.ly/xkuaqPUR

We’ve listened and heard your demands for our Bone Marrow Rice. We haven’t found a permanent home for it just yet, in the meantime, we’ve decided to bring it on a BAO tour … find it at BAO Mary until Sunday!

Sleeves up, curtains up! BAO Battersea opens inside Battersea Power Station on Monday 17th July and booking links are now live on the BAO website.

Perch around the wrap-around counter, where chefs serve bowlfuls of beef noodle soup, Xiao Chi and BAO. For those looking for an extra special experience, our ‘control room’ Karaoke room is inspired by the Power Station and Jacques Tati’s film, Playtime.

Book a table here: https://baolondon.com/restaurant/battersea-noodle-shop/

Birdeye view of the brand new BAO Noodle Shop 2.0.

We’ve always been in awe of the wrap around counter seating at Tonki in Tokyo. So whilst it’s not quite the same it pays a little homage. A large expansive counter wrapping around the bar and kitchen where you perch and watch the theatrics in the centre or alternatively slurp your noodles and watching other people slurping noodles through the dimly lit mirror hood hanging above in front of you.

We’re so excited to announce the second edition of BAO Noodle Shop, nicknamed BAO Battersea, will open in the iconic Battersea Power Station on Monday 17th July.

This is a project we’ve been working on for the past year and feel so privileged to be part of one of the most iconic buildings in London. The vast, dark, powerful, beautiful Battersea Power Station! T-15 Days, see you there!

The perfect cold dish when it’s too hot to eat anything else. You want the smacked cucumber to have that refreshing crunch follow by the tangy chilli hit that just makes you salivate.

We are on our mission to send all our General Managers and Head Chefs, who have not yet been, to Taiwan. Last week we sent our Group Head Chef Federico to Taipei and Tainan on a lonely man trip, where he made us soo jealous eating endless Taiwanese food in tropical weather …

BAO Noodle Shop Shoreditch is now open from 12-3pm, fully air conditioned all summer. We got you covered.

This is the Soy braised Lu Wei Vegetables at BAO Mary. Lu Wei literally translates to ‘(soy) braised flavour’. In Taiwan you are often met with a large display of variety of vegetables, tofu, meat and speciality items such as offal or fishcakes to pick and mix from.

We use a thick cut tofu that is deep fried first then braised alongside soy marinated hard boiled eggs and some handsome bouncy baby eryingii mushrooms.

Try it exclusively Mary, where we’ve just added it onto the BAOverse app as a reward for 350coins

Dad beer on us when you book a table on the 18th June and tag your reservation as Father’s Day

T&C Bookings only

BAO Mary is utilitarian and functional, just as it should be. No music, just plates of dumplings clashing onto glass-top tables with the sounds of fans lazily whirling overhead, softly touching your cheeks now and again with that light breeze.

A fridge in the corner of your eye, a bit harsh in light, but it's fine. It reminds you to order that chilled beer in a chilled glass to wash down those savoury, perfectly formed bites.

Exciting news! We're opening our next edition of BAO, formally christened as BAO Mary, this May. We're bringing our interpretation of a Taiwanese Dumpling House to Marylebone, set back from the tracks of Oxford Street on James St.

Me on the cover of Semaine Tastemaker Issue 5. Talking about all things BAO. Enjoy a peek into my world, the BAOWORLD.

Photos by

King’s Cross pre-build, choosing the iconic Bauhaus-inspired red flooring. We didn’t decide on this colour until mid-build and it totally transformed the whole vibe of the restaurant 🏮

Fried Prawn Roll at Kings Cross is our version of the traditional Taiwanese snack of prawn wrapped in caul fat, served with a chilli dip. Not on menu at the moment but you can get the recipe in the BAO book.