Mr Bao is one of my favourite places in London. The food is always impeccable and the service is great. I would eat there every night if I could!
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Food was terrific, but service was sluggish, if friendly. We had to ask twice for tap water, and a glass of white wine took so long to arrive we had to enquire a second time as well. The house white, a Chardonnay, was much better than average and priced at £4.30 for a large glass. Very dry with low acidity, so a really good match with Asian food. There was nice attention to detail. A three minute timer was brought with the pot of tea I ordered.
Portions are rather dainty, but that's only fair given the low prices of all the items we had. It was really fun food.
I had a pulled pork bao which was meltingly soft. Meat had been braised in sweetened soy so was very tasty. It also contained a little Chinese pickled mustard greens and a sprinkle of sweetish powdered peanut.
We shared a little portion of sesame spinach (priced at £1.70), which was tender baby spinach salad in a tasty sesame dressing. Very nice. Must start doing this at home.
The fried chicken with miso mayo was fantastic. Good crispy coating, not greasy, succulent nuggets of leg meat.
Our sweet potato chips were not quite as successful. They had been battered and were quite oily tasting. My companion needed to order a second glass of wine to cut through the grease. A drizzle of wasabi mayo gave a nice kick. There was something else strange going on with the chips. Some of them were hot but others were cold.
Our light lunch for two with two rather generous tumblers full of very good house wine and a little pot of tea was £23 before service. Next time I want to order the chicken bao which looked terrific, being filled with kimchi and that fabulous fried chicken.
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Another day means another scoff. This time my stomach was leaning towards Mr Bao in Peckham, and so glad it did. Bao is a Taiwanese street food or snack, delicious steamed buns consisting of different fillings from pork belly to shitake mushrooms.
Bao is bang on trend at the moment, and rightly so. If you have no idea what Bao is, then you are missing out bigtime and need to go face plant one now! Obviously, read this first, then go and scoff your face.
Mr Bao can get busy and you may have to wait for a table. Luckily, they will take your number and call you back, whilst you go have drinks elsewhere. The call came a lot quicker than we expected, so the pint was downed and we were swiftly on our way.
We kicked off with some spicy edamame, pork dumplings and Taiwanese sausage. The edamame had a good kick and the dumplings, some good flavours going on. I could see the dumplings being made over the counter, so knew they wouldn’t disappoint. I’ve never had Taiwanese sausage before and wasn’t sure what to expect. They may have different spicing in the meat, but they did taste like other sausages. This is not a bad thing. Everyone loves a sausage, right?
Fried chicken with miso mayo… Boom! Succulent deep fried pieces with an added depth of ‘yes’ from the miso mayo made these bloody lovely. The Mr Bao, pork belly bao won the evening. A packed, pillow like bun, bursting with slow braised pork, pickles, peanut and coriander was seriously fricking good! If these came in man size, I would sleep in one.
The bao diddley chicken and beef brisket followed soon after for us to inhale. The chicken, fried (always a bonus) came with wasabi mayo and kimchi. It was a nice mouthful of food. However, if you’re not a fan of kimchi, like my dining partner, you may not enjoy it as much; it was pretty packed with the stuff. The beef was the special on that evening. Slow cooked, shredded, tender meat was extremely tasty.
Dessert was the Bao s’more and was everything you would want from a pud. A crispy bun, heavenly chocolate and a gooey toasted marshmallow, was perfect to end on. Unfortunately, my photo skills were lacking at this point, so my pic doesn’t do it justice.
Mr Bao also does a brunch menu and looking at the pictures online, it looks awesome. I love a good brunch, so I’ll definitely be back soon to check that bad boy out.
Like neighbouring Miss Tapas, Mr Bao is another fine example that Peckham is on the way up and another place for the ‘cool kids’ to hang out. In fact, I think they are married. I haven’t been stalking them on Instagram or anything. Seville looks a lovely place to get married, but honestly, no stalking going on here.
Like Jerry Maguire, this place will have you at Bao. Enjoy!
That was pretty much how our evening at the excellent Mr Bao in Peckham began last Saturday night. (We ordered a Taiwanese beer and some sparkling sake instead.). Tender stem broccoli with ponzu (we'd already eaten some broccoli. before I took this picture). The food at Mr Bao is very reasonably priced, with everything under £5 and a lot under £3. The fair pricing meant that we were able to sample a good selection of the menu between the two of us.
As far as new openings go, Mr Bao was quite heavily anticipated by foodies and non-foodies alike. But I guess that’s a sign of just how deep these little fluffy steamed buns have penetrated our psyche such that anything carrying the word ‘bao’ immediately grabs our attention. That it has happened in gentrifying Peckham is a sign of the times – the trendsetters are here and here to stay.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
As far as new openings go, Mr Bao was quite heavily anticipated by foodies and non-foodies alike. But I guess that's a sign of just how deep these little fluffy steamed buns have penetrated our psyche such that anything carrying the word 'bao' immediately grabs our attention. That it has happened in gentrifying Peckham is a sign of the times - the trendsetters are here and here to stay.
But with the name comes the weight of expectation forged through the success of the likes of Yum Bun and, aptly named, Bao. How would Mr Bao fare? It was ok.
Now I write this with the caveat that the review was based on a meal during their soft launch period with a 'reduced' menu but having confirmed that 'reduced' covers the potential for future items as opposed to price and the current menu, I feel this still has some value.
The meal kicked off with a plate of custom made Taiwanese sausages by Flock and Herd, which quite honestly I could've gone without purely from a price vs. quality argument however, an order of the fried chicken proved to be much better.
Mains though proved to be better and, in my opinion, almost comparable to that of the fore-mention stalwarts.
The signature braised pork 'Mr Bao' proved to be respectful to the classic taste of a pork gua bao whereas the slow-cooked lamb number made up for its lack of visual appeal (and structural integrity) with beautiful flavours.
However, my pick of the bunch would be the kimchi and fried chicken 'Bao Diddley' which I suspect will be the crowd pleaser going forward.
Finishing with the 'Bao S'mores' (dark chocolate + marshmallows on a deep fried butterflied bun), I reflected on a meal which was good, but felt that there was still potential yet to be fulfilled. Food here is good but if you had to compare, not quite as refined as Bao though consider you're paying 10% less. Come here with a mindset to spend £25-£30 and you'll walk away satisfied.
However with Ben at the helm, a local Peckhamer himself, I've no doubt the future is in good hands.
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I work 5 mins away from Mr Bao. My colleagues and I decided to have lunch there yesterday. First time experiencing the Taiwan cuisine and we were all extremely satisfied! Welcoming service and well informed when we asked what a Bao was & how many to order. Similar to Spanish tapas as you'll need to order several dishes.
The brunch menu is between 12-3pm, and offers a range of Bao's. I'm not sure what the evening menu includes. The food was fresh and very tasty. Can't wait to try more Taiwanese food. I think this may be a regular spot for us!
Mr Bao is a compact little place in Peckham. There are no more than 30 covers in this somewhat cramped restaurant. It’s so small, I suspect it may once have been a run-of-the-mill anglicised Chinese takeaway – many of which are still Mr Bao’s neighbours. The size of the premises has a direct impact on the evening menu which, combined with the street food-derived snack-sized portions, is short enough to be sampled almost in its entirety across a pair of visits.
I had the best birthday meal at Mr Bao and was made to feel special with the fantastic and attentive service that went above and beyond for our party - faultless. The food was great and the cocktails and sake were delicious - all really good value. It is rare to get a restaurant that hits the spot in every way - food, drink and service. Thank you! We will definitely be back.
Charlie Marchant (Charlie on Travel)
+5
Great food and super friendly staff. Lovely atmosphere in a well decorated place. Good prices. Particularly enjoyed the tofu bao. There was only one dessert on the day we visited and unfortunately it wasn't Taiwanese (had been hoping for peanut ice cream wrap or red bean something...!) We had a fab dinner here though and loved everything.
Everything was very good, with the best dish being the starter fried chicken. The food was very tasty but pretty standard nothing extraordinary in terms of flavours. The service was very good and quick. Cocktails were very refreshing and good price. Good option for a quick and tasty meal!
LOVE it. Really tasty, authentic yet edgy, most of all DOG FRIENDLY❤️ Im east asian so I know a good one. Great to have this gem in South East London. No need to go central for proper taiwanese food. The best dish for me is the prawn bao 😻 the pork belly bao is made of pulled pork rather than a slab, so didnt like that as much. Better for dinner as the brunch menu was limited. The price is not bad as well. No service charge. I wished they had more Dimsum types on offer. Ordered via deliveroo also and also excellent takeaway. Will come back
Top tier food at amazing prices. All bao and starters we tried were delicious. Prices very reasonable. Was good that they don't automatically add service at the end, rather leave the option to you.
Mr Bao was a great pick, delicious cocktails and bao, I recommend the prawn toast bao and apple whiskey sour if they're available still. Sides were v good mostly the smashed cucumber.
Service was great and friendly and atmosphere was soo cute. Only hangup is the price but worth it for the experience.
We didn't have a booking but at 9pm I thought they wouldn't be busy. I was wrong, it was packed, luckily we only waited 5 Minutes for a table and the waitress explained to us how to order. Its a mini questionnaire that you fill out lol. The bao buns were delicious. The mrs wanted to try sesame spinach which was surprisingly good for spinach. We also got the corn ribs which were nice and spicy. Overall for 4 bao buns 2 sharring dishes and 2 cocktails I thought £37 was a bargain. I will defo go back. Excellent staff and excellent food.
Really enjoyed it and the prices are super reasonable for what you get! They do special collabs with other restaurants so there is always something new to try 😊
This is my favourite restaurant in London. It’s consistently delivers - been visiting since 2017, great Bao buns, love the fried chicken and always excellent value.
Always really yummy bao with all the extra sides - the smashed cucumber and broccoli are delish. Speedy service and very reasonably priced. We normally ring on the day to see if a table for 2 can squeeze in and you normally can! Book in advance for larger tables.
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