Bao Soho
Soho, London
It may have started out as a ‘gazebo with a cool box’, but the dinky original branch of hot-ticket Taiwanese bun specialist Bao is now something of a legend among the capital’s ‘walk-in’ restaurants. Long queues snake down Lexington Street whatever the weather, but it’s worth the slog once you’re inside and have the tick-box menu in front of you. Fluffy steamed bao buns are the main event here, ranging from the classic braised pork with peanut powder and fermented greens to fried chicken marinated in soy milk with Szechuan mayo and golden kimchi. Just add some tantalising xiao chi snacks (pig’s blood cake with soy-cured egg; mapo aubergine on chi shiang rice), plus sides such as sweet potato chips with plum pickle ketchup. Also order a glass of homemade peanut milk and don’t forget to put your final tick against the fried bao filled with Horlicks ice cream. Although the food is made for sharing, this branch is perfect for singletons and even has a special ‘long day menu’ promising ‘a perfect moment of solitude for the solo diner’. A shot of bao-friendly ‘weeping saké’ does the trick or you could investigate the kooky ‘dream drinks’ (grape soda with aloe vera foam, say).
