Continuing my food journey this week, I'd gone to Bao Wow Thursday night before they closed for Chinese New Year. I was super excited to finally down these baos because I'd been following Bow Wow on facebook and their concept seemed quite interesting (and all their bao posts looked delicious!). Prior to hearing about Bao Wow I honestly had no clue what a gua bao was or tasted like, but I love trying new things, so I did my research and the place seemed promising. For all you gua bao newbies (like I was), the easiest way I can explain a gua bao would be a clam shaped/taco shell shaped fluffy white steamed bun.
I came in about 7:30pm and the place was empty (it was the last working day before Chinese New Year). They offer six types of baos on their menu, few sides and two desserts. You can make your order a combo that includes two baos plus a drink, with a choice to upgrade it with sides. We decided to go with the bao platter which gave us all six baos on the menu and ordered two drinks. This came to a total of HKD 198, which seemed pretty reasonable for me. It took them just a few minutes to prepare and the baos were served straight to us on our table in steamer baskets.
This was the Original Gua Bao (pork belly, chinese relish, cilantro, crushed peanuts and red sugar). The flavors were really nice and the pork was braised very well, but the fat was just far too much. I understand that the pork belly in a gua bao has to have fat, but there was more fat than there was pork and every bite had a very mushy texture. Not sure if it is meant to be that way, but this was not for me.
I came in about 7:30pm and the place was empty (it was the last working day before Chinese New Year). They offer six types of baos on their menu, few sides and two desserts. You can make your order a combo that includes two baos plus a drink, with a choice to upgrade it with sides. We decided to go with the bao platter which gave us all six baos on the menu and ordered two drinks. This came to a total of HKD 198, which seemed pretty reasonable for me. It took them just a few minutes to prepare and the baos were served straight to us on our table in steamer baskets.
This was the Original Gua Bao (pork belly, chinese relish, cilantro, crushed peanuts and red sugar). The flavors were really nice and the pork was braised very well, but the fat was just far too much. I understand that the pork belly in a gua bao has to have fat, but there was more fat than there was pork and every bite had a very mushy texture. Not sure if it is meant to be that way, but this was not for me.
The Kimchi Bulgogi Bao (grilled sliced beef, kimchi, bean sprouts and homemade bulgogi sauce) below was alright. I was expecting the beef to be severed hot but it was cold and a bit chewy, the beansprouts and kimchi added a nice texture in the bao, but I think it might have tasted better if the beef was hot.
Next on the list was the Pangpang Chicken (shredded chicken, cucumber, crushed sichuan spicy peanuts and homemade sesame sauce). Again, the flavors and textures were nice but, this too was cold. I'm not sure if it is supposed to be served cold, personally I would expect anything with a spicy sichuan flavor to be hot or warm.
The Sesame Ginger Pork Chop (fried pork chop, shredded cabbage and homemade sesame ginger sauce) bao had a tender pork and was good to taste.
This was the one I liked best out of all of the baos, their Thai Fish Fillet (fried fish, Asian slaw and homemade thai fish sauce). The fish was nice and soft and the exterior was crispy and not oily. The homemade fish sauce was creamy but had a nice tang to it, I would call it an asian tartar sauce. All and all, I quite liked it.
Another nice one on the menu was their Teriyaki Tofu Bao (fried egg tofu, shitake mushroom and teriyaki sauce). The tofu was light and silky when I bit into it and the teriyaki sauce had a subtle flavor and was not too overpowering.
I would say Bao Wow has great ideas up their sleeve but it could do with a few tweeks here and there. I wish them all the luck for Chinese New Year! I may drop by again to try their Bao Fries with ovaltine and condensed milk, really wanted to try them out but was too full by the time I was done with my baos. If any of you have been to Bao Wow and had a different experience let me know!
Bao Wow
28 Tai Wong Street East, Wan Chai,
Hong Kong
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