The new BAO Marylebone - in the heart of Marylebone and just metres off Oxford Street.
What's new about this latest BAO?
This will be BAO's fifth London restaurant. We'll presume a certain level of knowledge about them if you're a Hot Dinners reader but, to recap briefly, the folk behind it are Shing Tat Chung and his partner Erchen Chang and Shing's sister Wai Ting Chung. They introduced a lot of Londoners, via their first stall in Netil Market a decade ago, to the delights of Taiwanese cooking. That stall was followed two years later by the OG restaurant in Soho which had pretty much perma queues down the street for years.
They usually try and do something new with each of their openings and Bao Marylebone is inspired by Taiwanese dumpling houses, so that's where the focus for this one lies.
Where is it?
You'll find it on James Street, nestling between Hoppers and Patty & Bun. It's super close to Selfridges if you're out shopping and the nearest tube would be Bond Street.
Where should we meet for a drink first?
If you're here for dinner, then nearby cocktail bar FAM on Duke Street is a good choice, as is The Duchess or you could head on up to the Coachmakers on Marylebone Lane.
Where should we sit?
That kind of depends on how large a group you are. If you're dining solo there's a nice bit of counter seating in the ground floor section as well as a few stools right up at the pass. Larger groups should head downstairs where there's larger banquette seating (this area can also be booked out for private parties).
There's also a very nice terrace area that gets the sun at lunchtimes and into the afternoon with space for around 16 alfresco diners.
That terrace is going to be the place to be all summer long.
How does the menu work?
You'll get a chit divided into four sections - cold dishes, snacks (xiao chi), dumplings and baos - along with a pencil. Every time you fancy something, just mark it down on the paper and it'll turn up at your table.
We started with a few of the cold dishes and snacks -
Soy braised lu wei tofu with baby eryngii mushrooms and soy egg (£6.75)
Smoked aubergine with fried bao chips (£7.50) - pretty much the perfect accompaniment to an ice-cold beer.
Beef tendon nuggets with burn chilli sauce (£6.75)
Then we moved onto the dumpling section. There are four to choose from including the boiled cull yaw dumplings you'll find in other branches of BAO and a pan-fried beef dumpling. Here's what we went for:
Pan-fried mushroom Guo Tie dumplings (£9) - the perfect level of chewiness, these came served with a very moreish black garlic dipping sauce.
Boiled prawn dumplings in egg drop soup (£10) - bouncy prawn dumplings in a fresh kelp broth.
Next up was the bao section, starting with savoury and ending with a sweet one.
Prawn Shia Song (£6.75) - featuring a tiny long doughnut-style fried bao stuffed with king prawn, carrot, celery and water chestnut.
Fried Horlicks ice cream bao (£6.25) - a dessert that deservedly made it onto our Best Desserts in London list, this is the perfect ending to a meal at any BAO.
What's on offer for vegans and vegetarians?
Pretty much all the snack section works for plant-focused diets - that mushroom dumpling above was vegan and there's also a daikon bao which is vegetarian.
And to drink?
Drink menus are found under the glass that covers the table (we lost count of how many times we tried to pick them up, something that would probably only increase with the number of drinks you actually had). There are a few beers to choose from - served with pleasingly tiny glasses - along with plenty of soft options too. We would totally have tried the Bao-tini made with Haku vodka, vermouth and pickled radish (£10) if we'd been here for dinner.
Beer just tasted better out of these.
Overall thoughts:
This latest BAO feels like a perfect fit for the area. It would be a great spot for mid-shopping trip energy pick me up or to come at the end of an exhausting day down Oxford Street. It's great that each BAO very much retains its own identity along with dishes that are special to each venue. If you're already a BAO fan you'll want to add this to your list and if you haven't had that joy yet, then BAO Marylebone is a good place to start the journey.
More about BAO Marylebone
Where is it? 56 James St, London W1U 1HF
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @bao_london
Hot Dinners dined as guests of BAO Mary. Prices correct at time of publication.
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