Some work buddies and I saw an article about this place
opening soon and knew we had a lunch date to plan. When I read about the
concept, bao-steamed rice buns stuffed with tasty sounding fillings, my mouth
started to water.
The space is a 2-floor set up with counter seating on the
main floor and a few small tables on the 2nd floor. Here you’ll pay
for your meal before getting a number and finding a seat. It can get quite busy
in this 25ish seating restaurant.
Water service is self-serve and you have
choices of cucumber or lemon/lime water. THIS IS DELICIOUS and AWESOME. I hope
more places start offering this. It’s such a simple, yet special touch. And a
big step up from the usual glass of lukewarm tap water that you have to ask
for. I also have to give a shout
out to the staff, who were both very friendly and enthusiastic about the food.
The menu consists of bao tacos, sandwiches, and a small
variety of sides (a chowder, slaw, fries, poutine) and every item features
Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese inspired flavours. Steamed Bao
are $5/6, Sandwiches are $10-12, and sides are between $3-8.
I had 2 Bao, the Vevo
($5) Tamari braised shitake mushrooms, garlic pea shoots, sprouts, organic
red kale, avocado, organic carrot & beet strings, ginger-peanut sauce and
toasted sesame seeds and the Jaws
($5) Coconut crusted Ocean Wise Vietnamese catfish, kimchi tartar sauce, micro
greens & cabbage in Thai vinaigrette.
The Vevo was
their veggie option that truly packed a punch with fresh, plentiful fillings,
harmonious flavour pairings and giant juicy mushrooms. In fact, my only
suggestion would be to slice the mushrooms as the large pieces were a bit
tricky to eat and smaller pieces might spread throughout the bao easier to
ensure some mushroom with every bite. The ginger peanut sauce is a delicious
and dominating force in this bao. Sooo good.
The Jaws was
delicious too with a generous amount of coconut crusted catfish which was full
of flavour and cooked to juicy perfection. Texture and flavour here are just
great.
I also noshed on some of my buddy’s Kimchi Fries ($8). This is a generous serving, quite decadent and
great to share. The Kimchi is a nice accent and the sour, spicy flavour pairs
well with the fries and other heavy elements with the dish. The fries get very
soggy on the bottom, but when its so tasty, it doesn’t really matter.
Bao Down is a cool space serving up food that is undeniably
delicious. It’s definitely not a budget lunch since you are looking at likely
two baos and a side to fill you up.
YUM!
