The famous Taiwanese @bao_london restaurant in London has a number of branches and it is uber popular with Londoners. But did you know the Marylebone branch (off Oxford street) has halal options? This is exciting news for halal foodies because now we are able to sample and dine at one of the hottest restaurants in London. This is what I love about London. You have the opportunity to try so many different cuisines regardless of your own dietary requirements. So, as a halal foodie, I love that you can easily find and try authentic food from countries such as Taiwan, when this could’ve been a challenge years ago and even today in other cities and countries. Anyways, let’s get into the post where we will primarily focus on and discuss the halal options that you can try.
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The halal options at Bao
What are the halal options at Bao? The pan fried beef dumplings and lamb bao are both halal. And the desserts are also suitable for the halal diet. They have also confirmed that there is no cross contamination between these dishes and the non-halal ones. This is important to confirm with restaurants that serve both halal and haram in them. Back to the food and the choices are great because you get to try a little something from a variety of the things that make them famous: dumplings, of course the bao and don’t sleep on the desserts too. They have gone viral for a reason.
What did we try?
We ordered the lamb bao and a couple of their interesting desserts. The lamb bao was pretty good. The bao was soft and pillowy – something very different from bread in a sandwich or bun in a burger. It has a hint of sweetness to it and I personally do like it, but I do know it isn’t for everyone. It might take some getting used to. And the filling was flavourful, but a tad too strong on the coriander sauce for us. Had this been a little toned down, it would’ve been perfect. It was small in size – I’d say it could easily be finished in 3 or 4 bites. So, it felt more of a snack than a meal.
Coming to the desserts: sad face bao and the horlicks bao. I did tell you they were interesting right? And they’ve gone viral for good reason too! The sad face bao is basically a custard bao (or bun). It’s cute, but it had a slight savoury hint that we weren’t too keen on. We’ve had better custard buns in London. The horlicks bao is made up of comforting horlicks ice cream and deep fried bao. The horlicks flavour is subtle and works well with the deep fried bao. A good dessert this one.
The following are the prices and yes it may seem a little expensive considering the size of the dishes, but it is London and it is 2024. I feel people forget this.
Lamb bao £6.75
Sad face bao £4.25
Horlicks bao £6.25
Getting there
Nearest station: Bond Street
Nearest mosque: Muslim World League Goodge Street
Parking: Ossulston Street – free evenings and weekends – plenty of parking spaces on Sundays – about 20-30 min walk from Soho/Chinatown, but it is just outside congestion zone
Google Maps link
