~ Curious Charlie ~

Bao Now @ Sunday, November 18, 2012

Bao Now - Hardware Lane

East meets West, in a fusion of a the Vietnamese classic street food 'bánh bao', or rather more commonly known as the pork bun, and more Western or rather Melbourne's multicultural mix, Bao Now presents the latest thing in the food scene, the classic steamed yeast bun but with a twist! With their range of fillings you're bound to find something you'll love, from their spicy buffalo chicken buns to bacon cheeseburger buns in the savory section, to their eccentric cheesecake buns. Alternatively if you're on the model's diet and prefer to go carb free there's always san choi bao, but let's admit it, it's not the same, it's going to McDonald's for a salad, a Caesar Salad.

Our first visit it was quite difficult to choose which buns to pick, but with recommendations from the very friendly owner (sorry I forgot his name...) we soon chose three, and then came back for more later on :P

The First Round (L-R) Buffalo Chicken - Vanilla Slice - Butter Chicken

As I love 'bánh bao' I was really looking forwards to trying them with different flavours, and they did not disappoint. The first one I had was the buffalo chicken, it was spicy! You'll need a drink to go with that. I bought the $9 offer, which was for 3 buns and a drink, being practically adventurous I went for the iced jasmine tea. It was gross... I think I drank a flower, though that's what tea typically is. Not a tea person... Next I tried the butter chicken, which I didn't really taste, as my taste buds were still tingling from the buffalo chicken. The owner later on said that you should have the butter chicken before the buffalo so that the flavours don't overwhelm your tastebuds. Hence I don't really know what the butter chicken tastes like and will be trying that on our second visit. The third one I tried was the vanilla slice. I like it, it's the same custard that Breadtop uses in their custard doughnuts if you wanted a comparison.

Round Two

Order Unknown, but the one on the right is Buffalo Chicken

Other two are Bacon & Cheeseburger and Cheesecake

As Emily said it wasn't very filling (unless you have four) and so I bought another three, I really like the buffalo chicken. Didn't try the Bacon & Cheeseburger as I don't eat bacon/pork/ham (due to a traumatic experience in China) but I did eat half the Cheesecake bun. As the owner said it was interesting, unique. I like it though not as much as the custard. Nevertheless we shall return for another round.

I enjoyed our experience, the food was very nice and different, Emily didn't agree (she wanted Nandos). Oh and the service was great and staff were very friendly and helpful. Emily was less impressed (about the food), though I do believe it's slightly because she's asian, it's like being Italian and going out for pasta when you Nonna make it better I assume. Great place to check out if you're out and about, best to visit for lunch or rather after the peak hours, if you want a seat. ;)

Anonymous said... on November 20, 2012 at 7:09 PM

Hi Charlie,

Your first post just appeared on Urbanspoon! Check it out:
http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/1702134/restaurant/CBD/Bao-Now-Melbourne

I encourage you to claim your blog, which allows you to add a picture and change some settings. The blog photo shows up next to your posts wherever they appear on Urbanspoon. Here's how to claim:

- Make sure you're logged into Urbanspoon

- Go to your blog page on our site: http://www.urbanspoon.com/br/71/9723/Melbourne/Curious-Charlie.html

- Click "Claim your blog" in the left sidebar

After you submit it, we may contact you to verify your claim. Check your spam email folder if your claim hasn't gone through in a day or two. You'll also find some interesting badges and widgets on your Urbanspoon blog page - look in the right sidebar.

If you have any questions, please contact me via email.

Thanks,
Greg

www.urbanspoon.com

--
greg(at)urbanspoon(dot)com