BAO Borough

"Bao have launched Rice Error. A delivery service specialising in rice boxes filled with confit pork belly, prawn and kimchi, roasted chilli chicken, or 40-day aged black pepper beef. They’re also doing Taiwanese fried chicken, and a bunch of ice cream tubs. Order here." - heidi lauth beasley, jake missing, rianne shlebak

"Just like at Bao’s other Taiwanese restaurants in London, there are plenty of fluffy buns filled with soft pork, beef short rib, and more at its Borough Market location. Don’t stop at the must-try curry cheese bao though. Things like a bowl of pink, aged beef in buttery rice with a perfect orange yolk in the middle, or a plate of crunchy fried chicken covered in hot sauce deserve your attention too. And if those aren’t reason enough to visit, there’s a downstairs karaoke room as well." - sinead cranna, rianne shlebak, jake missing, daisy meager, heidi lauth beasley

"Bao’s Borough branch is offering a slightly ludicrous (in a good way) set menu involving a classic pork bao bun, Taiwanese fried chicken, and their 40-day aged beef and butter rice bowl for a tenner. Expect competition." - jake missing

"Bao’s south London location has a private 14-person karaoke room. This is important information. Mainly because your legendary Kate Bush impression will be greatly improved by having a chicken nugget bao to smother your mouth at the same time. Plus, your friends will be all the more thankful that there are multiple soft, pillowy props to muffle the horror. There are lots of excellent plates on offer like glazed tofu, fried chicken, xianjiang mushrooms, and aged beef with rice." - heidi lauth beasley, jake missing, rianne shlebak, sinead cranna

"The headline buns at Bao Borough aren’t the only story at the Taiwanese restaurant group’s London Bridge location. In fact they’re a distraction. It’s the big and small, less shouted about plates of food that you should pay attention to. Where the pushes the definition of ‘cosy’, this location has it all. There’s a to-go hatch for meandering Borough Market tourists in need of a curry cheese bao fix. There’s a row of counter stools for office workers after a quick beer and a bao. And there’s a mix of bigger tables for groups or sharers planning to tick tofu, aubergine, and more off the all-too-easy-to-order-from menu. It’s bustling at pretty much every hour of the day. And sure, you can book the karaoke bar downstairs to murder Rock DJ while munching on punchy Taiwanese fried chicken. But otherwise you’re better off using this as a functional, fill-a-gap restaurant. You should definitely get one obligatory bao. And it should be the molten deep-fried curry cheese option. But after that, leave it there. Not because these little pillows aren’t good, but because of all the other stuff. The flavours of the small plates are of the tabloid variety. Big and bold. Wafer-thin slices of pork jowl sit in a layer of savoury, in-your-face, WORLD EXCLUSIVE-type sauce. 40-day-aged beef with butter-laden rice is a smutty, addictive, TELL ALL EXPOSÉ on what your heart doesn’t need but definitely wants.  Aside from one slap-up reconnaissance visit, you’re unlikely to be coming to Bao Borough and ordering half the menu. This is the kind of restaurant where you find your favourites and stick to them. Ultimately it doesn’t really matter that the bao doesn't feel like breaking news anymore, because the bowl of beef and butter rice certainly is. " - Jake Missing