What Anita Ate: Bao London

Kerb crawling

Last August I went up to London to check out the KERB street-food market on the Southbank. The general idea of KERB is to get a few street-food vendors together as a delicious alternative to the average office lunch. Or as they put it, “Making Cities Taste Better.”

The pop-up market had thirty traders, and I must have sampled at least half of them. It was so much better than I thought it would be. Each street-food vendor only made one or two products, but they did so exceptionally well. I was totally blown away by the quality of the food that can actually be produced in the back of a wonderful old HY van (my secret dream at the moment), or in a two-metre-square gazebo. There were so many excellent vendors, but one stood out for me.

Bao Wow!

The first place I ate was Bao London, and it turned out to be my favourite. A bao is a steamed bun, and the one I had was filled with deliciously rich braised pork, with pickles, coriander and peanut powder. It was incredible. So good, in fact, that I couldn’t resist getting another one for the journey.

I remember thinking that these buns are going to be big. It felt like it was the next move for the Americana trend. A bao does all the same things as a burger, i.e. it’s an absolutely delicious handheld snack. But it’s lighter and somehow feels better for you. You’re not left with that heavy, “oh god I’ve just eaten a burger” feeling, and yet it’s equally satisfying.

It seems that I’m not the only one who thought the bao was a great idea. Since my visit to the Southbank last year, Yo Sushi has started selling them and the excellent Bao Wow has recently opened on Baldwin Street in Bristol.

So if you’re in the area, give them a try and let me know what you think on Twitter!

Photo courtesy of Bao Wow.