Bao Wow

I was really looking forward to this place because I love gua baos. Gua baos are like little hamburgers with white steamed buns (similar to those you eat with Peking ducks). Inside the bun is thin slices of marinated pork belly topped with hoisin sauce, peanuts, cilantro and crunchy pickled mustard greens. The combination is simple divine. But I was very disappointed at Bao Wow’s gua bao. It was less than stellar. The Pork belly was sliced too thick and dry. The price is way too expensive for the size of this meal and it’s not even good. Not coming back.

Following many recommendations we came to see how the bao stacked up. Verdict? Great if you want a snack, but not a meal.
The pork belly is pretty good, but super rich with the fat. Wouldn’t want to have 2 of them.
Kim chi is also good, fish was just kinda so-​so.
Glad to have tried it but given the price and small size not super inclined to go back.

I almost tried several main Baos. Very ready to have a bun talk with you.
I grew up with buns, my memory stays the fried buns with condensed milk. I was excited when Little Bao bust the scene some time ago. And Bao Wow, the Taiwanese version seems more down to earth. I did not get chance to visit the store. But the house party I had, I ordered Bao Wow. And I ended up eating quite a lot left-​over.
Starting with the original, pork belly. I doubt if it is the can pork belly or fresh. If it started from raw, the marination is decent. I would appreciate slightly a thiner slice for tender texture. You don’t prefer to swallow a cube there.
Kimchi beef, yum! Okay, I need to stop telling people I don’t eat beef while I am falling in love with this combination. Not those hot-​pot fatty guys, but slim part with kimchi creates density. And yes, you can ignore the bun food now.
Tofu one is my favourite. It turns out to be our next day brunch. I immediately turned to this non-​meat morning resolution. Though not quite fine tofu, it is soft and mild. Then I realised I probably positioned Bao to be too juicy and greasy in the beginning. Tofu and mushroom is a sweetheart.
Porkchop, pfff.
Fish? never again.
Chicken, hmmm.
Go and try. It is our Chinese bun-​burger!

Ordered:
— Taro fries
— 2x Teriyaki Tofu bao
Absolutely delicious snack. Taro fries were soo good (I love taro!) Bao was supple and perfectly puffy while silky egg tofu, crunchy pickled veg, and savory shiitake mushrooms fit together perfectly.
The down side is the price. While I admit that some of what you pay for is the cool NYC/​LA/​LDN interior and Wan Chai hip factor, even for food this yummy I’d have liked to pay a few dollars less.

A quick disclaimer before I begin: I never had formal Mandarin lessons, and my version of the romanization of the characters are not based on proper pinyin.
With that in mind, let’s start with a brief lesson in conversational Mandarin (aka Outrageous Chinese). It is important to note that certain words follow an order. Make them out of order and be prepared to have a little fun (at your or someone else’s expense). Or if you add an additional word, it can take on a whole new meaning.
Examples:
You want to compliment a woman (or a man’s) spiffy and great looking leather handbag. You can say
«Ni de pee bao jun hao kan!» (你的皮包真好看!)
but if you say
«Ni de bao pee jun hao kan» (你的包皮真好看!)
you just complimented someone on their great looking foreskin. Unless of course, their handbag or manbag looks like it was made with brand name foreskins…(shameless mention of course, the jokes about rubbing a wallet made out of foreskins becomes a suitcase moments later)
Lesson #2:
Gua Bao 割包 (the characters referring to shaved or cut bun) is what bloggers and budding gourmets refer to as the Taiwanese Hamburger. It is a no nonsense classic snack consisting of
— braised oinkalicious and oinkshii juicy pork belly (aka 五花肉) in spices/​herbs/​soy sauce.
— marinated/​preserved sour veg (finely diced) 梅干菜
— finely ground peanuts (sometimes in powder form)
— cilantro 香菜
all put together in a light airy steamed doughy bun (better than those served with Peking Ducks in the USA). I’m actually referring to 藍家割包 in Taipei. This is important because I am using this as the golden standard to judge baos henceforth.
I had the pleasure of visiting Bao Wow on January 2 with a very experienced local friend as a post lunch snack. The storefront is very small and looks quite modern. It is pretty obvious that BW is attempting a modern international spin on the classic steamed bun with braised/​simmered pork from Taiwan and arguably Nagasaki version, that is also popularized by Ippudo as well as Richard Chang’s Momofuku that has unfortunately taken New York by storm.
The seating are elevated stools with small tables (not too many of them), so if you are dining in, suggest you grab your table first then order. There is a menu board so you can decide before you order, and each bao is assembled immediately after your order is put in.
The ingredients are all staged in a very neat and organized manner, and in plain sight, so it is obvious there is nothing to hide and the employees/​owners are proud of their offerings.
There are several different combinations of baos to try, and perhaps some may work better than others. My one and only visit was within a month of their grand opening, so perhaps they were still ramping up, and thus may not be reflective of how they are doing currently.
I ended up with a classic gua bao to try. Unfortunately it did not quite live up to what I had expected it to be.
— their pickled mustard greens were on the right track, but were a bit too sweet vs being pungent. Perhaps these mustard greens were more along the lines of Hakka Cantonese style (vs Hakka Taiwanese)
— shaved peanut powder would have made a great textural additional, too bad this was not added, but crushed peanut instead, which did not achieve the same effect
— the pork was pretty dry in the lean areas, although the fatty parts were ok (but overall lean). I would have preferred a more complex marination leaning on the savory side
— The steamed bun was not fluffy enough, it should be a vehicle that does not compromise on integrity and able to contain moisture and any sauce, but yet doesn’t require too much of a chew when bitten into.
At $ 58 this is a tad steep, but I truly understand that things are not getting cheaper (or better) in HK, and Wanchai is prime real estate these days. Perhaps the classic was not the one I was looking for, but I didn’t want to try a «Thai» spin on it.
Again this is just a matter of personal preference. The Baos obviously have gone through changes since my visit, but for the most part, not quite my style. Hope they improve.

From the moment I read about Bao Wow I was enamored of the concept (a shop specializing in all sorts of baowiches). Thinking I might find something akin to Momofuku’s steamed buns (which I love) here I dragged a colleague along to suss it out.
I really enjoyed Bao Wow’s original gua bao with its tender braised pork belly and ample cilantro. This is definitely the one to try. I also sampled the sesame ginger pork chop but found it lacking in flavor and generally much less compelling than the original.
The set meal of two baos (same flavor) and a drink for HK$ 68 (just under $ 9) is good value and makes for a meal as these baos are oversized and quite filling.
Whilst the original gua bao is definitely worth trying, overall I didn’t love Bao Wow. I wouldn’t order the sesame ginger pork chop again and the kimchili cheese fries were also so disappointing (undercooked and not at all spicy) we didn’t finish them.
Were I to return it would be for the original gua bao.