The gua bao that created queues around the block in Soho — a steamed bun filled with braised pork, peanut, coriander, and fermented greens that became one of the defining food moments of 2010s London. Shing Tat Chung, Erchen Chang, and Wai Ting Chung started with a market stall, then opened this tiny Soho restaurant where the bao, the fried chicken, and the Taiwanese small plates introduced a cuisine that most of London had never encountered. The restaurant is small, the tables are close, the waiters shout orders to the kitchen, and the energy is the energy of a room where every table is eating the same thing because it is impossible to improve on the obvious order.
Location
Soho, London
Insider Intel
The classic gua bao — braised pork, peanut, coriander, fermented greens — is mandatory and the reason the restaurant exists. The fried chicken bao for a second take. The Horlicks ice cream for dessert (trust me). The 40-day aged beef bao if available. Small plates to share: the trotter nuggets, the confit pork rice, the sweet potato leaf with garlic. This is not a place for a single dish — order broadly and share everything.
Arrive before noon for lunch or before 5:30pm for dinner to avoid the worst of the queue. Weekday lunchtimes are more manageable. The Soho location means the surrounding streets provide entertainment while you wait. BAO has expanded to multiple locations, but Lexington Street is the original and has the most energy.
No reservations at the original Soho location — queue only. 53 Lexington Street, Soho. Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus tubes. Small plates £4-12, baos £5-7. The queue is shorter on weekdays. Multiple BAO locations now exist (King's Cross, Borough, Fitzrovia) but the original is the one. Cash and cards. The restaurant is tiny — counter and table seating.