Bao Bao Taiwanese Street Food

Bao Bao Taiwanese Street Food

For my next Boxpark Croydon adventure, I opted to try Bao Bao who specialise in Taiwanese street food, the promise of chicken katsu curry, which happens to be one of my favourite dishes, was too much to resist.  The restaurant itself was nicely set out and had seating inside. 

  I’m not sure why, but prior to ordering I asked if the katsu curry was made with chicken breast, however it turns out it was made with chicken thigh, which I have to say is something I don’t eat, not entirely sure if it‘s because in its raw state it reminds me of a skinned rabbit!  The manager informed me they use chicken thigh because it is more juicy, however given that it wouldn’t’ be cooked with the thigh bone in I’m not entirely sure how true that would be, all I could think is “cost”. 

Having gone off the idea of the katsu curry the young lady serving me asked if I liked beef, which I do, so I then opted for the Taiwanese beef noodle soup (see above).  Having gotten back to the office (and after the obligatory photographs) I tucked into my soup.  

At first glance and first sniff I was impressed, It had a good meaty aroma to it and looked quite tasty.  The soup base itself was very tasty and there were plenty of noodles and root vegetables, however, I was put off somewhat by the beef or should I say the consistency of the beef.  It reminded me of beef that had been browned off but not cooked through properly, it had a soft squishy texture to it, a bit like jelly!  That said, there were only 5 small pieces of beef in the soup!  Whilst the soup itself was a good sized portion, given that there was hardly any meat in it, I think £7.85 was a bit steep. 

I have to point out I am a fussy eater so this review is purely based on my own tastes, other people may find the food lovely however it just wasn’t to my taste and I certainly don’t think it represents good value for money especially in comparison to dishes that you can get in Miso or Wagamama for a similar price. The restaurant itself was nice and the staff friendly and helpful however I'm sorry to say, I don't I will be tempted back.