Baozi Inn (Chinese) – London, England (6.5/10)
Jul 18th, 2008 by admin
[UPDATE – October 2009: I returned to Baozi Inn for lunch last week with Gastrogeek because we didn’t have much money and a bowl of nourishing noodle soup would ward off the cold rainy weather outside. The seats were just as uncomfortable as I remembered, narrow wooden stools that you perch on and that don’t encourage lingering. However, that didn’t stop us from staying for an hour and a half! To drink, we ordered hot soy milk rather than the iced version. I have to confess my surprise when it arrived in soup bowls with spoons, but it was delicious, very fresh and home-made and unsweetened (the iced version has sugar).
Gastrogeek recommended the cold lotus root slices served with wood ear fungus (£5.00). I loved the crunchy textures and flavours of this starter / side dish. She then had the peace & happiness noodles (£6.10), fresh wheat noodles in soup, topped with sliced chicken, duck, pork sausage and egg, with sweet picked garlic and salted Chinese toon tree shoots (what are these, anyone?). My spare rib and winter mushroom noodles (house special) £6.50, fresh wheat noodles in soup with braised spare ribs and shiitake mushrooms & baby bak choy came with no baby bak choy, but spinach (and I also don’t recall the shiitake mushrooms to be honest). The ribs were a scary artificial pink colour (from whatever spices were used to braise the ribs), but were tender and fell off the bone. All in all, just what we were after. You won’t find spectacular dishes at Baozi Inn, but if you’re looking for a quick bowl of non-Cantonese/Southern noodle soup, then this is the place to be.
New photos from the recent lunch:
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Baozi Inn, recently opened in Chinatown, was recommended by a friend who tries all the latest Chinese restaurants before I do (which really helps me!). It also received a positive review in Time Out, so off I went to investigate, accompanied by a Japanese friend.
It’s very small, and of course they don’t take reservations, so it was lucky that we decided to eat early. The interior reminded me a bit of the first Chinese restaurant I was taken to when I arrived in Beijing for a two year stay back in 1996, decorated kitschy Communist Revolution-style. Diners perch on wooden stools at small wooden tables, which is not that comfortable. It’s not a place to linger over your meal, and I’d barely sat down before I was asked what I wanted. Nevertheless, the service was polite and helpful (and quick!)
Baozi Inn is owned by the people behind Sichuan restaurant Bar Shu, so the menu helpfully displays photos of each dish, just like at Bar Shu. On offer was a selection of ’street food’ and xiao chi (’small eats’ or snacks) from Beijing and Sichuan, including large steamed baozi (northern Chinese buns), filled with pork, egg or radish. We wanted to try the radish, as my friend said it sounded similar to something she has had in Japan, but they didn’t have it.
What I ordered:
Instead, we chose a xiao chi of ginger-juice spinach (£4.00) – blanched spinach in soy sauce, ginger and brown rice vinegar dressing – which turned out to be the highlight of the meal for me. It was a generous portion, light and fresh, and came with yellow soy beans. Delicious!
We also ordered ‘dragon’ pork wontons in a savoury broth (£6.10), a classic made famous by the Long Chao Shou restaurant in Chengdu, Sichuan; Beijing zhajiang mian (£6.10) – fresh wheat noodles topped with pork in rich fermented sauce, raw carrot, cucumber and crushed garlic; and Sichuan spicy beef noodles (£6.50).
The verdict?
These all arrived in substantial bowls and were filling. My friend liked her zhajiang mian, although she thought the noodles could have been slightly more al dente (and she mentioned her garlicky breath the next day!). My beef noodles weren’t that spicy at all, despite the chilli oil in the broth, and they could have been more generous with the beef. We were both of the opinion that the pork wontons were a good size and full of flavour.
I might go back to try some of the other dishes, like the dan dan mian, as it’s hard to judge a place on just a few dishes (I know I do this all the time!). Dinner was £9 per person, including tip, which was very reasonable for London.
Other Chinese restaurants in a similar price bracket:
All the London restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide
Contact details:
Baozi Inn
25 Newport Court
London WC2H 7JS
Tel: 020 7287 6877
Open daily 11am-10pm
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @World Foodie Guide
Hi Helen,
I visited Baozi Inn a few days after the TimeOut review came out, and I also enjoyed the noodle dishes. The baozi, though, were kind of disappointing, and I was amused to see that the resto opened across the street from the stand where I normally pick up my baozi if I’m in Soho.
Like you, I think Baozi Inn is well priced, so I’ll stop by again soon and try more of the dishes. : )
Well, I’ll be fighting with you over the baozi across the road now, that’s for sure! See you at Baozi Inn for round 2…