Another Day in London... Take Two!
So if you know me, you'll know I'm the kind of person who enjoys trying out new food at new places. So being me, I decided to venture off around London and try out some food that I hadn't eaten before. I've always been a massive food fanatic - Sometimes I wonder how I even manage to eat so much and how I even manage to have the money to do so... But anyways... I'd been looking up food places to eat out for sometime, from online reviews to Instagram updates and I finally found a great place to try out. Have you heard of Bao? There have been many great reviews about the place so I wanted to give it a shot!
So a couple of months back, I went to try out the Bao located in Soho. Fortunately I was accompanied by my friend, Viet-Anh. Personally I think it is a really cute and comfortable place to eat out. Not to mention, there is also another Bao located in Hackney. The place serves the traditional Taiwanese bao in various styles as well as other Taiwanese dishes. With 6 different varieties of bao, I'm sure at least one would suit your liking! The servers recommended that you have at least 2 baos per person and possibly order some extra dishes.
I got the Classic bao and Fried Horlicks Ice Cream bao which I found were really interesting. Whilst I found the Classic bao was really nice (especially as the flavouring was good and I particular believe the classic had a great combination - I even wish I had ordered more) I found that the Fried Horlicks Ice Cream bao was just fried bao with ice cream inside (it was nice either way). One thing which was a downer for me was the fact the ice cream made it really difficult to eat. This was due to the ice cream continuously sliding everywhere and dripping down rather quickly. In result, I found my hands were really sticky afterwards because of the ice cream. I would consider the Fried Horlicks Ice Cream bao to be more of a dessert bao than something you would eat as a main. In the future, I hope to try the Fried Chicken Bao if I get a chance to go again (I'm not going to lie, the queues for this place is really long). Although, I'm not a massive fan of kimchi, I find that the rest of the content of the bao is suited to my liking and hopefully the overall taste will even out.
The cost of each bao was around £4 each. I found this to be quite expensive considering the size of the bao, but this may also be because of the content included in the bao. I usually buy char siu bao from a bakery in Chinatown, called Golden Gate Bakery. Char siu bao is barbecued flavoured char siu pork inside a bun. These usually only cost about £1-£2 in comparison.
Later during the day, we decided to have a change of taste. Rather than our typical Asian cuisine we decided to have a taste of Italian in Soho, thus deciding to eat at Vapiano. We had both been to Vapiano beforehand, and if I'm honest, I always get carbonara with linguine pasta. I've gotta love Vapiano because they even personally cut you some bread as a side if you ask them to. So many carbs though omg...
The great thing about Vapiano is probably the fact that they make your dish right before your eyes. I personally find it really intriguing to watch people cook especially if they have some awesome cooking skills - I definitely need to go to Benihana (where the chef prepares your dinner in front of you) when I actually have the funds to do so aha... Another great thing about Vapiano is the vibe is really calm and the low-lit location makes it very relaxing.
They've also got live music nights downstairs at Vapiano from 7:30PM on selected nights. They usually do 2 music nights per month, varying from Vapiano Soho and Vapiano Bankside.
For upcoming #pastawithsoul nights, check out the dates below:
I got the Classic bao and Fried Horlicks Ice Cream bao which I found were really interesting. Whilst I found the Classic bao was really nice (especially as the flavouring was good and I particular believe the classic had a great combination - I even wish I had ordered more) I found that the Fried Horlicks Ice Cream bao was just fried bao with ice cream inside (it was nice either way). One thing which was a downer for me was the fact the ice cream made it really difficult to eat. This was due to the ice cream continuously sliding everywhere and dripping down rather quickly. In result, I found my hands were really sticky afterwards because of the ice cream. I would consider the Fried Horlicks Ice Cream bao to be more of a dessert bao than something you would eat as a main. In the future, I hope to try the Fried Chicken Bao if I get a chance to go again (I'm not going to lie, the queues for this place is really long). Although, I'm not a massive fan of kimchi, I find that the rest of the content of the bao is suited to my liking and hopefully the overall taste will even out.
The cost of each bao was around £4 each. I found this to be quite expensive considering the size of the bao, but this may also be because of the content included in the bao. I usually buy char siu bao from a bakery in Chinatown, called Golden Gate Bakery. Char siu bao is barbecued flavoured char siu pork inside a bun. These usually only cost about £1-£2 in comparison.
Later during the day, we decided to have a change of taste. Rather than our typical Asian cuisine we decided to have a taste of Italian in Soho, thus deciding to eat at Vapiano. We had both been to Vapiano beforehand, and if I'm honest, I always get carbonara with linguine pasta. I've gotta love Vapiano because they even personally cut you some bread as a side if you ask them to. So many carbs though omg...
The place isn't too pricey, with the cost of the meal being under £10. They also have a unique system for the payment. When you enter the building, you are given a card. The way it works is that you line up in queues depending what you want. There are separate queues for each section e.g. pizza, pasta etc. They usually have the menus by the queues for you to check out what is available before deciding which queue to stand in. Also, I usually collect the cutlery I need beforehand along with a tray which is assigned by the queues (this just makes it easier to hold everything rather than holding one plate along with cutlery as well). After you've ordered your dish, they ask you to present your card. You place your card on the scanner and they place the amount you need to pay later onto your card. This is much more efficient as you don't have to worry about paying whilst trying to handle your food. Once you have finished eating you can go to the till near the entrance/exit and they will swipe your card and then request for your payment. They also offer some sweets by the tills if you're feeling something sweet after your meal. WARNING! Don't lose your card as I hear you can be charged for the loss of the Vapiano card, especially as your bill is placed onto your card after you order.
They've also got live music nights downstairs at Vapiano from 7:30PM on selected nights. They usually do 2 music nights per month, varying from Vapiano Soho and Vapiano Bankside.
For upcoming #pastawithsoul nights, check out the dates below:
- April 7th - Vapiano Soho
- April 8th - Vapiano Bankside
- May 5th - Vapiano Soho
- May 6th - Vapiano Bankside
- June 2nd - Vapiano Soho
- June 3rd - Vapiano Bankside
Here's a taster of what to expect from a previous gig at Vapiano:
So what are your opinions? If you've tried out these places beforehand, or plan to try them please write down your opinions below! I'd really like to hear how others have felt about these places, and hopefully I can update you more on some more food places when I have more chances to eat out!
Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for more updates about events and more around London!
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