It took a while but I finally got to try the awesomeness known as Belly Bao. The bao masters have
relocated to their own new spot in Newtown. Another good news is that they are
open now from Wednesday to Sunday lunch and dinner.
The new space has a very chill and tropical small bar vibe. Owners Sylvia Tran and Kiren Chua have brought back all the Belly Bao favourites from the
gua baos to fried chicken and their renowned baogers. Their original creation
of Bao noodles, which are bao dough rolled and hand cut into noodles is a
recent addition to the menu.
The slow braised pork belly bao ($7)
is an amazing classic. A soft gua bao filled with super tender and tasty pork
belly that was braised in masterstock. It also has coriander, crushed peanuts,
mustard greens and mayo. The sweet, sour and umami flavours were well balanced.
Their Belly Bao fried chicken
($16 for half bird) with added salted
egg yolk (extra $3) was insanely delicious! The meat was brined for 24
hours. Aside from the amazing flavours from their Asian spice mix, the crispy
batter coating had this extra umami and butteriness from the salted egg yolk.
My favourite item on the menu is the baoger ($13), which is a bao/burger hybrid. It’s not your
traditional burg but the Baoger is one of Sydney's best burgers that I’ve had
to date. Easily within my top 3 right now. It consists of Angus beef patty,
cheese, cos lettuce, onions, pickled radish and BB’s special tangy smoky baoger
sauce. Their nicely seasoned smash beef patty has the most perfect meat to fat
ratio in my opinion! The lightly toasted steamed soft housemade bao bun was
amazing! The sweet and sour flavours from the pickles and onion were just
right. Tip: Add extra patty ($3) and
bacon ($3) to level up your baoger experience.
You will also find one of the best desserts in Sydney here in
the form of their Gaytime bao ($9).
It consists of Golden Gaytime ice cream,
salted caramel, sliced bananas and shredded coconut in a golden fried bao! Need
I say more?
I’ve been back twice already. The quality of
food and service were excellent and consistent. I will need to try their bao
noodles on my next visit.
Belly Bao
184 King Street
Newtown NSW
Opening hours:
Wed to Fri 11.30am-3pm, 5.30pm-10pm
Sat to Sun 11.30am-10pm
Posts
I rarely go anywhere multiple times but been here four times since they opened. Love that salty egg fried chicken.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos Raff! I've only tried Belly Bao once and feel like I didn't appreciate them properly because I went after having eaten a meal beforehand :) Whoops!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad they opened up their own store!
ReplyDelete