London’s go-to bao bun destination, BAO, is opening a new location, BAO Mary, on 8 May. This sixth iteration (the first, BAO Soho, opened in 2015) will be located on James Street in Marylebone, not far from Oxford Street, making it a perfect destination for after-work dinner, post-shopping lunch, or a convenient middle ground for friends scattered around town.
BAO Mary, a new London hotspot
Each of BAO locations has a different focus (the Shoreditch location focuses on noodles, the Borough location is buns, and so on) and BAO Mary will place a premium on dumplings, as well as quick cold dishes for time-pressed visitors looking for a satisfying alternative to fast food.
Set across two floors it is also the only BAO location that is open for all-day dining, serving from noon until late into the evening seven days a week.
As always with BAO, the interiors are impeccable, designed once again by MATHs, the in house design studio at BAO, led by co-founders Shing Tat Chung and Priscilla Wong. For BAO Mary, MATHs modelled the two-floor space after a Taiwanese dumpling house and incorporated classic dinner elements. On the ground floor, the wood-panelling gives the snug space a cosiness that visitors can enjoy as they sit on retro white stools at low tables, or at the counter with a view into the kitchen.
The dumpling-focused menu features Boiled Cull Yaw Dumplings, filled with succulent mutton sourced from Cornwall and served with red chilli sauce; Boiled Prawn Dumplings; and Pan Fried Mushroom Guo Tie Dumplings, the restaurant’s take on vegan potstickers with a black garlic dip.
When it comes to cold dishes, visitors can enjoy Soy Braised Lu Wei Assorted Vegetables, inspired by the Taiwanese carts that simmer a cornucopia of produce in a soy-heavy broth; street food-style Majiang Noodles, flavoured with sesame paste; and Ox Tongue with Chilli Oil.
Hot mains are also on offer, including BAO classics like the Bone Marrow with Cured Egg and Mi Gao Rice, as well as Taiwanese fried chicken chops.
-
‘Concrete Dreams’: rethinking Newcastle’s brutalist pastA new project and exhibition at the Farrell Centre in Newcastle revisits the radical urban ideas that changed Tyneside in the 1960s and 1970s
-
Mexican designers show their metal at Gallery Collectional, Dubai‘Unearthing’ at Dubai’s Gallery Collectional sees Ewe Studio designers Manu Bañó and Héctor Esrawe celebrate Mexican craftsmanship with contemporary forms
-
At The Manner, New York has a highly fashionable new living roomThe Manner, a new hopsitality experience by Standard International in the heart of SoHo, triples up as a hotel, private residence, and members’ club
-
Celebrate Día de los Muertos at one of London (and the world’s) finest Mexican restaurantsDía de los Muertos will arrive at KOL in Marylebone on 2 November, with a collaborative menu including dishes from the chefs behind Endo at The Rotunda to The Connaught, wrapped up with a mezcal fiesta
-
Mark’s Club’s interior refresh brings British countryside charm to the heart of MayfairLocated in a classic Mayfair townhouse, Mark’s Club unveils its new interiors, from greenhouse extensions to a new open-plan layout full of trinkets and charm
-
Frogs legs to fromage: Café François is London’s newest French canteen, serving up all the classics with a contemporary global twistThe founders of Mayfair's Maison François have opened a new addition, Café François. The Borough-based canteen offers an array of French classics from dawn to dusk
-
Dramatic and immersive, Dosa dishes up Korean cuisine with a moody flairThe Mandarin Oriental Mayfair welcomes Dosa, a new Korean restaurant by Akira Back
-
Yauatcha’s bespoke mooncakes mark the start of delicious celebrations for Mid-Autumn FestivalYauatcha, London’s Chinese dim sum teahouse, celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival (17 September) with three flavours of limited-edition mooncakes
-
Why bread is back on the menuGone are the days of carb-avoidant diets dominating restaurant menus. Food Critic, Leonie Cooper, celebrates the return of pillowy, inventive bread as London's stand-out dish
-
Birley Chocolate hits the sweet ’n’ chic spot in London’s ChelseaThe new Birley Chocolate shop, a sibling to Birley Bakery, is a confection of colour as delicious as its finely crafted goods
-
The London tequila bars well worth a shotOur resident spirits writer Neil Ridley explores London’s best places to enjoy the finest agave-based spirits
