{"id":8689,"date":"2016-08-26T23:11:55","date_gmt":"2016-08-27T07:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/?p=8689"},"modified":"2016-12-29T11:24:45","modified_gmt":"2016-12-29T19:24:45","slug":"bao-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/bao-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Bao Down Gastropub and Raw Bar – Saturday Brunch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bao Down in Gastown<\/strong> has been known for their bao sandwiches. Sure I get that the idea that they are\u00a0similar to tacos, \u00a0but as I grew up eating different kinds of bao buns in China, it’s hard for me to find the white sugary buns appealing any more. Even at dim sum, I barely touch those BBQ pork buns\u00a0 although I know how delicious the stuffing is. \u00a0I guess this is why I have’t been planning to visit\u00a0this place anytime soon.<\/p>\n

However, when Bao Down was opening a\u00a0much bigger second location in Olympic Villag<\/strong>e, \u00a0I found their new Gastropub and Raw Bar concept way more interesting. They boast a full menu with a mix of Thai, Hawaiian, Filipino and other Pacific\/Asian flavours. \u00a0Besides\u00a0shucked oysters, Hawaiian poke and beef tataki in the ‘raw bar’ section, \u00a0you can also find various small or big\u00a0plates of meat, salad, noodles or rice on the menu, as well as the house charcoal-grilled platters using Thai charcoals.<\/p>\n

So I Decided to do brunch at the new Bao Down\u00a0with Food Wench<\/strong> of Drunken Noms<\/a>, and my new blogger friends Jess and Phil<\/strong> from Domo is Craving<\/a>. \u00a0The pair is happily engaged and\u00a0also runs a\u00a0YouTube channel<\/a>. They are super nice and a lot of fun to hang out with.<\/p>\n

Walking inside the restaurant, I felt like\u00a0walking into a super colourful surfer bar by the Pacific ocean. Then I noticed the chic and contemporary details on the rustic wood-centric decors. The most visually stunning piece\u00a0has to be this vibrant hip-hop style mural painted by local artist\u00a0Taka Sudo<\/strong> on the wall right beside the bar.<\/p>\n

\"Bao<\/a>
Bao Down Gastropub & Raw Bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I spotted\u00a0Food Wench sitting close to the front, forcing a smile\u00a0on her face when she saw me. Only a minute later I realized she was still\u00a0agonizing from the night before, just another one of her drunken nom adventures. Soon Jess and Phil joined, and it seemed like 11am was a little\u00a0early for them as well. Surprisingly Food Wench didn’t get\u00a0a Caesar today, and settled on a Pot of Loose Tea<\/strong> ($5). I was a little bumped because I was hoping she would order it so that I could check out the\u00a0wacky\u00a0Caesar here that serves with prawn, seared tuna, bacon and kimchi, which sounds like a small\u00a0meal itself. \u00a0While\u00a0both Phil and I ordered\u00a0the House<\/strong>\u00a0Coffee<\/strong> ($3.50), Jess asked for a Thai Ice Tea<\/strong> ($5) for her caffeine fix. Although just a cup of coffee, it came with an elaborate set of add-ons: cream, 2 different kinds of sugar and a biscotti – pretty impressive so far!<\/p>\n

\"Coffee\"<\/a>
Coffee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Thai<\/a>
Thai Ice Tea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jess and Phil were sharing a couple dishes. They didn’t seem super impressed with the\u00a0Phresh Prince Bao <\/strong>($8), with\u00a0sous vide beef, egg, bacon, cheese, peppers, onion, crispy garlic, and garlic mayonnaise served on a bao bun like an open face sandwich.<\/p>\n

\"Phresh<\/a>
Phresh Prince Bao<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The couple\u00a0also got the Hot Stuff<\/strong>\u00a0($18),<\/strong> which is the same with what Food Wench ordered, except that Food Wench asked for poached eggs instead of fried eggs. While the couple found the dish just okay, Food Wench really enjoyed it. The chicken and waffle dish is spiced up with thai chilli pepper and\u00a0\u00a0finished with\u00a0macadamia nut syrup. It would have been close to perfection for her if those poached eggs weren’t over cooked.\u00a0It was hard to see the disappointment on her face when she cut open the poached eggs because no running yoke was coming out. I took a bite on the chicken and waffle. They definitely had nailed the texture, with the chicken crispy outside and moist inside, and\u00a0the waffle was soft but still held up pretty well soaked up in the syrup under the chicken.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Hot Stuff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Hot Stuff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And Food Wench was cheerful\u00a0like a little girl when she saw her side dish of the\u00a0Hash Browns<\/strong> ($4) because they were actually Tater Tots<\/strong>. I remember\u00a0I first discovered tater tots as\u00a0Mexi-Fries at Taco Times when I moved to Canada, and it became my favourite instantly. \u00a0Those golden crispy nuggets here were just as good as what I could remember. And I could see now\u00a0why\u00a0Mercedes in Glee<\/strong> totally flipped when Sue Sylvester tried to ban tater tots in the school cafeteria.<\/p>\n

\"Tater<\/a>
Hash Browns \/ Tater Tots<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for my own dish, the Loco Moco<\/strong> ($16) was visually pleasing. It came with pressed AAA beef patty, beef & mushroom gravy, garlic steamed rice, hash\u00a0browns, and topped with 2 fried eggs. Ooh I got my own tater tots too! \u00a0Unfortunately everything in this bowl was under seasoned, which was such a shame since all the components looked\u00a0so pretty and tasted so fresh. \u00a0Although being a Cantonese I could handle bland food pretty well, this is just a little too underwhelming for me – even the garlic rice barely\u00a0tasted garlicky<\/p>\n

\"Loco<\/a>
Loco Moco<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bao<\/a>
Bao Down Gastropub & Raw Bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bao<\/a>
Bao Down Gastropub & Raw Bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Overall, just by looking at their menu, they seem to have shown some creativity to draw the Pan Asian inspiration on their plates. There is a mix of ethnic dishes with local ingredients and North American dishes with exotic twists, which all sound quite intriguing. However for our brunch experience, the great concepts didn\u2019t all get executed properly, such as my Loco Moco that didn’t deliver the bold flavours that I was forwarding to. Nevertheless, I am still willing to come back here to try the dishes from their Raw Bar and the Thai Charcoal Grill.<\/p>\n

Website \/ Menu:<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/baodown.net\/<\/a><\/p>\n

More reviews:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Bao<\/a><\/p>\n

Location:<\/strong><\/p>\n