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© Rob Greig
By Sally Peck
The revolution continues apace in Chinatown, and the future looks bright. Where once we suffered with tired Anglo-Canto greasy spoons in sad need of a makeover, now the hub around Gerrard Street is a destination for quality food.
Searches for light, handmade Chinese noodles served in a broth tasting of something other than dishwater for years proved futile. But finally, the folk who brought us Bar Shu, the temple to Sichuanese cuisine in Soho, have offered up Baozi Inn (‘People’s Commune’ – in Chinese), an excellent purveyor of Beijing and Chengdu street snacks.
In a kitsch send-up of a Beijing hutong circa 1952, colourful plastic vegetables – symbols of a bountiful harvest worthy of a Great Leap Forward propaganda poster – dangle from walls lined in grey tiles that mimic bricks used to build traditional courtyard homes. The simple, and simplified, past is further reflected in the rustic stools and photographs of the Great Helmsman himself that line the dining room.
Luckily, the food moves well beyond this Disneyfied mimicry (that handily ignores any negative political associations with Chairman Mao) and achieves perfect authenticity. The eponymous baozi – steamed bread filled with pork, radish or egg typical of northern China – are an excellent option for chilli-phobes. At £1.20 for a large bun, a pair of these to take away would make a far more exciting lunch than yet another Pret sandwich.
But the real stars at Baozi Inn are not the Beijing-style snacks but the Sichuanese street food prepared by the restaurant’s chef, who comes, via Bar Shu, from Chengdu. Delicate dragon dumplings in fiery oil were pleasantly hot and light. Spicy flowering beancurd is composed of the silkiest own-made tofu, covered in chilli and sesame oils, with deep-fried dough and beansprout seeds lending texture.
The standout of our meal was the Chengdu classic, dan dan noodles. This popular dish, which is butchered regularly in lesser restaurants, is perfectly prepared here; noodles, which are handmade daily, are smothered in a delightfully bold, hot and numbing sauce of ground pork.
Sichuan beef noodles featured the same glorious noodles with tender pieces of beef, pak choi and delightfully spongy dried bamboo shoots, typical of the specially-sourced ingredients served here, all swimming in a rich beef broth accented with generous amounts of chilli oil.
A fresh salad of peanuts poached in broth (so they are springy, rather than crunchy), with celery, carrots and tofu skins, created a wonderful medley of textures and did an admirable job in soothing a tongue bombarded by the chillies and Sichuan peppercorns dotting other dishes.
The food at Baozi Inn is excellent – at this price, and probably at any price, there are no better noodles to be had in London – and the bold atmosphere seems to work. At a recent lunchtime meal, a Chinese woman of a certain age interrupted her noodle slurping to sing along with gusto to the revolutionary music from the 1960s that forms the background noise. Next to her, her young granddaughter rolled her eyes. ‘Just eat!’ she commanded in Mandarin.
Long live the Chinatown revolution…
Time Out Issue 1975: June 26 - July 2 2008
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London's best review, food and drink news
Because they might find my jokes funny. Because I'd like to find a woman that doesnt get drunk before I do. Ahh, I hate filling in these things, I...
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Quick, cheap, delicious and very filling! Definitely one of Chinatown's best.
I went to Baozi Inn today after having read some positive reviews and I have to say that it seems almost as though we went to a different restaurant. The menu was the same, but the food was dire. We were there for a light brunch so ordered a pork baozi each, and one portion of wonton in savoury broth. The baozi's bun was leathery and chewy, not soft as fluffy as it should have been. It was also soggy on the bottom. The pork filling was overly salty and rough in texture. It was basically just salty minced pork, there was no depth to it at all. The wontons had a miserly pork filling and thick-ish skin and wasn't particularly tasty. Its savoury broth (which cost more than the chilli oil version) was not unlike instant noodle soup base. Overall, very poor. Service was also perfunctory despite ours being one of only two occupied tables. To add insult to injury we were given two portions of the wonton in savoury broth despite having ordered just one, and so our entire bill for two baozi, two wonton soups and two 7-ups came to a whopping £17.20! Definitely NOT value for money, I would not recommend eating here, you could probably cook up something better yourself even if you had almost no cooking skills.
I found the restaurant nothing like the one reviewed.
I ordered the dan dan noodles, and there was absolutely no spice in them at all, the starters were good, but all the main course noodle dishes were incredibly bland. This for me is not Sichuan cuisine, I hate it when food is dumbed down for European palates, and very surprised that it is run by the guys behind Bar Shu which has always been excellent.
I found the waiters surly, and very eager to clear our table (bringing the bill whilst we were finishing our main courses), even though the restaurant was only three quarters full.
Went there yesterday and it was a great food experience. I was there with my Chinese gf and she said that was fairly authentic. Authentic or not it was anyway pretty good! Seems like the place is popular so get ready to wait for a bit…while waiting I bought a Baozi in the shop in front of the restaurant and I was pretty disappointed…but it was a good comparison with the Baozi from Baozi In, way better!! The DanDan noodles are excellent and yes, maybe not as spicy as Sichuan cuisine is, but still very good for a European palate (but I am not a Chinese food virgin). It’s not the cheapest place ever, especially when you are used to Chinatown in the US where you can fest for a tener but I guess it’s fairly priced compared to London standards. The dishes on the other customers looked very yummy and I will definitely come back to try out other specialties.
I visited Baozi Inn last night, with a sense of great anticipation. I couldn't have been more disappointed. I am a big lover of Sichuan food (and nearby Bar Shu) but here, the food was unequivocally dreadful. For a start, there was barely any chilli in any of the dishes, the food was lukewarm and bland, everything tasted fatty and greasy and was seasoned as though had been doused in generic savoury sauce from a bottle. We had even requested our food to be extra spicy. The staff were incredibly rude - they whisked plates of food away before we'd properly finished eating, and brought the bill (unrequested) while I was still finishing my main course, then kept hovering waiting for us to settle it. And yes, we did double-check the address several times - this was definitely the place described in such glowing tones in Time Out! A bland, disappointing meal in an unrelaxing environment - we shall not be returning.
I totally agree with this review, this place is real gem, hidden away from the usual run-of-mill chinese restaurants around it. Tasty food, great service, cold beer. Wonderful.