Noodles, buns and dumplings come with a western-Chinese kick at this fringe-of-Chinatown venue
At Baozi Inn, kitsch Communist Revolution decor meets northern Chinese street food tidied up for London. True to Sichuanese form, red is present in most dishes – if not as a slick of potent chilli oil, then in lashings of sliced or whole chillies.
Beware of the generously portioned spicy beef noodles: the soup is topped with a layer of tongue-numbing chilli oil. Dan dan noodles, cucumber salad and crescent dumplings are all good choices, especially when accompanied by fresh, unsweetened hot soy milk.
The kitchen occasionally gets things wrong, but when it’s on song – which is often – the food is spicy, delicious and cheap.
This was my favourite restaurant, I went every week for years. I'm pretty sure they've changed hands. The vibe of the cafe has been destroyed with updated cold decor, the once super spicy authentic soups now taste like watered down broth. The newly added basic Chinese dishes don't belong on the menu. Overall - not the same food.
The best thing about Northern Chinese cuisine is it’s homeyness - it’s comfort food for colder months with enough heat to give you sniffles and very contented rosy cheeks.
What I had:
Dandan mien/noodles
Chilli oil and garlic dumplings
Steamed pork buns
Unsweetened hot soy milk
The Dandan mien definitely had the famous mouth-numbing Schezuan pepper and the mince was cooked well into a fine “crumble”; however the vegetables on top were cold and the noodle texture wasn’t springy enough. The dumplings were good; however I would recommend that you mix the raw minced garlic on top in with the chilli oil otherwise you may be at risk of getting a mouthful of raw garlic. The steamed pork buns had good filling; however the base of the bun itself was a little soggy. The unsweetened hot soy milk was lovely as it helps with the heat of the food and especially the cold weather. Though, I can't say this place will win any points on service.
Tip: You can also order the skewers which they sell in the small shop next door - this is usually fishballs, offal and other ‘hotpot’. The seating here are just little stools so it’s not really a place to sit for a long meal.
Good For: quick meal, catch up with friends, casual dinner/ lunch
I am so sad about this. This was one of the real "hidden gems" of Chinatown, and now it has been ruined. As soon as I saw the pictures on their website, and the Chinese Communist posters were no longer on the wall, and someone had put some cutsie neon signs in their place, you could see the food would have also lost it's authenticity. None of the old dishes appeared to be on their "new" menu. A real loss. Good bye Baoz Inn.
Was not a great fan of the food, was quite bland and flavourless. Staff were quite pleasant and it's a decent restaurant but ultimately let down badly by the food
Easy, cheap and fast Chinese street food. Not many options for vegetarians and most of the dishes were rather spicy. It's a tiny, cosy restaurant with friendly staff. I prefer Cantonese Chinese food though.
I can't understand why anyone would rate this place. The food is poor, even at the relatively low price, and the service is dire, bordering on hostile. Spend another fiver and go somewhere else.
This restaurant does excellent cheap quick schezuan street / comfort food. "Foodies" who come here and moan about the service and non schezuan dishes should go else where. Dan dan noodles, beef noodle soup, lamb skewers put a smile on my face time and time again.
This was a perfect place to grab something to eat before seeing a show in nearby theatre land. The service is quick and our waiter was cheeky but had our concerns at heart (he pointed at my white pal who had just ordered pig intestine on a skewer).
We ordered one plate of dumplings, a big dumpling of the day, seaweed salad, skewers and the things I am telling you must try, century egg at a remarkable £5. Well worth it and with chilli it was divine.
I felt everything else was just so so and it cost £1.50 for a fish ball skewer which annoyed me because when it came, the balls were cut in half! 1.5 balls for £1.50!!!
Anyway nice enough place to frequest. Go early as people were queuing by the time we left :)
The staff is not very friendly or accommodating. It took a long time for them to take our orders, even though they were just chatting at their desk. The food was dripping in fat and grease. All dumplings have pork. No veggie, chicken or beef option. Very disappointing.
Baozi Inn is a chain from the same owner of Bai Wei, Bar Shu and Bashan. I hated the service though, people who worked there was not attentive, over worked and didn't care at all. I had to walk up there to ask them for a glass of water second time around. If you serve spicy items, you should provide a glass of tap water for eaters. That being said, the food was not bad at all. The beef noodle soup, dumplings and dan dan noodles were good.
Honestly I can't believe the review for this restaurant. Probably one of the worst restaurants in China town. We are Ok with the horrible service as we know we are in Chinatown but the food was absolutely disapointing. The main specialty which is Baozi was dry and had been reheated.
Aubergine was tasteless and almost raw. I have tried better wonton. Complete waste of money!
Baozi Inn is one of my safe spots in Chinatown. With dim
light, and simple wooden tables and benches, the focus is not on comfort but in
a nice, cheap quick meal. For those who like spice, I recommend the noodles with
ground pork and chilli oil, one of the best dishes I had there. The several
meat and vegetable options that come with rice are also a good choice, but be
ware of the guioza: takes a little bit longer to make, and can be a bit oily.
I know this restaurant is not to everyone’s taste but I do
enjoy going there.
With its communist propaganda and Mao fetish, the décor is
very unusual. Maybe you’ll find it inappropriate but I do like the
stereotypical Chinese vibe.
Service can be brisk, but if you’re an impatient person like
me, you’ll probably find it quite enjoyable.
Food is good, especially the dumplings. And all with a bill around
£25 for a dinner for two, I think it’s pretty good. A Chinatown favourite of
mine.
As
far as lower price range Chinese restaurants go, this place does not
disappoint. The dumplings especially are excellent, although beware as some of the
food is very spicy! The soup broth particularly comes under this category but
is full of taste nonetheless. The dishes are cheap and cheerful – don’t expect
top quality food or service as it isn’t that kind of place. Baozi Inn is much
more of a quick lunch during work restaurant, but this was what I was after.
They only take cash which was a bit frustrating so be sure to be prepared for
that. I would not put it amongst the very best at Chinatown, from my limited
experience, but for the price and considering how quickly the food came I was exceptionally
contented.
This place fills my heart with joy, but my butt with dread. We're talking seriously spicy shit, here. Literally and the thing that isn't literally. The service may not be smily, and you maaay regret it the next morning, but knock me down with a giant comedy chopstick if there's a better restaurant in Chinatown. There isn't. Hashtag fact.
Absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this place! No sane or reasonable person in their wildest dreams would give this place a one star rating, in fact as a very satisfied repeat customer - I'm deeply offended.
Not good. Unfriendly service and average food. Couldn't order water because of 'Health and Safety' - nonsense. There are better alternatives - maybe Leong's Legends by the Golden Gate.
I had a terrible experience there. The service is as bad as you can imagine. Cold and blunt. At the end, they told us they only took cash and emphasised that they told us when we came in, which was just a pure lie. But I didn't mind too much and planned to get some cash from the ATM while leaving my friend there finishing her tea. Then I heard them saying in Chinese that they were going to ask my friend to stand up if there are more customers coming. I told them they couldn't do that and it's ridiculous. They just stared at me and ignored me. It was truly awful.
Went last night for a quick, cheap meal. Wasn't disappointed. The baozi are huge and fluffy. The chengdu dumplings in chilli and garlic were delicious. And the ma po tofu was exactly how I remembered it when I used to eat it almost daily in Beijing. Haven't tasted food as authentic as this since I moved back to the UK three years ago - highly recommend if you want simple mainland Chinese food.
Steaming bowls of simple, spicy, sichuan cuisine in a great value, atmospheric restaurant.
I've eaten here probably 8 or 10 times since I arrived in London 3 years ago, most recently with my partner yesterday for lunch. Every time I come here, i remind myself to make sure I come back sooner next time. Delicious food, with a difference from the usual chinatown fare. This is not a 5 star dining experience and its a simple menu... but what the kitchen does, it generally does very well. When I can slurp my way through a beautifully spiced bowl of chengdu dan dan noodles and some chinese tea for less than a tenner (including a tip for an altogether satisfyingly spicy experience) i think I can excuse the sometimes brisk (but usually smiling) service.
For a quick and tasty Chinese meal Baozi Inn fits the bill nicely.
Go here very often. Service is basic however in China town this normally means the food will be more authentic. Dumplings are yum yum, the best dish is the Dandan noodle still the best in London in my opinion
Have the baozi, theyre amazing! as are the dumplings and wontons. eat what the waiter recommends and you can't go wrong; choose something yourself and it's pretty average. i'd go back just for the baozi!
I went in for a dry fried beef ho fun which was good but my take away Beijing dumpling (which was supposed to have prawn, didn't have it, was given pork instead) was awful, not steamed enough, ie pastry was not cooked through and no soup inside dumpling. I've since found other places doing good dry fried beef ho fun as I've last checked their menu on wall outside saying minimum charge is £10. When I want a quick meal and on my own, I cannot eat 2 - 3 dishes at one sitting to make sure the bill is at least over £10. They have lost one long term customer here who frequently recommend friends to good restaurants.
Such a good place to eat the food is delicious lots of flavor it's a bit pricey which is not great and the spicy beef noodles bees has a bit too much fat and not enough beef but overall its great food and you will be back !! I'm addicted now I come so often
Had an awful meal at this restaurant. When we first arrived I checked out what other diners were having and it all looked great. I decided on pork bun and spare rib noodle broth dish and my friend had the spicy beef noodles. However on closer inspection the meat was really fatty and the dishes were coated in a slick of oil.
No flavour, I could barely eat my ribs as I couldn't stomach eating around the cartilage/joint/fatty bits all over them.
The pork bun was the only decent thing about this place.
This place assaulted our taste buds. I agree with the previous post, I would have rather gone to McDonalds for dinner.
i've dined here alone, with friends, during busy and quiet times and it's been a consistently pleasant experience. good food, good value, and good service. actually, compared to some restaurants in the area, GREAT service. especially as they tolerated our little boisterous slightly intoxicated party of four without batting an eyelid or telling us off. but then we did order quite a lot of food...
nice spicy dishes, great salads, lovely dumplings.
i'm sure the service can be bad. i've experienced table turning at their sister restaurants - you don't expect to be kicked out if you've ordered a lot and frankly need to digest what you've eaten.
but overall i'd say give this place a chance. especially if you're a fan of spicy sichuan food.
The food is deliciously different to typical Chinese food, but the menu is simple, offering a fairly limited selection of dishes. This said each dish is done well, and very quickly, with the simplicity of the menu working well. The dishes are all quite cheap, and the Baozi rival those I have eaten in China. The menus are a bit tatty, but this is compensated to an extent by the interesting Mao-era propaganda decor (and music in the background). When I was there the staff were very friendly, and funny, particularly when my friend tried to chat up the Malaysian waitress. Service can be brisk, but so is the food, with an entire meal being over in as little as 20 mins.
