Bao team to open Taiwanese restaurant Xu
Named Xu after chef and founder Erchen Chang’s late grandfather, the site will have 68-covers spread across two floors in Chinatown and open for lunch and dinner seven days a week.
While Bao’s menu is famous for its steamed buns costing up to £5, the price point at Xu will be around £55 per person before drinks.
Dishes will include a whole chicken stuffed with herbs and spices that will required diners to don gloves to break it apart; a snack plate of smoked taiwanese sausage; and pancakes filled with 40-day aged beef shortrib, marrow and pickles.
Downstairs a 24-cover tea bar will serve hot and cold brews of traditional Taiwanese tea, available for customers to take home.
While Bao is famous for its minimalist interiors, Xu’s design sill be inspired by 1930’s Taipei, with a pink marble dining bar and mural taking centre stage in the main restaurant.
New venture
Bao is a family business and was founded by Chang alongside her husband Shing Tat Chung and his sister Wai Ting Chung at London street food collective KERB in 2012.
The trio opened their first permanent restaurant in Soho with the backing of Gymkhana founder JKS Restaurants in 2015.
The site quickly became famous for its winding queues, and led to the launch of a second larger restaurant in Fitzrovia last year.
Bao’s Soho restaurant even gained a Michelin Bib Gourmand in the 2017 Michelin Guide.
Check out Restaurant Magazine’s trip to Bao for its Eats Out food tour here.
