BAO — Restaurant in Edmonton

As a big fan of Bao buns and asian cuisine I REALLY wanted to like this place. I'm sad to write this review but I hope the owners take it as constructive feedback to hopefully help them improve.

My partner and I came by last night. We ordered the pork buns, spicy dumplings, and a green onion cake. The service was overall good, the restaurant had a nice charm. Unfortunately the food was absolutely horrible.

The pork buns were completely flavorless and tasted like they were bought frozen from T&T. They were not soft and spongy. Instead they were rubbery and had a strange after taste.

The dumplings did look even remotely close to the picture on the menu. They were soggy and falling apart. The only flavor was the vinigary spicy sauce that they were served in. The dumplings themselves were clearly also frozen and had absolutely no flavor, the only flavor was the spicey over powering sauce.

The green-onion cake was also not very good. Unlike everything else they may have been made in-restaurant but either way it was just way too greasy and also quite flavorless.

I would LOVE to change my review if the owners are willing to make some changes to the food. This place has an amazing location and has a ton of potential but the food was...

Had to try it out here once I heard they made Jian Bing (Chinese crepe) as I've been wanting to try these out for years. It did not disappoint and it was delicious. Great crunch, sweet and savory. However, ordering it was difficult as the menu wasn't clear on what toppings were standard and what was optional and our server wasn't very good at explaining it. I was able to explain that I wanted lettuce and sausage added to my crepe and it was perfect from the first bite. I also ordered the spicy dumplings and they did not disappoint. They were actually spicy and actually caused my brow to sweat a bit. They also had great flavour and weren't just pure spice. Well done!

Overall great experience with the food, our server was nice but seemed inexperienced and he was quite slow. The restaurant was surprisingly small but seemed ample due to a large mirrored wall. I think they had seating for about 15 people. I would recommend trying it out here if you want something different from North American style...

The food was amazing! Probably the best Chinese food I have eaten in Edmonton so far. I'm beyond satisfied with what I have been served.

I ordered the scrambled egg and tomato rice, along with the seaweed and egg soup. The taste of the rice was outstanding--it was not salty nor was it bland, and the rice itself was not dry as it was accompanied by some thick tomato sauce and egg.

However, the general atmosphere of this restaurant is extremely quiet. Despite the fact that it was seated to its maximum capacity, the only sounds we could hear were from the kitchen and the music! This could be a pro or a con depending on what kind of ambience you prefer.

I'll definitely be eating here again soon! Thank you for the fantastic...