Bao House Playa El Tunco — Restaurant in Departamento de La Libertad

It does seem weird and a bit of a shame that the best place I've eaten in El Salvador ended up being an expensive Asian fusion place.

Generally, I pride myself on finding great value meals that are usually a cuisine of local origin and typically cost half what you get in a tourist strip. But, I felt like a night off tonight, and this had been recommended by one of the locals I rented my surf gear from, so I headed in knowing that things could get pricey.

They did. The portion sizes are not exactly enormous, and their biggest offering - the bao premium box - left me feeling a bit hungry still. It had been a long day of surfing, after all.

But thanks to the phenomenal service of the mesero working tonight, I found just the right amount of food. In addition to recommending the Bao box premium, he also steered me clear of a more expensive extra bao, and instead towards the siu mai, which was exactly what I'd been after without knowing it.

What's more, he went above and beyond in responding to my questions regarding what he recommended - not only suggesting the pulled pork bao, which was indeed fantastic, but also suggesting I have it with teriyaki sauce on the side (sauce which is usually reserved for the chicken). The result was pure bliss.

I paid $15.50US for my meal, without a drink - not a cheap outing. But in all honesty, its the most satisfied I've felt with my decison of restaurant in all of El Salvador so...

First time going to Bao House after a long time of not visiting tunco. A bunch of friends had recommended it to me for the past few months, so I had to visit.

The place is somewhat small, but just right for the beach. Really open and airy, which was great on a hot night. We wanted to sit upstairs originally but were told we (two people) could only sit at one table that was for two. We chose to move downstairs and they didn’t mind if we sat at a table for four. That was a little odd, but in the end we needed the space because we tried out a whole lot of the menu. In all honesty I was blown away by the food. Quality was on point with the ingredients. The prices are great coming from San Salvador where everything feels over priced. My wife and I loved everything from start to finish. If you’re looking for fresh, Asian inspired food this place is a must.

Only complaint we had was with the bao which could have had just a tad more of a punch of flavor.

Over all. Highly recommend this place and for sure, will be back in the...

I was really disappointed with my experience at The Bao House today (Sept 2nd). We first came at 3:30pm because Google said they were open, but the server rudely dismissed us with “we’re closed still, sorry” in Spanish but in a nasty tone. The chef then came out and kindly told us they would open at 4:30pm, so we decided to wait and came back exactly at 4:30.

When we returned, the same server acted like he couldn’t be bothered by our presence. He gave us a dirty look, ignored us completely, and didn’t even acknowledge us while we stood there for about 10 minutes. It was such an uncomfortable and unwelcoming experience that we decided to leave without ordering.

If the restaurant wants people to enjoy their food, I really hope they address how their staff treats customers…especially when people are excited to...