BAO + BBQ — Restaurant in Cheltenham

Excellent.

If you want a one word review, that is it, excellent. What an experience, friendly helpful staff and a great menu.

Don't overlook the popcorn it is well worth a try, great flavours and a fun sharer to enjoy with drinks while your other plates are prepared.

We both ordered Bao, the Drunken Duck is wonderful and the Longhorn Brisket is worth the journey alone. I was genuinely considering asking for another one "to go" to enjoy later. I didn't, but I wish I had, that good!

The Korean wings were very moreish. You get four big wings, coated in a beautifully crispy coating, packing loads of flavour. Great to share and excellent value.

Pork ribs. 6 beautifully cooked, melt in the mouth, flavour bombs. These were in some ways the star of the show, excellent value and just so well prepared and presented. Ribs are such a disappointment when they aren't cooked well and I'm always hesitant to order them as a result. I would go back to Bao + BBQ just for the ribs, they know what they're doing and these are special.

The Korean Fries are fun and a good way to break up the flavours between plates. The miso corn on the cob is good but feels expensive for what it is, the braised cabbage was very good too but it was missing something, I've had a similar dish a little better before.

The desert option of the cinnamon apple doughnut, a great sharer, honestly if you have room get one for yourself, but it is a great way to end a meal.

Overall a fantastic restaurant and one you should be making time to go and enjoy. Go with a friend, go by yourself, go as a group, you won't be...

Having visited a few times in the past, I booked a table for lunch with a friend who hadn’t eaten at bao & bbq yet. The food is good, although a little on the expensive side (a bowl of fries with a drizzle of mayo is £7 for example). The cocktails were amazing. The service wasn’t anything to complain about or compliment. The food comes out as it’s ready which didn’t matter as everything was ready at a similar time. The bill was just shy of £85 for the two of us to have 1 cocktail each and the suggested 3 dishes each. I paid my part of the bill in cash after my friend paid by card. As I didn’t have the right change I gave more than the amount due. The waiter didn’t return with the change. I likely would have left the change as a tip anyway but felt this was really bad practice to just assume the change was a tip! I’ve worked in the hospitality industry myself for 12 years and wouldn’t dream of doing the same thing. I emailed to bring it to the attention of management, not as a complaint just to let them know as it could have been received in a much more negative way by someone else. I’m still yet to have a response, 5 days since my email. There’s an air of superiority about the restaurant chain with my most recent experience being the cherry on top for me. With so many amazing places to eat in Cheltenham, it’s unlikely I’ll return in a...

We had some good food. We only shared the BAO BBQ feast board for the four of us. There was the right amount of meat for four I'd say. This was our second visit to the restaurant, the first time we had a scallop ceviché to start (this may have been a special) which was fantastic and a couple of mains, though this time it all felt a little rushed and less refined. Having only taken a main, towards the end of the meal we could tell the server wanted us out of the table for the next customers, I appreciate there are time slots for meals, however if the food had been out faster, then this wouldn't have been the case and shouldn't happen for a one course meal. Also a little disappointing was the limit of 2 per person of the bao buns, as these are cheap items I would have thought we would have been offered more to accompany the meats on the board. We returned to the restaurant fully expecting to spend a decent sum on a really good meal, but were left a little disappointed, and think there are other places with more to offer at this price point in Cheltenham. Also didn't appreciate the 'would you like still or sparkling' water trick to try and get you to not ask for tap water and buy bottled. I don't mind paying for good service and food to match, but I came away feeling like the price hadn't matched the food on...