Mian & Bao — Restaurant in Austin

This place is amazing. Wow My 19 yo daughter and I went for lunch today and were completely blown away. They have stuff on their menu you just don't see everyday, and everything we tried was stellar. I feel like we both have a pretty deep knowledge of authentic Asian food and this place hits all the marks. We ordered way too much but who cares, we are having it for dinner tonight! We got the steamed egg, which was the texture of the silkiest, most delicate custard ever and was topped with super flavorful stir fried ground pork, it's juice and green in onions. We got the kim chee because we can't NOT get kim chee if it's an option. Good juice, amazing texture with both soft and crunchy pieces and just the right amount of burn. The pan fried shrimp and pork buns were little juicy bundles of porky shrimpy heaven. The dough was perfect, just the right amount of chew. Inside was a delicious broth that we captured with rice (yes we ordered a bowl pf rice, we needed it for all the juices). The Wandou Noodles were revelatory. I've read about and seen recipes for them but have never seen them on a menu on this town. Wow. Just wow. They even used the yellow peas and not garbanzos as a sub! The noodles were chewy and slick, the ground pork (more pork always more pork) was highly flavorful, the broth was intense and the Szechuan pepper corns certainly let us know they were there. I have to ask for chili oil, because, yes, and theirs is stellar. We got their house fruit tea and discovered this is the dream bev we have been seeking for years. Literally. We are going to make this a weekly lunch and work our way thru the whole menu. The old ladies behind us were complaining about all the "unusual food" on the menu, but please Mian and Bao, don't ever change! The two young women we interacted with who worked there were so good! Attentive without being obtrusive, friendly, fast and utterly charming. The prices were more than fair. I had given up hope of ever finding a place in our current world that didn't give me buyer's remorse upon receiving my food. Well, this is the place. Five stars all around. I can't wait to come back. Oh, and it fills up fast, keep that in mind and be patient. Lastly, the thing that seems to annoy most people is the ordering at the table with the QR code. Why????? It is quick, efficient, accurate and easy. I'm 58 and I figured it out! So. We love you,...

Checked out this newly opened restaurant last night. It's great to see a new Chinese restaurant open in Austin that isn't Sichuan-focused. Based on the menu options and flavors, they have more Shanghainese flavors, similar to the Dumpling World in the same plaza.

Shredded Pork and Vegetable Noodles - This is probably my favorite dish. The broth is rich and delicious and the pickled vegetable they use is nicely balanced between savory and salty. The noodles had a nice chew to them and the portion was decent. The egg is a weird addition, though, and entirely overcooked.

Chengdu Zajiang Mian - My husband got this noodle and we'll probably never get it again. Once again, the egg was overcooked, and the noodles in this were too doughy. The pork had a good flavor but the overall dish just tasted like someone mixed the ingredients with Lao Gan Ma sauce. Don't get me wrong, Lao Gan Ma is great but not the right taste for this dish.

Mustard Green Wontons - I was super excited to try these bc they're my fave wonton style but can be a pain to make at home. These turned out so-so. The skin is too thick and the filling is too dense; they probably need ground pork with more fat. My mom's version is more authentically Shanghainese and better executed. However, the soup is AMAZING. It's probably the same soup as the shredded pork and vegetable noodles.

I wish the restaurant would make a soup dish with this broth and wintermelon + napa cabbage. A simple, homey soup like this would be a hit and is thoroughly missing in Austin.

Beef Roll Pancake - This was decent. Too much cucumber, which made it really cold to eat but otherwise something we'd get again.

It seems like the restaurant needs more experience with items made of dough; everything is too doughy and not delicate enough. They should just switch to premade goods, like wonton wrappers, if they can't master it. And the fried eggs are just an abomination but that can be easily fixed by taking them off the grill a minute earlier.

A bit disappointing and underwhelming considering they're supposedly from a well-acclaimed Los Angeles food group, but I'm hoping it's bc they just opened and they'll improve with some time.

For now, I'm giving them 3 stars but I'll definitely revisit after some time to see if the food improves with practice. I do hope so, bc it'd be great to have some of my childhood Shanghainese...

I do t often leave reviews but I really like the food and prices here so I am just hoping the owner or manager sees this review. There are so many things that don’t make sense about this restaurant. It is as if the owners do not want to be successful despite their great food. First of all, they have servers, but you can’t order from them. They force you to use this QR code website ordering thing even though they are standing there pouring your water. It makes no sense. Why have servers if you can’t order from them?! Furthermore, they force you to order through this online thing and the restaurant is in a place that is a cellular dead zone for most. Next, it’s very hard to order to go if you don’t know the exact trick. If you try to find their website via Apple Maps for example, it just takes you to a facebook page. I initially thought there wasn’t even a website at all but a server showed me the trick to finding it. They are also not on Uber eats or door dash even for pick up. If that server didn’t show me how to get to their website I would not have figured out how to order to go at all. I live in the apartments above so I come here a lot. One time before I figured that out, I came in to order something to go. They have zero system for that and because of the system they are on, no one knew what to do. Maybe I am old fashioned but I believe you should be able to go into a restaurant and order food from someone. This is the most pointlessly overcomplicated system that really takes away from the experience. After all of this, one would think that you could pay your bill on the online thing where there is a cart and a pay now button. Nope. You then have to ask for a check and have them bring it to you, further making this online ordering thing useless and overcomplicated. I hope the owner sees this and does away with this terrible system they are trying to use because I really love the food here! Use your servers or fully automate the whole place with a good system and get rid of everyone completely. I really don’t understand what they are trying to do with this system, it’s not even cool tech or anything. Also, they desperately need a manager with a little experience to make this place a...