Daddy Bao Review
I’ve been to Mr Bao before and absolutely loved it so when I was invited to visit the
latest addition to the family: Daddy Bao, Tooting… you can be sure I did a little fist pump. Mr Bao opened its doors in Peckham in 2016 and has continued to go strength to strength due to its reputation for serving amazing vegan steamed milk buns and fabulous Taiwanese food. Given how popular this restaurant was, Daddy Bao opened at the start of 2018. Upon arrival, Daddy Bao was already full of brunch goers and the atmosphere was buzzing.
We opted to go with the bottomless brunch option as it seemed the best value for money £18 for an hour of bottomless bellinis (though if we’d been able to stay all day – they have a £50 for an all day bottomless deal). The mango Bellini and the guava bellinis were the cocktails of the day, but we can tell you it was the mango Bellini that had our taste buds dancing. Super refreshing and not too sweet, just perfect for the warm Saturday weather. We were also lucky enough to try the violent Bellini (which tasted like parma violet – absolute heaven) and the Barrel Aged Plum Wine Negroni (Campari, Gin, Plum Wine, Chocolate Bitters), an interesting take on the classic Negroni.
Daddy Bao recommends choosing two bao buns each then sharing a number of dishes on the menu. We chose the Szechuan Cucumber, Sweet Potato Chips w/ Wasabi Mayo, Golden Kimchi, Fried Chicken w/ spiced bean sauce, Pak Choi w/ Yellow Bean Sauce, Pork Dumplings and the Chicken Poppers. When you visit, you’d be amiss to not order those Chicken Poppers and the Pork Dumplings! They were definitely the favourite of the sharing selections. Though to be honest – just order everything on the menu because it was all fabulous. I mean even the Sweet Potato Chips were something extra.
Now many of you know I love Eggs Benedict so to discover Daddy Bao has the Bao Benedict on the menu was a revelation. Filled with Flock + Herd pork, wilted spinach, poached eggs, bacon and passion fruit hollandaise sauce… this is THE Bao Bun not to be missed.
Next up we tried the Drunken Prawn Bao (Beer Marinated Prawns, Pickled Mooli, Spiced Spring Onion) and the Three Cups Chicken (Slow Braised Chicken, Red Cabbage Pickle, Spicy Honey Sauce, Spring Onions). My friend definitely had food envy with my Prawn Bao and wished she’d had the same. She definitely should have as it was amazing.
Not sure how we could fit any more food in, we managed to squeeze in some dessert baos. Deep Fried Baos with ice-cream! Can I get an Amen here! My friend and I had differing opinions on the ice-cream. I thoroughly enjoyed the sesame seed ice-cream, whereas the green-tea ice-cream was more to her taste.
We finished our session with the recommended Gin Xuan Tonic (Jin Xuan tea infused gin and tonic). Tea infused gin… well you had me sold. The tea flavour added that something extra. I wish Daddy Bao could bottle the gin and sell to the general public because I know I’d be adding it to my collection.
Spending our Saturday at Daddy Bao was an absolute joy. Staff are friendly and fun which is actually all part of their ethos. They teach their staff active listening skills and encourage them to talk to customers. The need to have customers feel welcome whilst eating is more important that rushing customers out of the door. We loved it and hope that in future, more restaurants take a note out of Daddy Bao’s book.
What are you waiting for? Book a table now to enjoy some of the best Taiwanese food in London!
Website: www.daddybao.com
Address: Daddy Bao
113 Mitcham Road
Tooting SW17 9PE
Instagram: @daddybao
Twitter: @daddybaoUK
Written by Tegan LeBon
Twitter and instagram: @toogs1
