Ok! So I finally got a chance to eat at Bao Bei last night. I’ve been there several times since its opening but every time the wait has been too long and we have ended up walking down the street to Phnom Phen restaurant (which deserves a post of its own).
The food was great. I guess you could say it is more of a tapas-type joint. Amongst my favourites were the the Mantou (steamed buns and braised beef shortrib), Sticky Rice Cake which consisted of stir fried julienned pork, salted mustard greens and mushrooms (however, for those of you who have had rice cake before you will note that this is actually more like rice noodles with delicious toppings…either way I am almost pretty sure you wont be disappointed), the Pearl Bok Choi (so yummy), squid served in a wonderful array of sauces and bok choi, and prawn and chives dumplings. The ‘whole bean’ black bean sauce on the Bok Choi and other dishes was delicious and really added the flavor to the dishes. For desert I had the Deep fried banana served with sorbet(I wasn’t particularly blown away). (See Menu)
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What adds on to the food is the great ambiance. Located it Chinatown on Keefer street, I assume this is a new hip joint in Van city (but don’t take my word for it since I’ve been away for much too long). The design is pretty cool: A delicate-looking row of white-painted knives fastened into the wall, antique trays crowding another vertical section, tall branches shooting out of dainty vases, an olde-tyme-looking bar, dim lighting and gorgeous wall paper lining the back wall of the restaurant.
The servers and owner were all nice and helpful (which is always a bonus these days). OH! I guess its worth mentioning that if you are not too fond of pork then you might want to stay away as many of the dishes have stir fried julienned pork sprinkled all over. I am sure critics will say that there is better chinese food out there and I wont disagree (after all we do live in vancouver) but if you are looking to add a little ambiance to your friday night meal then this place will definitely do.
Bao Bei is located at: 163 Keefer Street, Vancouver, BC, V6A 1X3 T. 604 688 0876
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