Mr Bao, Peckham

Smashed cucumber and golden kimchi

"Would you recommend the peach beer?"

"No."

That was pretty much how our evening at the excellent Mr Bao in Peckham began last Saturday night. (We ordered a Taiwanese beer and some sparkling sake instead.)

Tender stem broccoli with ponzu (we'd already eaten some broccoli
before I took this picture)

The food at Mr Bao is very reasonably priced, with everything under £5 and a lot under £3. The fair pricing meant that we were able to sample a good selection of the menu between the two of us.

We ordered five of the small share plates, including the smacked cucumber, golden kimchi, Taiwanese sausage, tender stem broccoli and sweet potato chips.

The golden kimchi, made with pumpkin, was definitely a highlight, but all of them were really good. The battered and deep fried sweet potato chips was a generous serving for £2.50 and I loved the simplicity of the steamed broccoli with ponzu.

Sweet potato chips and pork dumplings

The quality of the starters got me very excited about the steamed buns which were still to come and the whole reason I'd dragged Becks to Peckham for dinner. The flavour of the fillings was definitely on point. My favourite being the slow cooked lamb with pickled red onion and mint. The lamb was tasty in itself, but the pickled onion and mint just lifted the whole bun.

The bao were also surprisingly easy to share between two, retaining their structure as we ate them. The buns themselves I found a little heavier than expected and stuck a bit to the roof of my mouth.

Mr Bao pork belly and shredded lamb bao

I really enjoyed our dinner at Bao. The food, particularly the share plates and the lamb bao, was fantastic and the service was really friendly too. At £28 for two people (excluding drinks and service) you can't argue with the value either.

I've added Mr Bao as a favourite to my London eats maps.

Bao Didley, chicken

293 Rye Lane

Peckham

London

SE15 4UA