The hubs and I went to Vancouver, Canada for the first time. We spent three days there and this is the first food purchase we made. Baodown is a very small restaurant in the Gastown district. Gastown is a very hip part of downtown that is is being revamped. We were walking through the district, trying to decide on where to eat for dinner. There were too many great options, so we decided to get an appetizer at Baodown and entrees at somewhere else.
Environment
This restaurant is extremely tiny. There are only a handful of seats. However, there are a couple picnic tables outside. You order at a counter and they deliver your food to you. They also have free cucumber water, which I love.
Food
We ordered two different bao items. While poke bowls and other options sounded delicious, the waitress told us that the bao options were the best. Plus, the place is named after them, so we had to try them.
We got the “Bao Chicka Bao Bao” ($6 Canadian, or $4.70 U.S.) which is lemongrass fried chicken, daikon, carrots, cilantro, lettuce, fish sauce, garlic mayo, and crispy garlic. We also got “The Big Bang” ($6 Canadian) which is crispy pork belly, sweet and sour sauce, pickled carrots and daikon and scallions. Honestly, the names of these dishes are the best part. To be fair, these names are awesome. I’m a sucker for a pun. The “Bao Chicka Bao Bao” was a little disappointing. The description sounded heavently, so my expectations were high. However, the chicken was very dry. There was not enough sauce to make up for the dryness, so it was somewhat difficult to eat. I did not detect any garlic, which I definitely missed. I love garlic! The flavors overall were lacking. I would not get this dish again.
“The Big Bang” was better than the chicken option. The pork belly was tender, yet had crispy edges. The sweet and sour sauce was more sweet, but worked very well with all of the other ingredients. I would get this dish again.
Overall
I would not visit this restaurant again. I have had better bao dishes from food trucks here in Little Rock (way to go, Little Rock!). Also, these baos were so tiny that you could get about three bites out of them. So, paying $2 Canadian (or $1.57 U.S. dollars) per bite was not worth it.