Tuesday 30 July 2013

Bao Dao Taiwanese Kitchen, Chatswood

Bao Dao's fairly new to Chatswood, having been around for a little less than a year. Since it first opened, I've heard many good things about it. Indeed, it's one of the more affordable sit-down restaurants around the area, the service is fast, and the food is tasty - even according to my dinner buddy that night and one of my fussier friends when it comes to Shanghainese and Taiwanese cuisines.

Said friend duly noted that the lanterns as depicted in the photo below are pretty accurate replicas of the ones that those in mainland China use during lantern festivals. During these festivals, people write riddles on the lanterns for others to solve throughout the night in return for small prizes.


Service is semi-self-serve. You are led to your table and provided your food, but ordering and immediate payment occurs at the counter. The food didn't all come at once, so the order in which the dishes arrived was at random.

First was the fried basil chicken, which was surprisingly not too dry and bore a pleasant crunch from the light batter.

Fried chicken ($7.20)

 We ordered soup as a winter-warmer. Chicken and mushroom soup is usually standard chicken broth, but the herbs here gave it an extra punch of flavour.

Shiitake mushroom & chicken in master stock ($6.60)

The highlight for me were the pork wontons, the skin of which could have been fairly dry, if they had not been served in their 'house spicy sauce'. The sauce was more peppery than spicy, which is great for those who can't eat anything too hot.

Pork wonton x 8 pieces ($7.70)

We each had one braised pork belly bun. Garnished with chopped peanut and coriander, this was mouthwateringly good - though I think they're sold for less at their stall during the Chatswood markets.

Pork belly bun ($4.50)

I'm not a pork knuckle fan - biting into the fat was too overwhelming for me, but the sauce went well with it. Probably for the more traditional Chinese palate.

Pork knuckle ($7.70)

Bao Dao is definitely a welcome addition to the food scene in Chatswood. Next time, I'll be back to try their noodles and more of their wontons!

Bao Dao Taiwanese Kitchen on Urbanspoon

4 comments:

  1. It all looks great - I really do need to try more Taiwanese cuisine...

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    1. I agree - and admittedly, so do I! There don't seem to be many Taiwanese places around Sydney though :(

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  2. Great choice of dishes - except for the pork knuckle which I'm with you on, I totally CANNOT stand a mouthful of blubber, that makes me gag!

    Having said that, I'm sad to see you didn't try the "Lu Rou Fan" - Stewed Pork rice. If they can do this right then it's a fair indicator of their authenticity.

    and @Tina, assuming this place is authentic, you're highly unlikely to get any authentic Taiwanese cuisine anywhere else in Sydney. A much under-rated cuisine, I'm fairly sure in the next few years the trend will explode.

    YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST

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    1. Lu rou fan aye? I shall definitely look out for that next time. Too bad I don't know what doing it 'right' actually is. Looks like a trip to Taiwan is in order :P

      Apparently there's a pretty authentic Taiwanese place on Anzac Parade. Near 85 bakery.

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