Bao on Beverly Blvd. - Thumbs Still Partly Up

Since it’s been seven years since I’ve been to Bao on Beverly Blvd., and a peek at their menu shows some modern items had been added to their menu, I decided to finally stop by for a return visit. The Asian hostess who had bragged that their chef came from the “San Gab-ri-elle Valley” was gone, but the interior looked the same except for one thing–most of the diners were now Chinese. Many of the old dishes were still there, so I zeroed in on three new items–the crispy baked bbq pork bun (they also have the regular baked bbq pork bun still on the menu, so Bao is the first restaurant where I’ve seen both on the menu), the crispy milk bun, and the spicy chicken dumpling. The crispy baked bbq pork bun is probably my very favorite food item in the world and this one was disappointing because it was just the regular soft bbq pork bun with a little bit of a “snowy” bun top. The crispy milk bun was OK, and the spicy chicken dumpling was quite good. Given the proximity of Bao to the recently opened Tasty Noodle House and Northern Cafe branches I’m guessing there’s now a bit of a non-Cantonese Chinese demographic presence in the area, and that’s the crowd they’re attracting now.

My previous assessment of Bao on the predecessor board (same title as above without the “Still”) is pretty much the same. Some nice chicken options you won’t generally find at dim sum restaurants, with Chinatown quality dim sum but some items with a more modern flair than you’d find in Chinatown. But at Westside prices, running around $6.75 for a typical order, or double what you’d pay if you headed east.

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always thought the food there was solid esp for westside.

Best time to go is during happy hour 5-7 mon-fri. Some of the steamed items and turnip cake are discounted.

Only tangentially related, but I wonder if this is what inspired Guyi to open in Brentwood w/ a not-particularly-dumbed-down menu? The Chinese are moving westward and eastward (I presume), so I think that there might be more of a population to support more “conventional” Chinese food.

That would be a reasonable assessment. Same thing that drove the opening of iFood.

Your standards are too low. They’ve always been low. But I think they’re lower now.

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:laughing: I read this in the same semi-scolding tone as my Singaporean aunty, and I’m rolling right now. :rofl:

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Far from it

I’m not nearly wise enough, nor old enough, to be scolding David.

Merely lamenting.

Young curmudgeon. Smile - you still have a long road to travel. :smiling_face:

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Oh nice. I’ve avoided Bao. My thinking was “How good could it be? It’s in my ‘hood.”

Okay, I’m going to tread lightly into this territory. This can be a tough crowd. I have occasionally been mocked or generally ignored. But I would like to learn more and it’s confusing, as there seems to be a lot of overlapping. So may I ask, what does the term “non-Cantonese Chinese” mean? I’ve seen this description before, but it confuses me. Also, aren’t Bao Cantonese?

Also, have you tried the Beverly Tasty Noodle House?

Thanks

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China is a vast country. Canton (Guandong) is the capital city of the province of Guangzhou, which is itself located in Southern China. There are 32 (THIRTY-TWO) other provinces in China, aside from Guangzhou.

Foodwise, because many of the initial Chinese immigrants to the United States (most arrived here to work on the railroads) hailed from Canton, the first Chinatowns which popped up in America invariably served almost 100% Cantonese cuisine. Over time, the American population at large grew accustomed to these offerings, and generalized this Cantonese fare as “Chinese food”. It’s like saying that if someone from Louisiana (who cooked Cajun food) was the first American to settle in say, Albania, and the local Albanians had never had any American food before, the Albanians then generalized this Cajun food thereafter by incorrectly labeling with the generalism of “American food”.

Non-Cantonese Chinese cuisine is a term often used to “correct” this historical/geographical bias. In fact, Cantonese food is only one of eight great historical Chinese cuisine traditions (the other branches are Anhui, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichuan, and Zhejiang cuisines). It’s 2018! There are now tons of peeps from all other parts of China here in the States!

Bao are NOT Cantonese. Anything made with flour (such as bao and noodles) is considered more northern in origin. This is due to climate: Wheat was grown in the North, whereas rice was grown in the South. And Canton / Guandong is definitely in the South.

Hope this distillation helps.

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I can’t (and won’t) speak for @TheCookie, but this really helps me!

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Very much!

If I may, would Bao be considered just northern cuisine or is it distinguished by one of the “branches” you listed?

@ipsedixit, feel free to move this conversation to another thread. But I’d like to ask, where does that put other Dim Sum (is Bao even considered Dim Sum?) for example: Har Gow? which is described as having wheat or tapioca starch wrappers.

There is a lot of misinformation on the internet. For instance I just came across Jamie Oliver’s Guide to Dim Sum and he lists Char Siu Bao as Cantonese. He’s not Chinese I know, but you’d think he would be informed. This is what I mean by the seeming overlap. Confusing!

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Bao is overall Northern. BUT there are regional bao variations, just like BBQ has regional variations in the Carolinas, St. Louis, and Texas.

Before proceeding with inserting even more of my foot in my mouth, let’s make it clear to readers that dim sum in general (in the way we are familiar with it on this board) is a traditionally very distinctly Cantonese thing.

Generally - No, bao is NOT a dim sum item. Therefore, XLB is NOT a dim sum item (but that doesn’t mean enterprising dim sum restaurant owners, who are more than ready to throw authenticity under the profit bus, often add XLB onto the dim sum menu).

Now, here come the dreaded exception… Char siu bao, even though it’s bao (which I just told you was Northern, and not Cantonese), IS considered a traditional dim sum item. Why?

It has to do with the filling of the char siu bao. You see, “char siu” is a Southern way of preparing meat. Many moons ago, the Cantonese bastardized/adopted the Northern bao, filled it with their char siu, and… Voila! A new dim sum star was born.

Har gow is most definitely dim sum, as I am hard pressed to find har gow existing in any other format of Chinese cuisine outside Cantonese dim sum. As a point of clarification, its wrapping is often rice-based, not wheat. And… taro is frequently used in Southern cooking. Remember, these Eight Great Branches of Chinese cuisine have never existed in a true vacuum. People travel, and fusions/hybrid creations often result. Also, introduction of new ingredients and cooking techniques inevitably cause additional evolution of each great branch.

An interesting sidenote (and anyone chime in if I am wrong) is that the use of spicy peppers in Chinese cuisine (as in our beloved Sichuan dishes) is a relative newcomer historically on to the scene. Spicy / hot pepper plants were originally NOT native to China! They were initially brought back to the Old World from the New World and, likely via trade (either via the Silk Route or otherwise), made their way to China, and were finally introduced to Chinese cooking within the past 600-700 years (a relatively new development, when one takes into account the long history of China itself). But now, China is the world’s top consumer of hot peppers.

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Got it! The analogies are very helpful. Have I said before you’d be a good teacher?

It will take me a while to learn the various names, branches, hybrids, etc. But this helps a lot. It also eases the frustration of thinking you have it down, then going to a restaurant that serves a mix of branches and thinking “I guess I don’t have it down”. It’s not me, it’s the restaurant. :sweat_smile:

Thanks!

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If you wanna go deeper, for example in Cantonese cuisine there is variation with different counties/cities.
Some dishes they eat out in the country side they don’t eat in Hong Kong.

Immigration of Chinese immigrants. After the Civil War in China in 1949, you had large groups of Chinese move to Taiwan and Hong Kong. Taiwanese is interesting because you have people from North, Central, and South. There is a Taiwanese-style Mainland food, which tends to be less oily/salty/spicy.
Taiwanese love equally noodles, dumplings, and rice dishes.

In Southeast Asia, you have mostly Chinese who are Hakka, Chiu Chow, Hokkien, Hainan, and Cantonese. Again more variation being in a new country with new ingredients.

Chinese Food, is a lifetime of study and eating. So much food!

Do you have a favorite style of Chinese food?

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More than you’ve ever wanted to know about Har Gow, Dim Sum, and just random musings about tapioca, wheat and pleating.

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I just need to pipe in and say that this isn’t westside. This is the central side i think. I’ve lived here for 12 years and have been once.

Hi @JeetKuneBao -

Interesting. Again with the analogies. But I guess we also have country food vs. city food here, especially in the south.

Taiwan is interesting and confusing to me, not just food wise. It’s a subject I’m curious about, but never know where to start. Talk about foot in mouth. What would you say are dishes that are popular or most associated with Taiwan?

I’m starting to get that. I better get busy eating. :slight_smile:

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I think the latter part of this thread has turned into a variation of “Hu’s On First?” My reference to a “non-Cantonese demographic” meant that most of the Chinese who patronized Bao Dimsum House on Beverly Blvd. were Mainlanders, not Cantonese Chinese. However, the restaurant Bao Dimsum House serves, well, dimsum, which in local parlances refers to Cantonese dimsum. Yes, they do have XLB, Shanghainese in origin, on their menu, but a lot of Cantonese dimsum restaurants serve that dish too. There are also some other hybrid dishes too, but Bao Dimsum’s menu would generally be classified as Cantonese.

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Isn’t “Canton” on the mainland?

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