Personally I enjoy Mr Bao, sometimes I have it at York st and sometimes I get it at the Bondi Markets.
I always find the service to be of satisfactory level and the food to be good. My favourite Bao's are the Karaage Chicken Bao
made with a spicy aioli, pickled red cabbage & coriander. It sells for approx $6.50. I also like the pork belly one. Food is fresh and tasty.
Approximate cost: $6.50
Good food, average service experience and a questionable view of food hygiene,
When I arrived it was 2pm, pretty quite except for the dozen or so staff milling around the pretty squeezy concession found at the rear of Sydney's smallest food-court. There was an air of enthusiastic disorder that made me think it had just opened but when I asked they told me they'd be around for a year or so. It didn't really show.
For whatever reason my food was very slow to arrive, one girl showed great concern and was terrific, no one else seemed to be affected. That said when my Bao (what's the multiple of Bao?) arrived the manager person offered me a drink on the house, so that was a decent recovery.
What bothered me most of all, though, was an air of ambivalence toward food hygiene. Two issues caught my eye... The Manager person had been on the phone, scratching her head like a daycare teacher, then without so much as a pause to glove up, started adjusting and refilling the straws. At the same time the helpful girl was ripping leaves into a bowl, again, no gloves. Then I noticed that hardly anyone was wearing gloves - that was pretty off-putting.
All in all the food was good, the value ok and the staff a bit shambolic. The food hygiene can be fixed, and should be, there are plenty of staff after all!
Approximate cost: $6
Really decent food, a good variety for the picky eaters and the food is always delicious and really fresh - pork crackling is to die for!
Approximate cost: $12
We ordered through an external delivery service for our team lunch and while the food that arrived was amazing - they left out a Tofu Bao from our order...how apt that it was mine. Was I peeved? Yes, however I have since been reimbursed.
Overall great food however sometimes they miss the mark on order accuracy.
Mr. Bao is a great new place to get your bao fix in the city. The baos come in. A variety of flavours, my favourite is the crackling pork belly. They also sell salads and more interesting stuff at night.
