Bao Soho

Bao Soho on Lexington Street is the original restaurant in what became the Bao group, opening in 2015 and credited with starting London's steamed bao boom. The tiny space, with a handful of counter and bar seats, is designed around watching the kitchen fold and steam bao to order, and no reservations are taken, so a queue before opening or during off-peak hours is standard, especially for weekend lunch. The menu is built on Taiwanese street food rather than a broad Chinese menu, with the classic bao — a pillowy steamed bun filled with braised pork belly, peanut powder, and fermented greens — as the dish that defines the restaurant and has been widely imitated across London since. The confit pork bao and a 40-day aged beef short rib dish round out a short menu built for quick turnover and repeat ordering rather than a single large meal, and portions are intentionally small enough that most diners order several dishes to share. The room itself is minimal and functional, with counter seating that puts diners close to the open kitchen, giving the space an energetic, slightly cramped intimacy rather than a lingering restaurant atmosphere. Given the no-reservations policy and the restaurant's continued popularity a decade after opening, arriving right at opening time or during a mid-afternoon lull remains the most reliable way to avoid a long wait. Its Soho location, just off Brewer Street, places it within walking distance of Chinatown and the rest of the neighbourhood's dense restaurant scene, making it easy to combine with other stops on a single visit. Prices remain some of the most accessible in the group's portfolio, keeping the format popular with a broad range of diners from students to visiting food tourists.