Bao House
183 Coleman Parade, Glen Waverley
03 8899 6642
Chinese
$
Food
- XO Sauce with Prawn Ball on Rice
- Braised Pork and Preserved Vegetable on Rice
- Chinese Broccoli
The Good
Nothing.
The Mediocre
The XO Sauce with Prawn Ball on Rice looked promising though failed to deliver on taste. The prawn balls had a powdery and gooey texture due to the amount of bland batter that eclipsed the prawns within. The prawns were relatively fresh though, but this was overwhelmed by the “XO sauce” that was much too sweet and lacking in spice.
The Braised Pork and Preserved Vegetable on Rice didn’t fare much better. The braised pork was rather thinly sliced and hence lacked the signature texture that’ characterised this traditional Chinese dish. We also failed to find any preserved vegetables amongst all the sauce. Once again, the sauce leaned towards the sweet side and was definitely lacking in depth or any umami flavours.
The rice within both clay pots were also rather dry and crumbly. While the outer managed to stick to the pot ever so slightly, the effect was far from what you’d expect from a traditional Hong Kong claypot, where you really have to dig into the bowl to pry out the charred, crisp rice. This, coupled with a disappointingly sweet sauces and lacklustre toppings, made for a markedly unremarkable clay pot rice.
The Chinese Broccoli was mostly fine. However this relatively simple veggie, stir fried with garlic, clocked in at over $10 for a very small portion about the size of your hand.
The Bad
Nothing.
The Verdict
Having visited many Asian countries including the birthplace of claypot rice – Hong Kong, we felt Bao House’s rendition is but a cheap imitation.
The hard, crumbly rice. The odd toppings. The unbalanced sauces. The lack of crusty outer. This was not the authentic claypot rice we expected for sure.
Would Penguin Eat Again?
For an authentic Claypot Rice experience, Bao House is not somewhere we can recommend.
Penguineats was invited to dine at Bao House.