Noodle Bao & Bar is the latest addition to the upper level of The Kitchens dining precinct at Robina Town Centre. The owners of Thai restaurant Chong Co., also at The Kitchens, are behind the new eatery, which will focus heavily on steamed bao buns, alongside wok-fried dishes, barbecued meats and authentic noodle soups. You can swing through for a quick bar snack and a few Asian-inspired cocktails (the jasmine-tea negroni is a good start), or sit and stay a while as you work your way through the extensive menu.
Start with dumplings and taro-stuffed pastry puffs before getting acquainted with the hero of the menu – tasty baos. You’ll find more authentic-style bao fillings like barbecued pork with tamarind and Chinese duck with hoisin sauce, or you can mix it up with the crispy karaage bao with sriracha sauce and the colourful chicken satay-filled bao. If you love both bao and burgers (we do), then you’ll want to get your mitts on the hamburger bao with a mini beef patty, red onion, tomato, lettuce, barbecue sauce and mayo. The share-style menu expands into dishes like chilli-jam chicken with Brussels sprouts, a decadent soft-shell-crab curry, stuffed baby squid in a lime and green-chilli sauce, as well as various barbecued dishes like sizzling wagyu beef, boneless chicken and pork neck with a spicy tamarind glaze. Finish on a high note with a sweet crispy bao with pandan (pandanus-plant extract) sauce, topped with crushed butter cookies and pickled pineapple.
Keen to get your bao on? Head over to our Stumble Guide for opening hours and location.
Images courtesy of Noodle Bao & Bar.
