/FOOD&DRINK
WHEN they’re done right, bao are some of the most delicious morsels you’ll come across. Fluffy steamed bun, sweet-sticky filling, and offset with crunchy cucumber and pickled veg. It’s the perfect package.
The combination of flavours is so good that even if they’re a bit slapdash, they’re pretty delicious too. Which is lucky for Taberu, Manchester’s newest bao bun specialist.
Taberu has been opened by Victor and Vinny Yu, the brothers behind Alderley Edge Chinese restaurant Yu, which opened above Piccolino on London Road in 2015. They previously helped their father run Ribble Valley restaurant Yu and You - named by Gordon Ramsay as the UK’s best Chinese restaurant.
Based on King Street, their latest venture is geared towards takeaway lunchtime trade from the surrounding offices.
Inside, it doesn’t look like the CGI released before they opened; it has all the personality of a tent-pole. It’s all white walls, grey tables, fridges filled sparsely with Fiji Water, Coke and coconut water. Some uninviting seating discourages diners from overstaying their welcome.
But seating and atmos isn’t what I’m here for - I’m here for the buns. Over at the counter, it’s best described as a Subway for steamed buns – but the operation seems less slick. Friendly staff are everywhere, but service manages to be slow and frenzied at once.
When I order on a quiet Saturday afternoon they’re panicked, and start flapping. One eager staff member describes in great length the ordering process - you take a bao, then choose meat, veg, and the sauce for £5.95.
All the ingredients are waiting in stainless steel containers, and my steamed bun is stacked with my chosen ingredients; pork, cucumber, spring onion, and teriyaki sauce, as recommended by the server.
It’s compiled with all the care and delicacy of a jumble sale. Stuff is wedged in here and there, and eventually it resembles something bao-like, before being topped with a shedload of coriander.
Some of the coriander is brown and limp – it lies on the top of the bun, and it’s all I taste in the first mouthful. Once I find the other fillings it’s fine; the char siu pork isn’t bad, and the sauce pulls it all together.
Across the table the peking duck bao is aromatic and rich, but it’s still dominated by coriander.
The sheer size deserves a mention though - it’s like bao-zilla - and for the price point it’s a filling lunch option if you’re happy enough to wrestle with one.
The salads are a nice accompaniment – a sublimely silky salmon comes on a bed of crunchy tender-stem broccoli with a punchy sauce.
But overall, there’s no delicacy here – staff are heavy handed, which means that the subtle flavours aren’t balanced like they should be. Better baos – Wallace and Sons, Wolfhouse Kitchen, Fusion Lab, and Leedsbased Fu-Schnikens – are carefully collated to ensure each bite has balance.
It’s not setting the bao world alight, but for some affordable, quick, and healthy fodder – Taberu is undoubtedly a contender.