FLAVOUR FLING
Burger, meet bao: here’s what happens when two of our sauciest cravings come together
NOODLE BAO & BAR UPSTAIRS AT THE KITCHENS ROBINA TOWN CENTRE, 19 ROBINA TOWN CENTRE DRIVE
Book it: 5580 8687
Open: Daily from 11am — 10pm WE’VE had cruffins, duffins, crookies and muffles, now burger and bao are getting steamy in the latest instalment of when-two-treats-becomeone. The Kitchens’ Noodle Bao & Bar has wasted no time in bringing us the baoger.
Their Hamburg ($5) combines the subtle sweetness of a soft bao bun with brash beef burger flavour; crisp lettuce, red onion and a mini patty slathered in barbecue sauce and mayo.
Capitalising on the Coast’s insatiable appetite for Asian fusion, the new eatery from the creators of nearby Thai restaurant Chong Co is giving the people what they want.
Not only does Noodle Bao deliver exactly what it says on the label — all the bao and noodles your heart desires — it illustrates their appeal in a menu loaded with photos.
Far from helping to narrow down the options, it will make you want to order one of everything. Fortunately, sturdy timber settings with plenty of elbow room mean you can do exactly that without having to play table Tetris.
The restaurant features some of the most spacious tables for two I’ve come across, but the fitout is equally accommodating for families.
I only wish I’d had a whole tribe to help — my eyes were much bigger than my stomach when it came to the six deceptively filling bao.
Each has that textbook crunch factor — cucumber layered on Chinese barbecue duck ($6) or peanuts peppering traditional satay ($5) — that so beautifully balances the pillowy cases. For lovers of lip-tingling spice, the chicken karaage ($5) and tempura tofu ($5) also pack a decent kick.
The noodle and rice section is composed of tried and tested favourites, including chicken Singapore noodles ($14), Malaysian prawn mee goreng ($16) and a coriander laced Cantonese wonton noodle soup ($14). I’m partial to the Southeast Asian beef char kway teow — thick rice noodles wok fried with egg, tofu and bean sprouts. It’s so good with just a squeeze of lemon.
Presentation is strong across the board, but the prawn pineapple fried rice ($18) — served in a hollowed-out spikycrowned pineapple — gets heads turning as it makes its way out of the kitchen.
There’s so much more to love on a menu that crosses cultures to cherry pick the crowdpleasers, but you’ll need a big group to do it justice. Same goes for the drink list, which sprawls from tropical cocktails and multitudes of mocktails to a globe-trotting snapshot of wine, beer and spirits.
If you want your meal paced out in courses I recommend ordering as you go — or prepare for an en masse delivery.
While polite to a fault, the attention of our servers wavered as the restaurant began to fill up. It took us a while to flag down somebody to take our dessert order, but the snappy response from the kitchen made up for it.
The sweet on sweet factor of a crispy dessert bao oozing pandan sauce ($6) was a little overpowering for my tastebuds, but coconut ice cream with the exotic edge of jackfruit and smooth palm seed ($8) proved exactly the refreshing finish I was after.