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We went to Bao on a recommendation and had the highest hopes.
First, the décor was ok--a nice if not admirable try at creating the ambiance of the far east....along with a TV showing high def images and drone footage of the Thai countryside(I think).
The lighting was poor, and to address that they put big-boy lamps on the tables...but when we needed more room on the tables and asked them to take the lamp away, I needed to use my phone to see the menu. The noise level was ok and not too cacophonic. The seats were almost comfortable.
The service was less than satisfactory and was one of the reasons that this place did not end up with an average score. First, the appetizer and main courses got a little logjammed. Second, they did not have the sense to figure out how to accommodate all the dishes on the tabletop. Next, they seldom came by to check on us and refill glasses and we had to ask several times over for them to bring us more peanut sauce. The most significant transgression though came just before the finish line. We sat, and sat, and sat, and sat some more awaiting our check. Finally, I got up and summoned a passerby waiter to run our charge.
The food was meh.
The Larb (chicken) was a nice portion and cooked perfectly, but the chicken pieces were underseasoned, bland and i had to force myself to eat them. The lettuce was so stiff that it could not roll up the mined chicken and onions and the contents spilled all over my shirt and table. That was a harbinger.
Let's move to the Massaman Chicken. It was more of a liquid than a sauce. Having made the dish many a time, this comes from a little too much coconut milk and not reducing the sauce for enough time. Sometimes it comes from rushing--but this is speculation. The chicken was cut into pleasant morsels and was a little rubbery and dry, the onions were nice and soft and tasty, and the potatoes were cooked just right. The proportions of the solid ingredients felt about right.
The Pad Thai--frankly it was ok...or almost ok. The noodles were cooked properly, and the red sauce was new for me in that when I order it at a restaurant or make it at home, the default is brown from higher amounts of soy sauce. The other ingredients in the Pad Thai were scant--very little chicken, for instance, but other ingredients were sparse too. I saw a small pile of bean shoots and carrots and perhaps someone should have mixed it all up first (kitchen vs. customers) but by the time the dish made its way to me it was basically noodles.
The Pad Se Ew was not a winner. It was off. First, it might have been overcooked or under-seasoned, but it was not right. Also, too, there were too many veggies and other ingredients and too little or few noodles. This dish can be made many different ways, and the sauce can be a serious and conscientious build--this seemed to be not so complex and put together rather hastily.
The spring rolls are not your typical Chinese-restaurant-takeout-fried-egg roll style deliverable. The presentation was much more sophisticated and elegant, and they looked like works of art. I did not try them but the diners I was with did--and they said they tasted just as as they looked.
There was a bit of food left over...some of the other folks I dined with asked for containers to bring them home-- I told them they needed to have their head examined...
The service was a 1-2, the ambiance was a 2, all the dishes were 2s--maybe after a few drinks I'd give them a 2.5. Overall, if an average is 3, this was below that, so they get a 2.
