Lunch special chicken dumplings ($14) are good, comes with excellent crispy scallion pancakes. $1 off soup dumplings. Soup dumplings ($11 for 6) are v good, sits flatter and smaller than other restaurants. Slight peppery taste. Skin is delicate and refined. read more

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price - $25 including tax and tip food - 3/5 service - 3/5 ambiance - 4/5 i got their sichuan cold noodles and the scallion pancakes for a quick snack. both of the dishes were just okay but it was filling so thats good. i didnt really like the food i ordered but if i had to choose i would definitely pick the scallion pancake as my favorite. the service was okay because they just checked in on us at the bare minimum. the ambiance was definitely the best out of all the other components like the food and service. read more

The Bao - Scallion Pancake(V), Sichuan Cold Noodles - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

We happened to find ourselves here because the place across the street had a one hour wait... and what a pleasant surprise! The restaurant has a high end feel, with cozy tables and "brutalist" decor - very cool. Service was fantastic. Friendly. Efficient. We did not feel rushed. Food was amazing. Very good. The dumplings were perfect, the short ribs amazing. A really good meal, and I look forward to returning. read more

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If you're looking for a good quality soup dumpling and comfort Shanghainese food, this is the place. For dim sum, we tried the Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao, Finger Bao, and Shanghai Shumai. The soup dumpling skins were a good texture and there's a great amount of soup in each one. The finger baos have a nice crispy bottom but hot juicy filling. The shumai was packed with fish paste and pork. For some carbs, we got the delicious Shanghai Pan Fried Noodles and umami Black Truffle Fried Rice! Service was quick and friendly. There was a bug in my water but I didn't make a big deal about it. I just didn't drink it. read more

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Service: Great Ambiance: Chill Food: Delicious!! I love this place! I went on a double date here with my husband, my best friend, and her partner and the xiao long baos here have just the right amount of broth and meat filling, it was perf for warming up the soul. Not only were their baos packed with flavor, but all their dishes were seasoned to perfection! It's difficult to pick a favorite because it was all so good! But I will definitely be craving their Sichuan chili fried chicken every single day until the day I come back. Our server was super attentive and very kind to us. We had arrived a bit late so we basically stayed until they closed, but they didn't make us feel rushed to leave. I'd would love to come back here and definitely would recommend this place for anyone craving Xiao long baos or even Sichuan chili fried chicken! read more

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Food was absolutely fantastic! Great experience sampling so many items. Crab rangoons, green beens, soup dumplings, scallion pancake wrapped duck, wonton soup, sake, etc! Definitely will be back to this delicious joint in the LES. Waitstaff was very polite and served us well! read more

Fab spot for Chinese Food in the East Village! My friends were raving about this place and the great mix of music/vibes and great food, so I had it on my list for a long time and it did not disappoint. There were only two of us so we could only try a few things, but I definitely want to come back and try more. TO EAT: Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao - definitely up there in my ranking of the best in the city. Great broth - check. Well prepared and high quality pork - check. Perfectly textured skin/wrapper - check! Egg Fried Rice - hard to go wrong here, but this was great and went well with our chicken Triple Pepper Chicken - spicy but not too spicy, and very flavorful. VIBES: On point. Very hip and fun. This would be a fun spot for a small group. read more

Lovely service. Delicious dumplings. I got the Shimp Shumai and chicken dumplings, ask for the chilli oil - Yummy! Cool and vibes spot...cool music too! read more

The Bao - Chicken dumplings with chili oil. - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

Servers were attentive, and the food came out quick. It's a cozy place in terms of size, but still has a classy feel. would LOVE to come here again! it was almost really easy to over order from how good everything was lol. read more

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Staffs were friendly. We ordered dan dan noodles, Colorful Soup Dumplings , and braised pork. The Dan Dan noodles were spicy, the red center soup dumplings was also spicy and the Braised Pork Belly was a bit salty. We ordered white rice which balanced everything out. Food: 4/5 Service 5/5 Ambience: 4/5 read more

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My friend and I stopped in after browsing different menus and restaurants on the street. We got there about 8pm on a Tuesday, and there was no wait for us. I wanted to try one of the entrees, but changed my mind after learning they don't come with anything else, so I opted for the Roast Pork Egg Fried Rice. You can order a side of white rice, but I still chose to get the fried rice. My friend ordered the Har Gow and I thought that was very good as well! I stuck with water, but would love to go back and try one of their milk teas. They had a champagne milk tea on the menu, which was the first time I've heard of that. The lighting inside was dim. I'm sure it may a popular date night spot! read more

The Bao - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

This might be one of my new favorite spots! The food and ambiance here were top tier. We came on a busy Sunday night and were seated within 10 minutes, which was pretty quick considering they only had a few spots open. The menu is extensive and everything looked good. We sampled lots of different things. I wish the menu had descriptions of all of the foods, but I think it might be impossible to go wrong here. The scallion pancake was delicious and crispy. Both of the dumpling varieties we tried, the colorful and the pan fried, were great. I LOVED the pan fried dumplings, probably some of my favorites in the city! I also fell in love with the Shanghai pan fried noodles. They were SO flavorful. I definitely want to come back and try more things!! read more

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So delicious!! I loved everything we got so much and it was all incredible!! The soup dumplings and wonton soup and green beans and noddles were all amazinggggg and the fried rice! read more

So good! If you're ever in the LES you have to put this on your list. It can get super busy because it's so popular but during a work night earlier around 6 -- it's perfect. Good dim sum, dumplings, noodles and fresh cucumber salad. Everything was so good! Staff is so kind too! read more

The Bao - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

The Bao changed the menu a month ago. Now it is streamlined and much smaller than what it used to be. I liked Beef with Scallions and it has disappeared. This was disappointing. I was in the East Village and tested for soup dumplings which I had here. What used to be superb was now ordinary. Jenna, the server, told me that The Bao is Americanized and that their sister restaurant, Uluh, has authentic Chinese food and is also pricey. For years I used to eat at The Bao and then slowly I came rarely as so many other places had better soup dumplings. read more

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I love this place so much!! it's genuinely one of my favorite restaurants in nyc! everything i've had on the menu has been amazing! Service is super fast and everyone is very kind read more

The Bao - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

Yummy food, seasoned well, great portion, and great price. Great attentive service from waitress. Calm atmosphere would be perfect for a night out or a date night. read more

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The staff were friendly and quick to help you. The food was fine but excessively salty as we needed to order servings of rice to balance it out. Also needed to consume a lot of water even after getting home. The ambiance felt just a little fancy but it really wasn't. read more

The Bao - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

Food , service , ambience all good ! We were here for the weekend and wanted to check out a good dumpling place . Chanced upon The Bao as we were walking and went straight in . We had the vegetable dumpling in hot sauce and chicken soup dumplings! Both were really good . I had the veg dumpling and it was spicy and yummy ! Had a cup of chrysanthemum goji tea . Definitely recommend this place !! read more

The Bao - Chicken soup dumplings - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

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Visiting New York on a work trip, my coworker is a local and suggested this place. I fell in love at first bite. He took order control and just picked things at random to order as he is familiar with the establishment. My tastebuds were in culinary heaven. Plate after plate, item after item was just as good as the last thing I had eaten. I am eager for my next work trip so I can make this my first stop once I settle. If you are fortunate to do a family style dining experience, I think you will make the most out of your visit tasting a variety of menu options. read more

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Food ranges from average to great. They've got all the basics but my favorite by far is the Sichuan spicy chicken. Crispy, a little spicy, beautifully aromatic. The skin on their dumpling dishes were all a little overcooked. Service is readily available and quick. We had a reservation for a large group on a weeknight and were immediately seated. Restaurant was empty when we arrived (630ish) but was pretty busy by the time we left (8:30ish). read more

The Bao - Sichuan Chili Fried Chicken (yum!) - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

All I have to say is the soup dumplings are a must order. Everything here hits the spot. The ambiance is not the best in the city but the service is impeccable. Must orders; The duck scallion pancake Soup dumplings Fried rice (skip the truffle) read more

The lunch specials are gas: mapo tofu and cumin chicken were both super flavorful and filling (~$16 total), but on the salty side. The soup in the shrimp soup dumplings ($11) was literally like pork on umami steroids. The baos were expertly made, with a translucent skin that exhibited the cook's skill, but the skin unfortunately wrinkled and tore very easily after sitting in the takeout container. Smaller size than Din Soup Dumplings, but cheaper and less oily. Definitely a great place for a quick lunch! read more

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Service: 3.5/5 Food: 3/5 Ambiance: dark, kinda quiet, intimate Surprised it was pretty dead for a Sunday at 6pm. Only really came for the dessert xiao long baos. Menu is pretty decent. What I Ordered: - Colorful XLB: most flavors were meh. pork was a little salty. spicy was SPICY. crab + chicken had nice balance. - Shanghai Noodles w Chicken: too salty for my taste, but eating partners enjoyed it. only thin pieces of chicken. - Pork Belly: tender, a little bland + very fatty - Chocolate XLB: expected it to be runny, but the chocolate chunk didn't melt all the way. friends said they tasted something fruity like raspber, but I didn't notice. - Black Sesame XLB: very runny. similar to a tangyuan. not too sweet. read more

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Came in here randomly while looking for lunch on St Mark's. It did not disappoint! Delicious food - loved the black truffle xiao long bao and the scallion pancake! It all paired very well with the green tea. Cozy comfort food. Lovely atmosphere, great lighting, and excellent service. read more

The Bao - Black Truffle Xiao Long Bao - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

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I've walked by this place in st marks for years and a gloomy cold nyc day finally prompted me to step foot inside. We ordered an order of the kung fu xiao long bao, wonton in chili oil and the duck meat in vermicelli soup. The xiao long bao was freshly steamed, but not amazing. The wonton in chili oil was also pretty average. But what pretty blew me away is the duck meat vermicelli soup. It was light yet flavorful and the duck meat was so tender. It also came with tofu puffs and pigs blood. It was the most tender pigs blood I've ever had and I'm Chinese so I've had my fair share of pigs blood. Our original server was informative and pleasant mannered but the other waitress was less so. She looked annoyed the whole way through and even a little aggressive when she handed me the POS machine to pay. Despite so I would definitely come back again with f read more

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Solid place, good service. All of the soup dumplings have pork broth, which they mentioned. Not a ton of diverse vegetarian options. The restaurant gets crowded, so make sure you get there early or make a reservation. Highly recommend the string beans - well flavored and a good portion size. read more

The taste is really authentic, just like in Shanghai. Highly recommend the truffle xiaolongbao! read more

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Great service. Great food. Have attached the exact order you should put in if you're at dinner with 8 hungry MEN. Any of the baos are good, I recommend putting the chili oil from the cucumber salad into the baos. read more

The Bao - What to order - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

I've had my fair share of Dim Sum in the city & I can say this spot is my favorite. I come back to the Bao every time i'm craving Dim Sum. Here are my must tries - mapo tofu (best i've had in manhattan), beef with scallion, soup dumplings & Shanghai pan fried noodles read more

The Bao - Mapo Tofu / Sauteed String Beans / Shanghai Pan Fried Noodles / beef with scallion / Shrimp Shumai - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

Good Chinese restaurant. Solid, tasty flavors, but nothing extraordinarily flavorful. Scallion pancake with shredded duck was the best dish of the night. The fatty, tender duck was slathered in a sweet sauce, and wrapped in a buttery scallion pancake. The Xiao long bao were standard. Pork belly with quail eggs were tender but sauce wasn't that rich or flavorful. The cumin lamb and spicy beef broth were good over rice. It's the kind of local Chinese restaurant that serves tasty food for a normal night out, but not somewhere you'd expect top tier dishes. read more

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I like their Xiao Long Bao, is nice plating and colorful also really tasty! Most of their plating is really nice and make me like to order all of them! read more

Food was great. Service was great. I'd go back in heartbeat. A place I can rely on for great food great service and a great atmosphere. We got the dumplings the green beans the sake everything was wonderful crispy beef amazing read more

Stopped in at noon on a Thursday to grab lunch with my sister and there were only a few parties seated inside. It made me nervous at first, but we were happy with the experience. Food: Food was good since we were craving xiao long bao. We ordered the salted yolk XLB, Kung Fu XLB, the Pan fried noodles, and the scallion pancake with duck. All were good, though the pancake was definitely on the oily side. It is hard to get that crispy shell without the oil though, so I get it. Probably wasn't the best meal before hoping on a 1 hour taxi ride to JFK, but I still enjoyed it. Service: There wasn't a server working that day, so we had to place our order at the counter. It was normal for us though it seems like other yelpers seemed to have a worse experience. We found it completely fine though. Pro Tip: Bring your own BOBA (or beverage!). They only had bottled water there and a small selection of wine. I would have liked a better selection, but the table next to us had boba from half a block away - that boba sure would've been nice with our lunch. lol! Bring your own since they didn't seem to have a problem with outside drinks! read more

The Bao - Scallion Pancake with Duck (Left) and Shanghai Pan Fried Noodles (Right) - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

The colorful bun definitely very unique. They taste like a mixture of different buns to sampling. I also like the fish slice in chili oil. These thin slices of fish are very soft and no bone at all. I ate a whole bowl of rice with the fish oil sauce. Fry squid is good also. Crispy yet not a lot of flour. Mapo beancurd is delicious and a good dish with white rice. read more

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Man, very sad to write this review as this used to be my go to spot for yummy soup dumplings. The only reason I can think of for the sharp decline is that they are in bankruptcy and are cutting costs everywhere they can. Nomz: Most of the soup dumplings ripped when taking them off the basket, something I've never experienced before. Something about the consistency was off and of inferior quality than before. The ones that didn't rip didn't have much liquid inside and weren't very good. Don't judge for me getting the beef and broccoli, it used to slam. Not anymore, quality was pretty inedible. We had a side of rice, it was dry and flavorless and lukewarm, if that isn't the most worrisome sign, I don't know what is. Drinks: Had to buy water bottled, they still had beer, no teas available although still on menu. Service: Lady at the front tells you you have to order at the counter when you walk in. Lady at the counter was not very friendly at all. Ambiance: Maybe it was my disappointment but it felt very sad in there. Nope or Dope: Definitely a Nope now, expensive, plastic utensils and sub-par food. read more

The Bao - Beef and broccoli - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

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Great ambiance. Service is fast and good. Food is alright. Prices are fair. It wasn't too crowded on a Sunday read more

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Had planned to go to the xiaolongbao place next door but never made it in b/c this place looked captivating from the outside. The warmth of the servers was exceptional--they were so friendly and sweet. The decor is playful and modern. But the food was the star of the show. the veggie dumplings were the best I've had in the US...exceptionally flavorful and easy to chew outside and excellent filling. Other hits included the dan dan noodles and the spicy black bean green beans and eggplant. Shanghainese cuisine with great presentation and better flavor. Exceptional hot tea quality finished off the meal. Rarely do I venture into a resto. without reading reviews but my intuition hit the mark here. read more

Orders to go get ruined. Try and call for a fix and get hung up. Who trained this staff?

Given the popularity and crampedness of the restaurant, I'm not sure exactly why mediocrity excites lines. Scallion Pancake (C) - The scallion pancake here is nicely textured and fluffed in layers. However, this was only served with soy which didn't match at all since the pancake was already savory. Some acidic and/or spicy dipping sauce would better elevate this dish. Shanghai Noodles (C) - The noodles are well cooked, but I feel like the dish is kind of mundane and needs to be elevated with some vibrancy. There is a few slivers of pork and bok choy mixed amongst the noodles, but it is pretty bare overall. It is well seasoned though, but rather expensive for strictly noodles. read more

The Bao - ShangHai Pan Fried Noodle. 3/5. IG: @amei.eats - Shanghainese Near Me - New York, New York

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