Baozi Inn, Leicester Square, London

Sichuan cooking in a small caff-style Communist-decor themed place on Newport Court, an alley in Chinatown, Soho.

The food is very unlike any you’ll find in most standard “Chinese” restaurants. It’s spicier, for starters – with lots of chilli and pepper in many dishes.

As a vegetarian, there was lots on offer – from simpler, less spicy dishes such as the Baozi bun filled with chives, egg and onion, to much spicier, such as the wood fungus salad, dotted with fiery chili slices. Flavour was great throughout – each dish really sung, with good ingredients.

But while food is anything but Chinatown standard fare, service is as usual – surly and over-rushy. Ah well.

A friend took me here after hearing great things, however, I’m not quite sure where these great things came from. Service is terrible, I’ve never been somewhere quite like it, total lack of communication, the moment we finished our food we got the bill, and basically were coasted out. The place is small and cramped and very uncomfortable. I order a pork dish, and well I’m not sure where the meat was, because all I got was the fat cuttings. Poor experience for me overall.

This is where I tend to go if I want to eat Chinese food. The flavours are completely different to the black bean/oyster sauce Chinese restaurants.
I love their seaweed salad and they have lots of small dishes at reasonable prices so that you can afford to try something different.
There is a minimum £10 spend per head. Service is curt but overly rude.

I've been here several times, each time solo for lunch, and I am afraid that after a recent rude experience I will not return.

I'm Chinese and I used to come here when I get a craving for dan dan noodles (salty and spicy beef soup noodles). Baozi Inn serves up a good quality one (compared to the not-very-high standards of Chinese food in London). The noodles have a great slippery thick texture and the soup is tasty, BUT recently I've noticed that the amount of meat they put in the bowl is TINY. For 6.50 it was pretty stingy, not to mention that there's a minimum spend and I always feel obliged to order a side dish.

Anyway my main complaint is with the service. Yes I dined solo, yes it was during weekday lunches, and yes I only ordered tap water for drinks. I expected indifferent or surly service - it's Chinatown after all. But this waitress actually complained to her colleague (in my presence) that I ordered tap water. A man who looked like their boss smirked at the comment. They all clearly thought I did not understand Cantonese. What kind of service is that??

I would not give these people any more business.

For pictures and more please refer to my blog:
http://hungryinlondon.com/2011/01/baozi-inn-chinatown/

I really love the simple Sichuan street food served at Baozi Inn and the current visit was no exception. We are not talking culinary sophistication here but I think it’s a fantastic place for a quick and exceptional lunch and you are in and out in less than 30 minutes. Exhausted, frustrated and frozen to the bone after some unsuccessful shopping I was revived by the house specialty Sichuan noodle soup (6.50). For me personally the pork was slightly too fatty but the meat was nevertheless very tasty. The soup tasted delicious and had a good kick to it without making me scream for water in agony.

At this particular visit I was defeated by the Cucumber Salad (4:00). I usually pride myself of being able to eat any degree of hotness, in this case however, the Sichuan pepper in this dish was too overpowering and as a consequence my whole mouth was numbed. I have had this better at the Princess of Sichuan recently and also had it better (meaning actually edible) already at Baozi Inn before.

Regardless of the killer cucumber salad I heartily recommend this restaurant. It’s cheap, it’s interesting, it’s tasty and the service is comparably friendly for a Chinese restaurant. It’s the best place to go to for a hangover cure as hangovers appear to be afraid of dried chili and Sichuan pepper. Also try the Dan Dan noodles, the pork baozi (I love Chinese buns!) and the salads. What am I saying, try everything!

(no credit/debit cards accepted)

went here on the recommendation of a friend, however, found it one of the worse experiences food-wise in soho. i am sorry to disagree with the other reviewers, but the food was very poor quality, eg the cuts used and the staff were very rude. i felt so embarrassed i took my friends there that felt obliged to pick up the bill.

I've been searching for years for a restaurant 'that tastes of real China' and here it is. I also like the communist style.

I loved the interior. I am not into these bright Chinese restaurants, they look all the same to me. I love the dark wooden tables.

You do feel that you are being hurried a bit, but then a lot of Chinese restaurants are like that. You kind of get used to it.

I loved the new things they had on the menu, lots of things I haven't ever tried before.

The food looked fresh and the vegetables look good and they looked really beautiful on the plate. From an artistic point of view, it was great, and you had plenty.

However, like others, I didn't like the compulsory £8.50 policy and the hassle that it was 'cash only'. I can't remember seeing this on the front window. It normal circumstances I would have gone elsewhere, but to be honest, it was really good food and I enjoyed having the starter.

I think it is the best 'quick' Chinese restaurant in town. We saw some people looking outside and we said it was good and they went in.

This is definitely one I would go back to again and again.

this small restaurant serves authentic sichuan noodles soups and dumplings. super yummy and the price is right. the atmosphere of the restaurant is a little mainland china style, quite kitsch, but who cares, i am there to have a hearty meal in a non-pretentious atmosphere. have a hot spicy soup there and you will emerge alert and refresh!

Everyone should try Sichuanese food. A lot of British folks only experience of Chinese food is very Cantonese, and whilst I'm a big fan of that there's so much more to Chinese food - this is a country of over one billion people who had domesticated the pig about 7000 years ago - and for me Sichuan food is at the top of the vast variety. Gone are bright red gloopy sauces, replaced with many layered dishes: sweet, sour, salty, numbing, warming... So many different flavours and sensations combined into one dish and sitting perfectly together. Whilst Baozi Inn may not be the pinnacle of Sichuan food (it's not even entirely Sichuan cuisine, Beijing gets a look in too) it's damn tasty and cheap and a real one of a kind place in London, which I guess means the UK.

My favourite dish is the Fragrant and Hot Pork Noodles, one of the few dishes on the menu bearing a warning red chili next to its name, and it's a well deserved warning too. Cubes of tender pork in an umami rich sauce laden with chili, served on top of the very distinctive wheat noodles served in this place.

The baozi in their name is a type of filled steamed bun, the pork filling comes with masses of spiced minced pork and the egg filling very interesting, scrambled egg heavy with garlic, chives and spring onion. Their Three Sliver Salad is crunchy carrot, squeaky seaweed and rice vermicelli dressed in sesame oil with an undercurrent of chilli. So fresh tasting, full of interesting textures and a great palate cleanser - a must order. Chendgu Dumplings with Red Oil are pork in chewy boiled dough served in a puddle of fiery chili oil.

The restaurant is nicely decorated, lots of dark wood and Chinese revolution posters (plenty of Mao). Service tends to be efficient and quick whether you're eating in or using their takeaway service, which I do frequently.

Noodles cost about £6, smaller dishes around £4 and Baozi maybe £1.20. At lunch a set meal of main dish, salad and soup come in at £8.50, stupendous value for money.

For some photos of the food see my blog here:

http://cookingthebooks.typepad.com/cooking_the_books/2009...

I really liked the place! Dan dan noodle is really yummy. They are spicy but very good aroma. It is hard to get a good quality of noodle dishes but this place is one of the best I have tried. Decoration is very pretty too. I also had meat dumpling with chill sauce, that is super delicious too. I also recommend to try hot soy milk. It is tenderly sweet and helps the heat from the hotness of food. The service is very quick( maybe too quick to take the plate away after meal. the waiter came to our table just a second after we finished the meal) If you want to eat something quickly , it is good place to go. I only did not like the condition to say minimum charge is 8 pounds per head.

This place is fantastic. It has the reputation for being the only place in Chinatown for serving completely authentic un-Anglicised Sichuanese street food; whether or not that’s true, the food is exceptional.

First of all the décor: it’s fabulous 1950’s communist kitsch. There are propaganda posters of Mao, and various other bits of commie memorabilia scattered about what is for Chinatown, in design terms a decidedly upscale little café. Top it off with piped in Chinese Red Army choral music… brilliant. The lavatory is even clean. I know, a clean lavatory… in Chinatown.

Okay, the waiters are friendly in a way that fits with my notions of 1950s communist sociability. That aside, they are efficient, and occasionally crack a bit of a smile.

The food is incredible. This place actually makes their own noodles, dumpling wrappers and tofu, and you can tell. I highly recommend the spicy bean curd starter, which is something between a soup and a main, it’s a lot of tofu in a gorgeously rich sauce (think hot-and-sour soup as a stew) topped with crunchy soy nuts, follow this up with either one of their famous bowls of dumplings (so good) or one of the authentic Sichuan noodle dishes. The chef is from Sichuan, so supposedly those dishes are better than the Beijing street dishes. I’m mad about any of the spicy ones. The non-spicy ones are very good, but a bit too bland for my palate, but hey, most of you English-types are into bland, aren’t you?

The portions are small, but the place is incredibly cheap. You shouldn’t need more than two small dishes, I mean, you could eat more, but I doubt anyone needs the calories…

Seriously, try this place out for a quick lunch bite, or as a casual, but trendy and unpretentious little date-place. You won’t be disappointed.

Excellent value for money! We had a drink, noodles, and a pork bun all for only £8 each. The pork bun was massive (almost a meal in itself) and had a generous stuffing of mince pork inside. However, it tasted rather flavorless, although some might say it is a good point as its more natural/original.

The noodles are definitely very authentic, with traditional ingredients and soup broth. However, those that are not big fans of Chinese food and Sichuan food in particular might find it not to their liking as it really has not been altered for Western tastes. Otherwise, the noodles come in big bowls and are very filling.

Decoration-wise the picture of Mao on a wall inside was a nice touch! The place is rather cramped and groups of more than 6 will be hard pressed to find any tables big enough.

Recently voted as London Best Cheap Eat by Timeout London. All food arrived in substantial bowls and were filling. I ordered beef noodles and they weren’t that spicy at all, despite the chilli oil in the broth, and they could have been more generous with the beef. We were both of the opinion that the pork wontons were a good size and full of flavour. I might go back to try some of the other dishes, like the dan dan mian, as it’s hard to judge a place on just a few dishes (I know I do this all the time!). Dinner was £9 per person, including tip, which was very reasonable for London.

I wish I knew how to say 'Viva la revolucion, siempre!’ in Chinese. Maybe it will sink in subconciously or be transmutted into my bloodstream via Dan Dan Noodles the next time I visit Baozi Inn. And there will be a next time… A revolutionary addition to Chinatown, Baozi Inn’s specialty is northern Chinese grub and offers a change from the near-ubiquitous Cantonese restaurants in London. Baozi Inn somehow manages to come across as well designed, sleek and original as well as conveying the friendly 'family affair’ feeling of older establishments in the area. The decor occupies some sort of no-man’s-land somewhere between kitsh, chic, tasteless and authentic. I’m not sure how I feel about stuffing myself with delicious northern Chinese noodles below pictures of Mao and propaganda posters of the Great Leap Forward and Glorious Revolution… But I hardly have time to contemplate the various ironies of spending five pounds on proletarian food before a steaming, huge bowl of delicious noodles bedecked with eggs, duck, pork and glorious strange vegetables is plunked unceremoniously under my nose. Delicious! I’m a convert, if not to the politics, then to the dish. So, after two trips to Baozi Inn, even if I don’t feel like brandishing a little red book, I would be happy enough to pick up the menu for another read.
After all, let’s not get ahead of ourselves… a dinner party is simply not a revolution…