BAO, it means dumpling in Chinese, “(包)”. This is a Chinese restaurant in Kiev, but it’s not just any Chinese restaurant. This is a ‘modern Chinese cuision’. I thought it would mean disaster because as someone from an Asian background, when you put ‘modern’ and ‘Chinese’ together, that is the ‘Uh-oh’ moment.

So I carefully read all reviews on Tripadvisor.. and guess what? Found a guy with Chinese background who HATED this restaurant!

Great!

But well, I was just too curious about these photogenic dumplings, I have never seen any like these before. Plus there’s a business lunch deal. And so I still checked this restaurant out!

Did I make a mistake?

Bao – The Modern Chinese Cuisine Restaurant in Kiev

I looked up the location on Google maps and took the subway here. I got a vibe that this neighborhood is one of the posh areas in Kiev. Why? Well, I found Goodwine supermarket here! And the cars seemed to be newer in model.

Impressed by the interior design of BAO, we came in. Handed our jackets to the waitress, we were led to our seats.

‘Our seats’, because it looked like we were the only customers who came for business lunch. Others went to the more formal dining area. Well, I didn’t mind anything as long as food is good! And I actually liked these stools!

BAO’s Menu (Business Lunch Available)

Try to come here on Monday-Friday from 12:00-17:00.  The deal is a steal! Chinese afternoon selection? Wow!

Since you can pick either soup or salad, I chose the salad with veal. And others from my group chose Shrimp and Tofu Spicy Soup and  (Beef with Prawn and Wonton Noodle Soup. Everything was spot on! I don’t know what went wrong with that Tripadvisor review left by that Chinese guy from Australia, or maybe the restaurant made improvements already? It was SO authentic! So good!  Shrimp was fresh, and meat was beautifully braised. Everything was perfect!

Now the dumplings. This is what I came for! What an art! Everybody had a plate like this with 5 beautiful dumplings! The yellow one is a goldfish! So cute! I thought they would only look good in the eyes and taste awful….. but nooooo I was wrong! It’s true that the skin was a tad thicker than normal, but it’s acceptable and I still found the filling inside delicious!

Check out the saucer! My soy sauce is in shell! Hahaha! I’m just so proud and thankful for BAO presenting Chinese cuisine in this most elegant way!

Now comes to main dishes. We picked one of each. Kung-pao Shrimp, Sweet and sour pork, Mongolian beef. Everything tasted like home! Nothing pretentious! My only complaint was how come the side dish was EITHER rice or broccoli? I don’t get the logic.    

Finally, the bills. I don’t remember if service was included. Anyways, the business lunch was 349UAH. In summary that is a too-good-to-be-true deal for soup, main dish and dumplings!

BAO-  Modern Chinese Cuisine

Address：Mechnykova St, 14/1, Kyiv

Opening Hours：12:00–00:00

Website：http://bao.ua

Comment：Business lunch for 349UAH. Worth trying! Authentic taste with outstanding presentation!