Taiwan-Style Gua Bao Specialty Store Conquers Brits in London

Text by MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network Editorial Department, compiled and reported by Eason

Whenever the topic of traveling to the UK comes up, people often warn that it's a food desert, offering only cold meals and dishes like fish and chips. For those of us from Taiwan, surrounded by a rich culinary culture, this seems quite hard to adapt to. In fact, the UK is a highly multicultural country, especially its capital, London — not to mention. Finding cuisines from countries such as India, Thailand, Eastern Europe, Indonesia, and Hong Kong here isn’t too difficult. Taiwanese street food, renowned globally for its flavors, is no exception, but surprisingly, the Taiwanese restaurants that have gained immense popularity in London in recent years mainly serve... gua bao (steamed buns)!

The gua bao specialty store “BAO,” located in London’s Soho district, was founded by three young Hong Kong and Taiwanese individuals studying design in London. Before opening the BAO storefront, they started as a street food stall called BAO Bar at the Netil Market in East London, where their uniquely flavored traditional Taiwanese gua bao successfully won over British diners. They even managed to sell up to a thousand gua bao in a single day, turning into a hot topic in East London.