Lotus Dining has opened a bao and beer eatery in Barangaroo (Sydney)

Bing’s Bao and Beer is the newest restaurant by the Lotus Dining group to hit the Street of Barangaroo. This retro-style eatery has chosen to hero the humble steamed bao on the menu, with a soft baked milk bun for those who are less adventurous. Essentially a Chinese take on a burger or sandwich these steamed buns can be filled with a myriad of fillings. The space is a 48-seat and reminiscent of a 1970’s milk bar juxtaposed with a local suburban Chinese restaurant and designed by Melissa Collison, who also designed another Lotus Venue Madame Shanghai.

Foodies can opt to fill it with braised beef brisket with lemon aspen, coriander and white pepper; Shanghai red braised pork belly topped with pickled Chinese cabbage; or soft shell crab and a slather of Sriracha mayo. For those looking to skip the meat there’s also a crumbed fish fillet with chilli jam and a vegetarian option.

Bing’s Bao & Beer is led by Lotus Dining’s Head Chef, Chris Yan who wanted to showcase this Chinese staple
“I love bao, it was a simple breakfast for me growing up in Shanghai either plain or with pork mince.” A choice of noodle and rice bowls are available to complement to extensive bao menu. “When I came to Australia, I learnt how to make fresh noodles and now I can only eat, and serve, fresh noodles at Bing’s. They have a fantastic flavour from the stock we make each day using roasted chicken and pork bones so there’s no artificial seasoning,” explains Chef Yan. Small bites range from sweet potato fries to steamed veggies dressed in olive oil and tamari.

The dessert section of the menu shouldn’t be missed either with sweet treats like the ‘bun and ice cream’ sweet bun with palm sugar, coconut ice-cream, and green tea. Bubble teas and housemade sodas are available, until September when the alcohol license kicks. Bao lovers will be able to wash it all down with Bing’s own range of pale ales brewed in collaboration with Brookvale brewery Nomad and wines made by Clare Valley’s KT Wines. Bing’s will have an exclusive collection of bottled cocktails created by Lotus’ very own award winning cocktail artist Kate McGraw.

“I want to challenge the way people perceive ready-to-drink cocktails. We are pushing the envelope with no ice, no citrus and no cocktail shakers,” says KateMcGraw. “The (bottled) cocktail list is approachable and delicious. Expect tiki-style cocktails as well as a jazzed-up whiskey high ball.”

Bings Bao & Beer

Address: Scotch Row, Barangaroo (near corner of Watermans Quay)
Contact:: 02 8315 8288
Website: http://www.lotusdining.com.au/restaurant/bings-bao-beer/
Hours: Monday-Friday: 11am – 8:30pm

Image supplied.

———-

This content has recently been ported from its original home on The AU Review: Food & Lifestyle and may have formatting errors – images may not be showing up, or duplicated, and galleries may not be working. We are slowly fixing these issue. If you spot any major malfunctions making it impossible to read the content, however, please let us know at editor AT theaureview.com.