CURIOSITY about The Bao Guys and a love for bao drove me to do a takeaway at their outlet in SS2, Petaling Jaya. I had already decided what I wanted – a lamb, a beef and chicken bao. And there were: Pho-King Good, Beef Be with You and Cluck Norris.

Of the three, Pho-King Good stood out for its flavourful, moist pulled lamb in a steamed bun, served with onion chilli pickles. The meat had been simmered in a beef pho stock, soaking in all its flavours.

It was piled into a steamed mantou, and I Ioved the meaty bite, with some whole peppercorns delivering fragrant bursts. It’s all about mantou here, plain steamed, deep-fried or a charcoal one.

Beef Be with You had beef brisket braised in a hot and spicy mala sauce and tucked into a deep-fried mantou. A topping of spicy mayo and sprinkling of sesame seeds and chopped spring onions complete it.

I enjoyed the beefiness of it, with small tender chunks of beef, intensely flavoured, tumbling out with each bite. The fried mantou was a perfect match with this. It also stayed crispy through the journey home.

No guessing what mantou Cluck Norris finds its home in. A generous piece of deep-fried crumbed chicken is the filling for the charcoal mantou sitting on an egg and gherkin mayo sauce. The chicken is crispy outside and moist within and the egg gherkin mayo sauce complements it well.

The trio of bao seemed the perfect choice in the Big Bao Box. I was encouraged by one of its owners, Dominic Chou, to take it as it’s a bargain at just RM32.90. On its own Cluck Norris is RM10.90, Pho-King Good RM13.90 and Beef Be with You RM11.90.

I also took home The Milky Way (RM7.90), fried mantou topped with sesame and drizzled with a condensed milk sauce. They were sticky, lightly sweet and I thought they tasted like “harm cheem pang”.

On my next visit I was chuffed to see a completed wall mural with Michael Jackson with a bao in hand, and a tubby Kanye West tucking into a bao. The Bao Guys are not open for dine-in yet.

This time I chose Sawasdee Cluck, Power Plant and Beef Be with You. For the beef bao I asked for less sauce and it turned out even better. Sawasdee Cluck presents coriander marinated fried chicken paired with a spicy sambal mayo and tangy onion slaw.

You crunch on the deep-fried chicken in the charcoal bao, touching the pickles and the sweet, sour and spicy mayo.

The bao for Power Plant is filled with a deep fried panko crusted tofu on a carrot slaw, and drizzled with a nori-mayo (seaweed and mayonnaise) sauce. The crispy tofu gets a tangy lift from both the slaw and the sauce. It’s a bao I can recommend to a vegetarian friend.

The Onde Onde Bao was a delightful treat. Deep-fried bao covered with a fragrant pandan sauce, grated coconut and gula merah yielded yummy bites. It’s being offered as a Merdeka dessert with every purchase of the Mega Box.

Marc Wong, Lucas Isaac Seneviratne and Dominic Chou are three young law graduates who make up The Bao Guys. “We decided on the Bao concept as each of us, having spent time abroad, realised how this amazing traditional delicacy could be enjoyed with a modern twist,” said Seneviratne.

Driven by the pandemic, they kick started their business from their condo kitchen last September. About five months later, they moved into their own store in SS2.

None of them had a food and beverage background, but each of them fell into their roles – Wong developing the recipes and menu, Seneviratne handling the marketing with Chou taking charge of finances. All three are hands-on in the operations.

The Bao Guys is at 12M, Jalan SS2/61, Petaling Jaya. Contact 012 784 1446 for takeaways. It is closed on Monday. It will open for dine-in on September 1, and rice bowls will then be an option for diners. – August 28, 2021.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.