b-served Gastronomy
Boa-Bao
Asian street food served in the eixample
For anyone who has visited Asia and fallen in love with its varied cuisine or for the simply curious the recently opened restaurant and cocktail bar Boa-Bao is as good as actually being there. The culinary offering has been created by a team of expert chefs from here as well as the countries represented on the diverse menu: Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, Japan and China. Boa-Bao in Barcelona is the third instalment of a passionate love for Asian cuisine that the owners (a couple, an American and a Dutch national) share with chef Chris Gelien; the first Boa-Bao opened in Lisbon back in 2017, the year after another opened in Porto.
The Eixample location is on the corner of one of Barcelona’s most attractive squares, Doctor Letamendi with Enric Granados, fast becoming the city’s most important gastronomic quarter. The pungent Jacaranda trees and green parrots are the perfect mise-en-scène for the Boa-Bao décor that recreates a typical Asian streetscape. With six woks and an open plan kitchen in full view the interior feels like a stage or a film set where the main protagonist is the extraordinary food selection.
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The 64 dishes on the menu are organised under different sections. The helpings are generous and can easily be shared. The spring rolls, some vegetarian samosas with cilantro and mint chutney, the tasty skewers of dried veal with Isaan style sesame or the scallops braised with Nam Jim seafood sauce. Then there’s a selection of Gua Baos such as Peking duck with hoisin sauce, cucumber and chives; Sea bass, pickled radish and spicy mayonnaise. The large soup bowls such as the Malaysian seafood curry soup with egg noodles or Cantonese wonton soup with egg and pork noodles. Salads such as mushrooms and grilled octopus or vermicelli noodles with black tiger prawns, chicken and citronella. The curry and coconut section with options such as the Green thai with seafood or Indonesian fish, okra and aubergine. The woks that includes the classic Pad thai with vegetables, rice noodles and tofu; but also more elaborate versions such as Fried pork belly, Chinese broccoli and Sichuan pepper; or steamed Sea bass fillets with lime, chili, garlic and Pak Choy.
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Authentic recipes that are presented as they are, no fusion, no reinterpretation. The approach is just the opposite, a search for traditional recipes prepared with the finest of ingredients.
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Desserts are more European but also includes Asian options; the coconut, basil and citronella crème brûlée; black sesame dumplings with lychee, jackfruit and ginger tea; or the Lod Chong, pandan noodles with mango and coconut sorbet. The menu also includes vegetarian and vegan options, as well as dishes suitable for coeliacs, that is, gluten free.
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Daily from 12 midday till midnight (till 1 am on Fridays and Saturdays).
- Boa Bao
- Plaza del Doctor Letamendi, 1
- telf (+34) 93 454 43 32
- www.boabao.es