Bobibao: SA Weekend restaurant review

This eatery in Adelaide offers a new take on Taiwanese food – and offers huge serves, fantastic fried chicken and the best bao bun our reviewer’s eaten.

The dining space at Bobibao, Bowden.

In the night markets of Taipei, stall holders grill corn over charcoal braziers. Emma Del Bono remembers how they constantly turned the cobs, brushing them with an unctuous peanut and chilli sauce. The smoke … the smell … the sweet juiciness of those kernels.

At Bobibao, the inner-north restaurant that she runs with husband Joe, grilled corn is one of the signatures. There is a concession – “ribs” are stripped from the cob, as is the trendy way – but that dark, sticky, fiery satay-meets-sambal sauce certainly takes no prisoners.

It’s a snack that neatly sums up Bobibao, where the “modern Taiwanese” theme proves to be a successful blend of cherished traditions and customer-focused pragmatism.

The name itself is a sum of two parts – bobi, meaning blessed or grateful, and bao, which implies pulling things together, as well as referencing the steamed buns that kick off the menu. This marriage of cultures is also a reflection of the owners, one raised in Taiwan where she learned to make dumplings with her grandmother, the other growing up surrounded by an Australian/Italian family. That helps to explain the radicchio in the salad, or truffle with the rice.

After finding their hospitality feet operating market food stalls, the couple discovered they needed a larger kitchen. They leased a property at Fulham and began selling their Moon Bear dumplings from a cute little shop at the front.

Fried chicken, shallot pancakes and other food at Bobibao.

Then, last year, they stumbled upon a near-completed building opposite Bowden’s Plant 4 market and inquired about the ground floor space. At first glance, Bobibao looks like your run-of-the-mill contemporary cafe or sandwich shop, with the espresso machine front-and-centre, a pleasant mix of pale and musk pink hues in the decor, rattan-backed chairs and blonde timber. But while it does open mid-to-late morning for the coffee trade, the mostly Taiwanese kitchen team have better things to do than poach eggs and smash avocado.

They are too busy rolling their own house-made bao buns that are larger than normal (more burger size) and marshmallow puffy. You can have one loaded with a small schnitzel of crumbed katsu chicken finished with a big blob of chunky egg mayo.

But that is the plain Jane when compared with the ravishing beauty of pork belly braised in a master-stock with star anise and dried chilli until it is as wobbly as a barely-set custard. The stock is reduced to make a potent sauce, while pickled mustard greens are the perfect counterpoint. It’s the best bao I’ve eaten. Both of these are part of the “I’m Confused” option ($59) that provides a broad overview of the cooking – and enough food to satisfy at least an extra person.

We’re in strife from the first plate, piled high with fried rice that has such a generous allocation of king mushroom slices it could easily serve as a main. It is made with a slightly sticky medium grain Taiwanese rice that, along with the truffle paste stirred through, takes it half way to being a risotto.

Truffled fried rice, king oyster mushroom at Bobibao.

An equally large serve of grilled beef salad at least treads lightly with a mix including plenty of snow pea shoots and the bitter radicchio, as well as a dressing based on yuzu. Cabbage tossed on a hotplate with plenty of garlic is based on another memory from Taiwan, though the brussels sprout leaves are a local addition.

Shallot pancakes made with flaky pastry similar to roti are best used as a base for fabulous kimchi in which the cabbage has fermented/pickled in a mix including carrots, apples, pears and tofu paste. Golden, buttery and very moreish, it is nothing like the sour, pungent veg you might imagine.

Oh, there’s also a family-sized serve of fried chicken tenderloins that have been marinated and coated in tapioca. We manage only two pieces – enough to know their blood orange caramel dressing is a ripper.

My dining mate, who will be moving to Bowden when his new home is finished, reckons he will be a Bobibao regular. And the following day, my son takes the leftovers to work and texts: “Where did you go last night? Great chicken!” That makes three happy customers.