Garden Grove: Baos Hog

In my on-going quest for Hainan Chicken, I came here specifically to try Baos Hog version. So we spent $30 for 3 rice boxes, a bao and an iced tea for 2 people. It sounded a little pricey but I ended up taking 1/2 of each box home as leftovers.

Here’s what we ordered:

– Hainan Chicken and rice boxes, 1 white and 1 dark meat. The dark meat is 50c more.
– The roast pork belly and rice (I had regular steamed rice, but if you want Hainan rice, its a $1 more) and
– 1 Duck bao (bun)

The Hainan Chicken was just ok. Karen had the dark meat and found bits of splintered bones. I am not sure if the dark meat is deboned or hacked, but she had to be careful when she ate hers. The chicken was about 1/4 portion of dark meat, a big scoop of Hainan rice (rice cooked in chicken broth) and came with slices of cucumbers, a ginger dipping sauce, and a chili sauce. She said it was “just ok”. $7.50

The white meat version was also 1/4 of white meat breast, deboned, served the same way as the dark meat. It too was just ok, a bit dry, so it was sitting outside the broth on its own. $7.00

The pork belly rice box was a scoop of regular rice and a generous portion of crispy pork belly, chopped into bite size pieces. No bone. Served with a chili sauce and some sliced cucumbers. Unlike going to a Chinese restaurant, it was missing a side of Hoisin sauce. $7.50

The Duck bao was a generous slice of roast duck, served skin on, inside a steamed white bun. Think of it as a Chinese slider, served with a duck sauce, cucumber, and green onions. It was juicy, and much better than the disappointing Hainan Chicken. $4.00 and worth it.

The Lychee Iced Tea was $2.50 and you can get refills. I wasn’t too thrilled with the drink and ended up tossing it. Not a fan, but if you like lychee fruit, you may enjoy this tea.

Overall the Duck Bao won me over, and it probably should since the restaurant is called “Baos” hog. They’re bigger than they look and 2 or 3 Baos can be enough for a meal. The Hainan chicken underwhelmed me, and that is definitely not their specialty, even though they make it a point to highlight it on the menu and chalkboard.

While there’s plenty of parking, you may have to hike it as you’re competing with patrons going to a dozen other popular eateries in the same mall. Boiling Crab, for instance, is across the parking lot, and when I left at 7:00, they had a line out the door, a mile long.