Grill n Bao (8 Street), GARDEN CITY

8 Street has become one of my favourite places for food and beer and I’ve been back countless times yet still have not tried anything from Grill n Bao until recently noticing their sign for “best voted burgers on 97.3FM”. I thought it was time to see what I've been missing out on.

Grill N Bao are all about their "Gua Bao" which is essentially an Asian burger that originated from Taiwan and typically consists of stewed meat, vegetables and sauce between steamed bread (same consistency of steam buns). They also offer ramen and a few side dishes that you can add to your burger along with a drink for a combo. On this particular visit, we opted for two combos so we could sample a bit of everything.

The slow cooked marinated pork belly gua bao, with hoisin sauce was an absolute standout, the pork was braised beautifully and fell apart in the mouth and was nice against the crispy red cabbage and carrot salad. This burger was delicious and I was jealous that I didnt pick it.

The crunchy hot and spicy chicken burger was okay; the chicken might have been in the fryer for a few minutes too long and got a bit tough and dry, especially towards the end when it started to cool. Aside from the steamed bun, the crunchy chicken gua bao tasted more or less like a normal cripsy chicken burger. It just wasn't as exciting as the pork belly one. Both steam buns were good; not to sweet and texture was perfectly soft and fluffy.

The batter was crispy and golden but the calamari itself was a bit tough and chewy. Calamari is not quite up to the mark of a good fish and chip store.

The mini ramen that came as part of combo was bigger than I expected and it was definitely a bit of a mission to finish both the burger and the ramen. The ramen itself was pretty average. I don’t recall getting any meat in it, but it was suppose to be a side dish as part of the combo so I wasn’t going to question it. The broth was a little bit spicy and had decent flavours; nothing to write home about but it was a nice little noodle soup to have after my burger and made sure I was full and warmed up from being out in the cold rain.

Overall I enjoyed it. I definitely recommend the pork belly or waygu beef ones as those seem to be the ones with more flavour and less chances of being over cooked like my fried dishes were. The prices were a tad bit expensive coming in at 7.90 each (from 12.9 for a combo), but they’re pretty damn tasty and one is probably enough if you’re not a massive eater.

Service was wonderful, the guy at the counter was friendly and offered plenty of smiles despite being busy and much like the rest of 8 Street, you could see your food being prepare through the window while you wait. I’ll definitely be back to try the other flavours!

Food:  7/10
Service:  9/10
Value: 6.5/10
Atmosphere: 9/10

Overal: 7.5/10

-wd