Bao's Castle - Orlando
Bao's Castle
Description
Baos Castle is a playful, castle‑themed Orlando eatery loved for being open late and serving steamed baos, fried snacks, satisfying bowls and desserts. Fresh, from‑scratch baos like braised pork belly and panko shrimp shine, and a $10 lunch deal is a draw. Expect friendly staff but variable service and occasional waits; some baos can be oily, skimpy or pricey. Overall it’s a reliable late‑night stop for casual cravings and quick lunches if you accept occasional inconsistency.
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On my way to SFL for memorial day weekend, and decided to stop by Orlando to catch up with an old friend. Since it was late, we decided to meet somewhere late and grab a bite to eat. Looking around, we settled on Baos castle. Going inside, the place had a cool castle interior, and was decently packed. I ordered that night, the fried chicken and pork belly bao. Moving into my review, the bao's were pretty tasty, but felt were assembled kinda skimpy. For instance, fried chicken bao had a nice chewy exterior, fried chicken exterior was crispy/well seasoned, and had a nice sauce with it. HOWEVER, when I bit in the chicken, there was NO MEAT INSIDE. On the flip side, the pork belly bao had been very tender, and a nice savory soy flavor. Overall, the bao's weren't bad, but could use some tweaks 3/5.
I think I'm a little obsessed with this place, I literally came on a late night. And then ended up coming the next morning. So this review is kind of a two in one if you will. I came on a late Thursday night and ordered some bao with my partner. I wanna say we ended up spending about 20 minutes in the restaurant waiting for the food to come. We're not typically used to waiting this long because the other bao places in the city make them in no more than five minutes and serve them to us. But this place definitely takes the time to make them from scratch. I do appreciate that because you can taste the freshness in the food. We took them home and absolutely demolished them. The following day I came back and I was told that they ran out of bao's. I couldn't believe it, I thought he was lying at first but he was dead serious. So what he did for me was that he wrote down a note on a piece of paper and told me that the next time I visit to give it to the person ringing up the order and it would take care of me. I came later on in the day and no doubt about it, the person that was at the front gave me two extra chicken baos along with my enormous order. Again absolutely delicious. I absolutely cannot wait to come back here which will probably be soon. Shout out to the owner on such an idea to create this restaurant and have it open late for those who like to crave late or those that leave the club.
I had higher hopes for this spot with all I've heard about it. I was surprised it took 25+ minutes to receive the two Boa's I ordered to go. There was only 1 other couple in the restaurant that was already eating. So I was confused what took so long. Especially when I wasn't informed until 20 minutes after ordering that they were out of the pork belly for the Bao I ordered. I'm not sure why the cashier wasn't given this information since they clearly ran out prior to me arriving given that no one else had come into the restaurant to cause the depletion. The cashier was nice about it and offered me another Bao instead but it was still disappointing especially since this could have been recognized far earlier if any of the other employees were paying attention. I was also surprised with the seemingly limited menu options available. The price of $5/Bao seemed a bit steep for what you're getting, at least with what I had available to choose from. I can't harp on the taste of the food. It was decent. However, my fried chicken Bao was ice cold. It seemed as if they made the fried chicken one and then realized they didn't have the pork belly for my other one so it just sat there getting cold while they made my replacement Bao. The Bao bun itself and all the contents inside were cold as if it had sat out for 30 minutes. Based upon this experience, I won't return. Which from what I heard, it sounds like this location may be closing or opening under a new name according to one of the employees.
Bao Castle is our go-to when we're craving something light, but satisfying. We ordered 3 Crispy Panko Shrimp Baos, 2 Side Steppers, The Super Bowl, 2 orders of Guava and Cheese Churros and 1 Fried Cheesecake. The bao buns were steamed to perfection, the food was fried, but wasn't overly greasy and the desserts were appetizing as always. We would recommend this place for a quick lunch or when you get the late night munchies.
Open late for late night munchies! Fried Chicken Bao: chicken was over fried in my opinion. It was too crispy and dried. Bao was soft and warm! The Side Stepper: this one was my favorite! The soft shell **** was big and crispy!! The apple kimchi was very unique and refreshing! Bao was soft and warm! Late Night Noodz: very disappointed in this one. First off they forgot to bring the noodles to us and when we got it the noodles were very soggy. The taste of the soup was very odd. There was not much soup. Overall would not recommend getting her noodles. Mooses Munchies: this is the same chicken they have in the fried chicken bao. It was over fried and too crispy. This place is good if you want a late night snack.
