88 Bao Bao - Rancho Cordova

[Lectroid]

Prompted by @shrinkrap ’s mention of the outpost of this chain in Vacaville, I decided to hit up the one a bit closer to my home base.

Beef roll. Filling was excellent and uncommonly plentiful, thin strips of hoisin marinated beef and plenty of cilantro. The pancake was a little pale and could have used some crisping up.

Wontons in chili oil. A nice mix of mala numbing plus heat with a nice nutty/sesame edge.

XLB : Pork filling. The skins are a rough thicker than they might be, and the soup lacked the depth of the best versions of these. Still quite good. Just not great.

It’s no Din Tai Fung, but it is both cheaper and more convenient, and that counts for a lot. The ambiance is considerably more casual than DTF or even than Elk Grove’s Journey to the Dumpling. But the service is prompt, which is more than I can say for Journey.

I’m quite sure we’ll be back.

[sck]

Went to the one in Dublin. Since they call themselves baos, we got some baos. But interestingly, their baos in that location were actually not very distinctive. Their noodles, and green beans, on the other hand, were quite a lot better than the baos.

We got the pork and pork+crab XLBs. They were fine. Skip the crab versions as it didn’t add much.

Plenty of wok hei for this noodle dish.

SJBs. The meat filling inside let them down.

Crunchy, well stir-fried green beans.

[StephanieL]

I’ve been very pleased with the non-bao dishes at the Castro Valley location (not that the dumplings aren’t good).