Restaurant Guide 2013: The Baowry

8307 N Ivanhoe St., 285-4839, facebook.com/baowrystjohns.

[BAO CHICKA BAO BAO] The Baowry, a charmingly domestic former hovel in St. Johns, recalls a vacationer's eatery in a picturesque riverfront town—which, of course, St. Johns very much is. Much at the Baowry bears hints of the carnivalesque and far from home. Tables are decorated with a collage of Californian-Japanese newspapers, from hair-removal ads to immigrant news. The Baowry's Asian-eclectic food seems similarly determined to pack everything in. The namesake steamed buns ($4) are jammed with flavors and textures: the yeasty sugar dough still dusty with flour; the hoisin-heavy red pork, duck confit or shiitake and tofu; and then the acidic crispness of lightly pickled cucumber and daikon. It's an all-boats-in-the-water approach to sandwich making, a pre-bop jazz confection of flavors balanced in counterpoint rather than overloaded on the palate. The bacon black bean mussels ($14) are perplexing, with thick garlic-lime aioli dripping off a generous pile of mussels onto soy-spiked black bean noodles. But the gingery braised greens ($5) are a Southern dish gone non-native, with umami in threefold concert among bacon, pork stock and soy sauce. In a drab world, the small-town fair is always a comfort.

Ideal Meal: Alone, go for the greens, a perfect egg ($6) and a confit bao, or spring for the $22 duck to share.

Best deal: Three bao for $10 is a full meal.

Pro tip: The late-night menu offers a stacked and lovely $5 banh mi after 10:30 pm.

Noon-2:30 am daily. $-$$.

 

WWeek 2015

Matthew Korfhage

Matthew Korfhage has lived in St. Louis, Chicago, Munich and Bordeaux, but comes from Portland, where he makes guides to the city and writes about food, booze and books. He likes the Oxford comma but can't use it in the newspaper.

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