BREAKING NEWS: Gobsmacking Fried Lamb Bao found in Dubai.

Bao are those pudgy little Chinese bun-babies that my tastebuds have always squealed over. I hunted down chicken ones at Chinatown in Malaysia, only to tear my hair out by the end because every corner restaurant had run out of them that afternoon. I tasted some at Dubai Mall, but those were just blobs of blah disguised as bao. But finally, at this 11th month of the year, I’ve found the Chinese buns that I just want to squish and cuddle up inside my mouth. To thepan-fried lamb Bao at Nihal, ni hao!

[PS. The name of this restaurant has changed from Nihal to Tang Palace. Thanks to Imhotep for the update!]

These pan-fried bao (sheng jian bao) should skyrocket to the top of every foodie’s list if they find themselves holding chopsticks in Shanghai. The skin of the bao was chewy, tender and elastic like a dumpling, with a slight crisp on the end that had been seared in the frying pan. But I forgot about the nibbly dough-skin in a second, because the bao ruptured to reveal a hot, juicy clump of ground lamb balled up inside, smushed with chopped scallions, soy sauce, and an X-factor that vaguely reminded me of fermented soy bean paste. I normally don’t wish this on anyone, but may those fried bao haunt you like demonic dumplings in your dreams up until that day you drag yourself to Jumeirah and try them. It’ll be worth it. And if turns out to not be worth it, then…then I’d sheepishly urge you to shift your attention to these veggie bao.

The server was kind enough to indulge our indecisiveness by giving us a plate that had both the lamb and veggie bao variants. Stuffed with a light mixture of mushrooms and spinach, the veggie bao look at you with this puppy-eyed stare that begs: dunk me in soy sauce won’t you? I tried swishing them around in hoisin too, but hoisin is far too loud and viscous for a stuffing that’s so fresh and vegetal in comparison to the flavour-dripping lamb.

The dough was different for the spinach and mushroom bao: this skin was yeasty and spongy, and far thicker than the one encasing the lamb bao. Comparing the dough of the lamb bao to the veggie one would be like…I don’t know…comparing latex to cake?

May I also introduce you to this tray of sizzling beef, onions, green and red peppers, spotted with black pepper flakes and drenched silly in peppery, beefy juices.

The beef was so maddeningly hot that I scalded the palette of my mouth on the first bite (sizzler and hot? gawrsh, whoda known.), but it was so good that seconds later, I was juggling a second scorching beefy slice in my mouth again.

The wood-smoked Peking Duck was a hit with my two guy friends on the table. Sample praises for the dish included: ‘Super crispy skin’ and ‘So good that I can eat it plain without the pancake!’

I’m no Peking Duck connoisseur, but if I ever do host a Duck Oscar Night, Tang Palace’s version may or may not get a nomination, depending on how many Peking Ducks I can try in the city before that big night. The only Peking Duck that’s guaranteed to waddle up my red carpet is the one I’ve tried at China Sea.

The vegetable noodles and lacklustre sizzling shrimps were forgotten on the table. The next time around, I’m latching on to the noodles we witnessed being hand-pulled in their open kitchen, and the braised tiger prawns modelled so gobsmackingly on the menu.

Which brings me to the open-kitchen. It was fascinating to watch the Chinese chefs in their element, stretching the noodles, unhinging the ducks from the giant steel duck roaster, stirring the soup with fat soupy ladles, using a burning newspaper to do…I have no idea what the chef was doing with that burning newspaper, let’s hope the ashes didn’t befriend the black pepper sprinkled over our sizzling beef. The kitchen was an animated scene of stirring-flicking-tossing-pulling-chopping-basting motions that fell seamlessly in line with one another, with a peaceful calm and steely spotlessness that belied the complexity and incredible variation of the dishes on the menu.

There were also things our beady eyes spotted in the kitchen that were not fit for the faint-hearted. I won’t tell you what they were because…secrecy = intrigue = you visiting Tang Palace out of curiosity = LAMB BAO. But if you’re not the kind that would whisk a fritter off of a street-stall in a foreign country without nuking your hands with half a bottle of hand-sanitizer and ensuring that an Imodium follows the fritter in close pursuit down your gullet, then this restaurant may not be for you. Or just don’t sit facing the open-kitchen. But if you’re the kind that gallops towards street food with the urgency of a white knight rescuing the last skewer of grilled meat, then…go to the restaurant and try to spot what I’m talking about yourself. Just make sure you order a plate of fried lamb bao while you’re at it.

Tang Palace Restaurant
Sheikh Hamdan Complex, Opposite Union House, Jumeirah 1. [It’s right next to Down to Earth Organic, whose location map is right here.]
Phone: +971 (4) 3266888, (50) 5948555

Author: InaFryingPan

With a family legacy of ingenious cooks, a nutritionist and chef-extraordinaire mother, and a father who introduced me to steak and caviar when I could barely reach the table, I had no choice but to acquire a keen awareness of food during my childhood years in Dubai. But it was only after I found myself on a college campus in Philadelphia – far away from home, too cheap as a student to spend on anything other than pizza, and with dorm rooms that had little rat-holes of kitchens if they even had them at all – when I developed a heightened appreciation of food. An appreciation of food that I once ate every night at the dinner table in Dubai, but that was now an entire ocean away. I lusted for the culinary treasures that lay outside the stale walls of my college dining hall, hijacked friends’ kitchens to try my hand at something, anything , remotely edible, and greedily raided different websites in search of highly-rated restaurants. With my move to New York to work for a consulting firm that secretly harbored self-professed foodies, my appreciation transformed into a passion, an addicition. I felt like everyone around me in New York was talking about food: where to get the best cupcakes, pizza slices, banh mi, kati rolls, pho, fried chicken, and every other food item out there that is just a plain old dish in some part of the world, but that’s become hyped to unforeseen proportions in New York. What fuelled my addiction over time was travel to different cities, both for work and play, which gave me unfettered access to the culinary havens of not only New York, but also of DC, Virginia, Chicago, Houston, Vegas, Austin, Seattle and even a little city called Bentonville (Arkansas!). After 9 years away from home, I’ve finally taken the leap to come back to Dubai – with not just an awareness, but genuine appreciation and passionate addiction for what I’d taken for granted as a child. Mom, I’m back to reclaim my seat at your dinner table, and to rediscover this city with its ever-expanding menu of international flavors.

13 thoughts on “BREAKING NEWS: Gobsmacking Fried Lamb Bao found in Dubai.

  1. saleem says:

    Would love to try the sizzling beef and also the duck. Nice article and worth visiting them and exploring the menu.

    Reply
    1. inafryingpan says:

      We’ll go there soon dad, I will need my bao fix again soon!

  2. Shirin Patwa says:

    Loved the article!
    If this is the same restaurant that used to be located close to Clock Tower – behind Al Rostamani Travel – than you have done justice to it (Although great food; the old joint always smelled of insect killer. Hope the new outlet is better)

    Reply
    1. inafryingpan says:

      @twitter-43514546:disqus – glad you liked it! :) I think you’re referring to the Chinese Village restaurant at the Nihal hotel in Deira. It still exists, though I haven’t tried that. The one I have reviewed here is not a branch of that – this place in Jumeirah is a standalone right now.

  3. FooDiva SamanthaWood says:

    Oh my, if there’s one dim sum dish I would travel far and wide for it’s bao – BBQ chicken in particular but will give the lamb a go. Thank you for sharing this little piece of heaven. I wonder how it compares to Da Shi Dai, do you know?

    Reply
  4. IshitaUnblogged says:

    In a place called Tiretti Bazar in Kolkata you have sweetened Baos as well… and Baos with different stuffing – whatever you can think of. I want you to come with me to Kolkata once – for all the street chinese food that you get! Love your animated writing Sizzler:)

    Reply
  5. Sally Prosser says:

    When can we go?! You ought to be on a commission for this restaurant with your tasty prose. Mouth-wateringly fantastic.

    Reply
  6. sandy says:

    Mmmm….definitely mouth watering photos and article. Can’t wait to try this place out ASAP.

    Reply
  7. Imhotep says:

    Happy to report that even though the name of the restaurant has changed to Tang Palace, the fried Lamb Boas are still quite delicious!

    Reply
    1. InaFryingPan says:

      Seriously? Thanks for the update Imhotep, I’ll update this post. Sigh, you’ve just sparked a Lamb Bao craving at 11 in the morning for me….

  8. Smacksnacker says:

    Oh gee, I love all your posts & have followed you around Dubai through your delicious food haunts. This one however I cannot agree with ;( ..or perhaps the restaurant has changed dramatically over the years? My offices are close to Tang Palace, i’ve seen their kitchens, their hygiene, their storage, had their food, and drew the conclusion that it’s not fit for human consumption.
    Have you been there recently?

    Reply
    1. InaFryingPan says:

      Hi Smacksnacker, why am I not surprised? I did mention that the kitchen has some iffy stuff going on, so I don’t doubt what you’ve seen. Thanks for sharing this. Haven’t been back in a while, but methinks it’s time to find another place for my Lamb bao fix.

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