BAO celebrates Lunar New Year with special menu and prizes

18^th January 2025

Food & Travel Desk

Food & Travel Desk

18 January 2025

In celebration of the upcoming Lunar New Year, BAO, the London chain of Taiwanese eateries, will honour the Year of the Snake with a special menu designed to bring luck and prosperity. From January 20^th to February 9^th, BAO will offer a selection of new dishes at its locations in City, Marylebone, King’s Cross, Shoreditch, and Battersea.

The Year of the Snake symbolises wisdom, charm, elegance, and transformation, qualities that BAO aims to embody in its celebratory offerings. The festive menu begins with a snack of smacked cucumber and Taiwanese sausage, followed by the Prosperity Tossing Salad, also known as yu sheng. This dish, featuring fried vermicelli, crisp vegetables, and sashimi salmon in a sweet plum dressing, is a communal highlight where diners toss the ingredients together, symbolising an increase in wealth and longevity.

Continuing the feast, guests will enjoy boiled cull yaw and mushroom dumplings filled with richly flavoured mutton, representing family reunions. A special honey-glazed pork and crispy bean curd BAO, crafted for the occasion, will also be available. The BAO, with its wallet-like shape, is traditionally consumed during the Lunar New Year to attract prosperity. The meal concludes with Longevity Noodles, served in dan dan or Taipei-style options, which signify a long life and are considered particularly auspicious if eaten without breaking the strands.

In addition to the meal, every guest choosing the set menu – priced £29 per person – will receive a red envelope containing snake-themed prizes, including BAO vouchers, limited edition BAO x Carhartt WIP t-shirts and totes, and a grand prize of an engraved lighter that offers a free BAO daily for a year.

Moreover, BAO is introducing a limited edition Snake BBG (BAO Bakery Goods) at all its sites. These snake-shaped, pistachio-filled pastries will be available as part of the New Year menu from January 20^th, and then as a special item from January 29^th until they are sold out.

BAO co-founder Erchen Chang expressed enthusiasm for the Lunar New Year celebrations, noting, “It’s a nice opportunity to gather with loved ones in one of the darkest months of the year and to look ahead to brighter times by eating BAO for good luck.”

Food Desk

For reservations and more information, visit BAO’s website here.