Credit: Karis Tam

Join WSPN’s Karis Tam as she rates the Bayao cafe located in Quincy, MA. Will this Hong Kong diner pass the test?

Nestled within Quincy, MA, the recently opened Bayao Cafe is serving up warm homestyle Cantonese diner food. The cafe offers many various types of food and drinks inspired by traditional Hong Kong cuisines: french toast with condensed milk, noodles, pineapple buns and so much more. I had the opportunity to visit over the summer, and I’m excited to share with you my opinions and thoughts on Bayao Cafe. I will be rating the cafe out of ten stars: four of the stars will be dedicated to the quality of food, another four to the drinks, one to the atmosphere and finally one to to the service.

Food:

First of all, we have arguably the most iconic Hong Kong diner dish: the pineapple bun (bolo bao). Ours came with a chunk of cold butter in between it. Imagine a buttery fluffy bun with a sugar cookie top on it. Every bite, you get a mouthful of fluffy bread with crunchy cookie topping. It was amazing and something I would order again; however, if I did get it again, I would ask for it without the chunk of butter because it was already buttery enough. The added butter was just too over the top for me. All in all it was a solid start.

Next, we got mini french toast bites with condensed milk. Where do I even start? The main thing I have to say about these was that they were the best thing that we got at the restaurant. The french toast was soft and pillowy, and the condensed milk added that much needed sweetness and creaminess. It was an amazing experience and another menu item I would love to have again. Every bite was a delight.

Our third dish was the fried leg quarter. This dish was a huge leg of fried chicken. We ordered this only because we saw all the other tables ordering it. Like I said before, it’s huge, so, plan on splitting it with other people. The seasoning was great, it was massive and it was juicy. Was it outstanding? No. But it was a fun dish to try.

Lastly, we got instant beef satay noodles. I really didn’t like this noodle dish because it tasted exactly like what you could get from an instant noodle package but with a little extra on top. The flavor was alright, but the beef was dry and it was a little too salty. Do yourself a favor and save your money by buying instant noodles at the grocery store. Needless to say, this was the disappointment of the meal.

Overall, the food was really good, I thought that most of the dishes either delivered on what I was expecting, or they exceeded my expectations. I’ll give the food a three and a half out of four stars.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Credit: Karis Tam

A bolo bao, or otherwise known as a pineapple bun, is a type of bread that can either be eaten alone or with something like butter, cream or pork.

Drinks:

The first drink we got was the iced Ovaltine. Ovaltine is a chocolate malt powder mixture that can be stirred with water to create a chocolate, malty flavored drink. The iced Ovaltine met my expectations, and it tasted just like chocolate milk. Again, nothing spectacular, but it’s what we expected when we ordered it.

The second drink we got was the hot honey lemon drink. If I could only say four words about this drink it would be this: this drink was superb. It was already flavorful with just the lemon juice, but the honey added a sweet velvety taste to it. It was the perfect drink to go with all of the dishes.

In total, I would also give the drinks a three and a half out of four stars. It was pretty good, and I would go back just for the hot honey lemon drink again.

Atmosphere:

I cannot express how cool the interior of the cafe was. It was styled as if it was a retro restaurant in Hong Kong. The tables were mahjong boards, a traditional tile-based game that is very popular within Hong Kong. On the ceiling were signs of the different sections of Hong Kong. Everything from the walls to the tables were specifically planned. It was such an intricately designed interior and it really helped me feel like I was actually in Hong Kong.

For the interior, I’ll give it a one out of one.

Service:

The service was quick and fast, which is exactly what anyone wants when dining in a restaurant. When we first went into the cafe, there was a whole line of people waiting to grab a table. As we waited, we saw how fast everyone was able to get seats. Later we credited this to the speedy work of all the chefs and servers. The servers were super accommodating and served us to the best of their abilities.

I believe the service deserves a one out of one.

Total:

Bayao cafe was an amazing experience, and I would definitely go back. The food was great, the drinks were amazing and both the service and atmosphere was all anyone could ever ask for. I would highly suggest anyone to go and give it a try as they are bound to have something for everyone with their variety of options. This restaurant gets a nine out of ten from me.