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Take a Bao in Century City

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I had a really tasty dinner at Take a Bao in C City last night. The salads all looked colorful and but I figured I'd try the bao, which isn't really bao as I expected, but was a fun dinner at the mall in a food court that has never had too many good choices.

I had the pomegranate steak bao and the peanut chicken bao. The steak was a little sweeter than I expected because of the pomegranate but it was really flavorful. The veggies that came in the bao complimented the meat nicely. The chicken/peanut bao reminded me of chicken satay, which I love. The slaw that comes on the side had a great tangy dressing. They made the slaw in front of me and tossed the dressing on the spot so it wasn't soggy. Everything was made to order and I really appreciated that as I am not a cilantro fan and it looks like they use a lot of cilantro in various dishes.

I am looking forward to going back to try some of the noodle dishes and the salads. I am wondering what other hounds can suggest from the menu for me to try next.

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  1. I think the predominant sentiment would be "Don't bother"


    3 Replies
    1. re: Chelmoon

      It certainly isn't bao in the traditional sense but it was a tasty dinner in Century City in a food court that does not have much in the way of interesting options.

      My dinner was quite good. Maybe the thread above is from right after Take a Bao opened and maybe the management has taken suggestions and made improvements. Everything looked fresh and was made to order. Nothing was oversauced or dry or salty and my dinner was much more than I could eat for around 10 dollars.

      I am hoping other people can offer suggestions as to what to try next-- I look forward to trying the noodles and the salads-- and the guac and wontons... the chocolate honey wontons were tempting too.

      1. re: roxhills

        That thread was from three months ago... I think they've been open a lot longer than that.

        I'm not anxious to head back and find out, though, that's for sure. I'd rather eat at the Carvery or at Breadbar or at Clementine or Houston's or Mrs. Winstons. The Korean place (Sorabol?) in the mall food court is expensive but the taste is better than Take a Bao (note: it's not even remotely a substitute for Koreatown, but if you're on an hour lunch...).

        1. re: Das Ubergeek

          It has changed quite a bit since that bad review in 2008. They've changed chef's around Xmas '09 and the food is very good.

    2. I eat there a lot. It is one of my favorite food court restaurants. I really enjoy the noodle dishes and also the salads. If I'm at the food court at CC it is one of the better choices there. Oh yeah the guac and wonton is my favorite.

      1. Damn the torpedoes! Having tried them myself, I'd say: Don't be so quick to diss Take A Bao. I just had 4 very different and very nice baos last week there. For those who haven't yet tried them, the pastry they use is what is usually used for Peking (Beijing) Duck, sort of a soft Chinese-American taco.

        Well done for mall food, in my opinion.

        1. I'm on the fence about it; for food court fare it's not bad (then again, Century City mall's food court is considerably more upscale than most)--

          the miso steak bao was decent but I'd definitely stay away from the spicy citrus chicken (a hard breaded chicken patty in way too much goopy, too-sweet sauce). The chinese salad on the side was refreshing.

          my Take a Bao blogpost: http://la-oc-foodie.blogspot.com/2008...

          1 Reply
          1. re: AquaW

            thanks for the suggestions. I found out that they opened last september so the Oct thread was pretty soon after they opened. I'll report back what I try next-- I am looking forward to sampling more from the menu.

          2. I love Take a Bao and eat there at least once a week... The 8 Veggie salad is fabulous, as are the Veggie Curry Noodles and the Peanut Noodles (which I order hot, rather than cold). I also like the brown rice bowl with peanut chicken or pomegranate steak. Yum!