London's cult-favourite Bao founders to open BFF at New Bahru with Taiwanese fried chicken, gravy-filled baos

Part fast-food joint, part convenience store, the new New Bahru pop-up by the people behind the popular London restaurant serves playful takes on Taiwanese favourites, alongside quirky merchandise and community events. It runs from Nov 11 to Dec 28.

What the BFF store at New Bahru will look like (Photo: BFF)

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The founders of cult-favourite Taiwanese restaurant Bao, which has seven outlets in London and helped to popularise gua bao outside Taiwan, have partnered with Singapore’s The Lo & Behold Group to officially launch their newest concept.

BFF, which stands for Bao Fast Foods, will be debuting as a two-month pop-up at New Bahru running from Nov 11 to Dec 28, with a view to opening a permanent site in the first half of 2027.

Taking over the ground-floor space previously occupied by One Prawn & Co, BFF is a hybrid of a quirky convenience store and a fast food restaurant, serving up Taiwanese eats like fried chicken and beef noodles with a fun twist, as well as BFF merchandise. Additionally, the space will also host community-oriented talks.

London-based Bao founders Shing Tat Chung and Erchen Chang started the business as an ad-hoc gua bao stall over a decade ago at London’s Netil market together with Chung’s sister, Wai Ting.

Bao founders Wai Ting Chung, Shing Tat Chung and Erchen Chang. (Photo: BFF)

In June, the pair staged a month-long BFF pop-up in Taipei as an experimental way to research Taiwanese food and convenience store culture, developing and refining their recipes and products through talks and “design jams” with the local community.

The insights they gained through the project are being channelled into BFF in Singapore, building a format that’s new, fresh and hopefully, very crave-worthy.

"SCALDED" CHICKEN, "CUP NOODLES" WITH SPIT-ROASTED BEEF

Taking the appearance of a convenience store, BFF will have shelves stocked with snack items like Taiwanese chips and instant noodles, but its real product is its menu of elaborately playful Taiwan-inspired dishes, as well as grab-and-go offerings like egg mayo sandos and Asian salads. Think of it as a fast food joint cosplaying as a convenience store.

“We wanted to take Taiwanese culture and spread it,” Shing Tat, who's married to Chang, told CNA Lifestyle. “In terms of the global fast food players, there's no Taiwanese representation.”

Stocked shelves at BFF's Taipei pop-up (Photo: CNA/May Seah)

Taiwan is known for its vibrant convenience store culture, with one of the highest densities in the world – and also, “the convenience store is a global language,” he said, making it an ideal trope through which to explore fun ideas in the experiential space.

In Singapore, “the magic of convenience stores in Taiwan or Japan is lacking a little bit,” he observed. As a result, Chang said, “There’s an opportunity here to bring in that culture, and I feel like people will definitely embrace it because they love to discover new things.”

So, what’s on the dine-in menu?

The must-try is the Chicken Chopper (S$6.50), cut with the bone left in so it can be eaten conveniently with your hands. The chicken, which went through around 140 R&D iterations, is dipped in a soymilk batter and coated in a tapioca starch mix, resulting in juicy meat with an airy, crackly crunch.

Master Scalded Chicken Chopper (Photo: BFF)

Choose from three different styles: Original Crispy, dusted with Taiwanese white pepper; Flame Glazed, which is brushed on one side with soy-garlic glaze or mala hot honey, then torched until charred; and Master Scalded, which is dipped in a boiling master sauce of soy sauce, star anise and cinnamon.

To develop the chicken recipes, they deep-dived into the question of “how we Asians eat fried chicken differently from, say, the West,” Chang shared. “The Master Scalded chicken is similar to the idea of a tempura where you dip it into batter, and the soy concoction’s flavour seeps into the batter and actually dries it out a little bit. It becomes really addictive.”

Original Crispy Chicken Chopper, dusted with a Taiwanese pepper spice mix. (Photo: BFF)

They also studied what gives Taiwanese fried chicken in particular its distinctive flavour, learning from F&B owners in Taipei. One of them revealed that “one of the things he does, which not many other vendors do, is to grind his spices freshly. That actually makes a massive difference,” Chang said. So, they’ve brought in an industrial-sized grinder to grind their white peppercorns, which actually cost four times as much as ground pepper, she divulged.

You can get the fried chicken as a combo set (from S$9.50) paired with cabbage slaw, buttered rice, Dan Dan Noodles or Beef Cup Noodles.

Beef noodles served in a cup noodle cup, with marinated beef "al pastor", served at the BFF pop-up in Taipei. (Photo: BFF)

The beef noodles, inspired by the iconic Taiwanese dish, are topped with beef al pastor, carved to order from a slow-roasting spit. In Taipei, “the beef noodles sparked huge debates because there were so many opinions from everyone,” Shing Tat said. “We did tweak it.” For example, to improve the texture of the beef, they learned the traditional Chinese technique of velveting the meat, tenderising and coating it in a silky layer. “At the end, some people said it was among their top three best beef noodles in Taiwan.”

Will there be baos? Yes, but not gua baos. Instead, combos will have the options of a Bao Soupie, which is a fluffier version of a shengjian bao; and a Gravy Bao, which is deep fried and has a chicken gravy filling. Break it open and pour the gravy out, lava style, onto your fried chicken.

Chicken chopper with Gravy Bao (Photo: BFF)

There’s also a free, self-serve Pickle Slushie – one of the menu items that proved the most popular at the Taipei pop-up – which works well atop the cabbage slaw.

For drinks, there will be Taiwanese craft tea served on tap, developed together with Taiwan-based SC Labs. There’s a nitro Fluffy Natural Alishan Wintermelon (S$5.95) brewed with naturally farmed black tea; and a fizzy Orange Guava Beauty (S$6.50), which blends fresh orange and guava with Oriental Beauty tea from Hsinchu and Puli.

Additionally, there’s a Peanut Oatside M*lk with oat boba and tea jelly (S$6), made in partnership with Singapore brand Oatside.

Chilled grab-and-go items include egg sandos in flavours like mala mayo and confit lemon, “fried rice” quinoa and kimchi. These were developed for the protein- and fibre-conscious.

And for dessert, there’ll be soy puddings in flavours like banoffee, sweet potato and black sesame-mango.

Some of the merchandise at BFF's Taipei pop-up (Photo: CNA/May Seah)

The menu will be a constantly evolving work-in-progress, Shing Tat said, and, Singapore-inspired items might make their way onto the list as well, like a “trashy version of laksa that’s got cheese on top”.

As for merch, they’ll have a range developed for Singapore, ranging from plushies to underwear, umbrellas, water bottles, totes, socks, toothbrushes and nail stickers; as well as items created in collaboration with Tanchen Studio.

There are also plans to hold a programme of talks co-hosted by events organiser Remedial Kids exploring themes of connection and community in an age of hyper-convenience.

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

BFF is the duo’s first foray into Asia, and admittedly, “the thought of coming from London and opening an Asian place in an Asian country like Singapore – it's a tough thing to do,” Shing Tat said. But, “the beauty of BFF is that we want to be able to find something that has a broader market fit. Bao doesn't necessarily have that in its current form.”

Erchen Chang and Shing Tat Chung at BFF's Taipei pop-up (Photo: BFF)

And, he continued, “one of the reasons why we’re doing this in Singapore is that the idea of creating a product in Asia resonates with us. Singapore is known to be a difficult market both commercially and in customer sentiment. It’s a challenge, but also a good thing to tackle.”

On top of that, Chang said, “culturally, Singapore is very international, so understanding that is a massive thing for us, to be able to see where it can go after.”

When they first launched the BFF prototype in Taipei, “We came in very uncertain about where we sit within fast food and convenience store. I think right now it's so much clearer: It’s a fast food convenience store,” Shing Tat quipped.

At first, “everyone was like, ‘What’s that? I’m so confused.'” But, “if people don’t question it, then, you’re just creating something that they already know.”

Master Scalded Chicken Chopper rice box (Photo: BFF)

He mused: “I think there are lots of different ways of building a new business and brand, and we chose quite an experimental way, and that came with a lot of chaos: Talks, events, a radio show. I think that kind of rawness was what we wanted, and I think people recognised that.”

In a way, building something new has brought them back to an approximation of the conditions under which, as fresh university graduates, they decided to sell baos out of a cool box. Back then, it had been all about “intuition and necessity”, Chang said. “When you look back, it was such a big defining point in our journey that without it, I don't think we would be where we are today.”

As for where BFF will go, or even how far it will travel, time will tell. For now, we’ll wait to see whether they serve BFF: the Best Fried Chicken this side of Taiwan.

BFF officially opens Nov 11 at 46 Kim Yam Road, New Bahru #01-10, Singapore 239351.

A single handpicked story that we think you shouldn't miss. Just one a day.

这家位于新峇鲁的快闪店由伦敦人气餐厅的幕后团队打造，集快餐店和便利店于一体，提供创意十足的台湾美食，同时还出售各种新奇商品并举办社区活动。营业时间为11月11日至12月28日。

新巴鲁的BFF门店建成后的样子（图片：BFF）

这段音频由人工智能工具生成。

备受追捧的台湾餐厅 Bao 在伦敦拥有七家分店，并将刈包推广到台湾以外的地区。如今，该餐厅的创始人与新加坡的 Lo & Behold 集团合作，正式推出他们的最新概念。

BFF（全称 Bao Fast Foods）将于 11 月 11 日至 12 月 28 日在新巴鲁以快闪店的形式首次亮相，为期两个月，目标是在 2027 年上半年开设永久店址。

BFF 入驻了原 One Prawn & Co 的一楼空间，是一家融合了趣味便利店和快餐店特色的店铺，供应炸鸡、牛肉面等创意十足的台湾美食，并出售 BFF 周边商品。此外，这里还将举办面向社区的讲座。

Bao 的创始人 Shing Tat Chung 和 Erchen Chang 十多年前在伦敦的 Netil 市场与 Chung 的妹妹 Wai Ting 一起，以临时刈包摊位起家。

Bao创始人钟伟廷、钟成达和张尔辰。 （照片：BFF）

今年六月，两人在台北举办了为期一个月的 BFF 快闪活动，以此作为研究台湾食品和便利店文化的实验性方式，通过与当地社区的交流和“设计研讨会”来开发和改进他们的食谱和产品。

他们通过该项目获得的见解正被运用到新加坡的 BFF 项目中，打造一种新颖、独特且有望令人垂涎的模式。

烫鸡配烤牛肉杯面

BFF 的外形酷似便利店，货架上摆满了台湾薯片、方便面等零食，但它真正的主打产品是精心设计的创意台湾风味菜肴，以及鸡蛋沙拉三明治、亚洲沙拉等方便快捷的即食食品。你可以把它想象成一家伪装成便利店的快餐店。

“我们想把台湾文化传播出去，”张先生的妻子盛达告诉中央社生活频道，“就全球快餐巨头而言，目前还没有台湾的代表。”

BFF台北快闪店货架上的商品琳琅满目（图片：CNA/May Seah）

台湾以其充满活力的便利店文化而闻名，便利店密度位居世界前列——而且，“便利店是一种全球语言，”他说，这使其成为探索体验​​空间中趣味想法的理想载体。

他观察到，在新加坡，“便利店那种在台湾或日本的魅力还略有欠缺”。因此，张先生表示，“这里有机会引进这种文化，我觉得人们一定会欣然接受，因为他们喜欢探索新鲜事物。”

那么，堂食菜单上有什么菜品呢？

必点菜品是鸡排（6.50 新元），鸡排保留了骨头，方便用手抓着吃。这款鸡肉经过约 140 次研发迭代，裹上豆浆糊，再裹上一层木薯淀粉混合物，最终呈现出鲜嫩多汁、外皮酥脆的口感。

烫鸡大师级切肉师傅（图片：BFF）

三种不同口味可供选择：原味脆皮，撒上台湾白胡椒粉；火焰釉面，一面刷上酱油蒜蓉釉或麻辣蜂蜜，然后用喷枪炙烤至焦黑；以及大师烫面，蘸上用酱油、八角和肉桂调制的沸腾大师酱汁。

张教授分享道：“为了研发鸡肉食谱，他们深入研究了‘亚洲人吃炸鸡的方式与西方人有何不同’这个问题。‘烫鸡的做法类似于天妇罗，鸡肉裹上面糊后，酱油的味道会渗入面糊，使面糊略微变干。这种做法真的让人上瘾。”

原味脆皮鸡排，裹上台湾胡椒粉。（图片：BFF）

他们还研究了台湾炸鸡独特风味的来源，并向台北的餐饮业主请教。其中一位业主透露：“他（指老板）的做法与其他商家不同，他会现磨香料。这真的会带来巨大的差别。”张女士说道。因此，他们引进了一台工业级研磨机来研磨白胡椒粒，而白胡椒粒的成本实际上是普通胡椒粉的四倍。

您可以点一份炸鸡套餐（9.50 新元起），搭配卷心菜沙拉、黄油米饭、担担面或牛肉杯面。

台北BFF快闪店供应的杯面，采用腌制牛肉“墨西哥烤肉”口味，盛放在杯面杯中。（图片：BFF）

这道牛肉面灵感源自台湾经典菜肴，上面铺着现点现切的慢烤牛肉。在台北，“这道牛肉面引发了激烈的讨论，因为大家的意见五花八门，”Shing Tat说道。“我们确实做了一些调整。”例如，为了改善牛肉的口感，他们学习了传统的中国嫩化牛肉技法，使其更加嫩滑，并裹上一层丝滑的外皮。“最后，有人说这道牛肉面是他们在台湾吃过的最好吃的牛肉面之一，位列前三。”

会有包子吗？有，但不是刈包。套餐里会提供两种选择：汤包，它是生煎包的蓬松版；还有肉汁包，它是油炸的，里面是鸡肉肉汁馅。掰开包子，把肉汁像岩浆一样浇在炸鸡上。

鸡肉碎配肉汁包（图片：BFF）

这里还有免费的自助泡菜冰沙——这是台北快闪店最受欢迎的菜品之一——搭配卷心菜沙拉味道很棒。

饮品方面，将供应与台湾SC Labs合作开发的台湾精酿茶饮。其中一款是氮气蓬松天然阿里山冬瓜茶（5.95新元），采用天然种植的红茶冲泡；另一款是气泡橙番石榴美人茶（6.50新元），融合了新鲜橙子和番石榴，以及来自新竹和埔里的东方美人茶。

此外，还有一款花生燕麦奶，里面加入了燕麦波霸和茶冻（售价 6 新元），是与新加坡品牌 Oatside 合作推出的。

冷藏即食食品包括麻辣蛋黄酱和油封柠檬口味的鸡蛋三明治，以及藜麦泡菜“炒饭”。这些食品专为注重蛋白质和纤维摄入的人士而设计。

甜点方面，会有香蕉太妃、红薯和黑芝麻芒果等口味的豆浆布丁。

BFF台北快闪店的部分商品（图片：CNA/May Seah）

Shing Tat表示，菜单将是一个不断完善的持续改进过程，新加坡风味的菜品也可能会加入其中，比如“上面放着奶酪的低俗版叻沙”。

至于周边商品，他们将推出一系列专为新加坡市场开发的商品，包括毛绒玩具、内衣、雨伞、水瓶、手提袋、袜子、牙刷和指甲贴纸；以及与 Tanchen Studio 合作开发的商品。

此外，还有计划举办一系列讲座，由活动组织者 Remedial Kids 联合主办，探讨在过度便利的时代，人与人之间的联系和社区的主题。

旧物，新物

BFF是这对搭档首次进军亚洲市场，诚然，“从伦敦来到新加坡这样的亚洲国家开一家亚洲餐厅——这的确不容易，”Shing Tat说道。但他补充道，“BFF的优势在于，我们希望找到一种更贴近大众市场的产品。而Bao目前的形式并不一定具备这种优势。”

张尔辰和钟星达在BFF台北快闪店（图片：BFF）

他接着说：“我们选择在新加坡开展这项业务的原因之一是，在亚洲打造产品的理念与我们不谋而合。众所周知，新加坡市场无论在商业上还是在消费者情感方面都极具挑战性。这既是挑战，也是值得我们去克服的难关。”

此外，张先生表示，“从文化角度来看，新加坡非常国际化，所以理解这一点对我们来说意义重大，这样才能看到它未来的发展方向。”

当初他们在台北推出BFF原型店时，“我们非常不确定自己在快餐和便利店领域的定位。现在我觉得定位清晰多了：它是一家快餐便利店，”Shing Tat打趣道。

一开始，“大家都一脸懵，‘那是什么？我完全搞不懂。’”但是，“如果人们不去质疑，那你只不过是在创造他们已经知道的东西而已。”

大师级烫鸡饭盒（图片：BFF）

他沉思道：“我认为打造新业务和品牌有很多不同的方法，我们选择了一种相当实验性的方式，这也带来了很多混乱：演讲、活动、广播节目。我认为这种原始感正是我们想要的，而且我认为人们也意识到了这一点。”

从某种意义上说，打造新事物让他们回到了当初刚从大学毕业，决定用冷藏箱卖包子时的那种状态。张先生说，那时候一切都是“凭直觉和需要”。“回首往事，那段经历是我们人生旅程中的一个重要转折点，如果没有它，我想我们今天就不会走到这一步。”

至于BFF会发展到什么程度，甚至会走多远，时间会给出答案。现在，我们只能拭目以待，看看他们是否真的会供应BFF：台湾以外最好的炸鸡。

BFF 将于 11 月 11 日在新加坡新峇鲁金炎路 46 号 #01-10 正式开业，邮编 239351。

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