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Baby Cafe Allston
Casual yet stylish spot that serves solid HK food. Allston's Chinese food scene is solid, but Baby Cafe fills a niche with its Hong Kong-style comfort food. While HK cuisine might not be worlds apart from the usual Chinese fare, there are definitely some dishes with European influences here that make it unique. I swung by twice for lunch, and despite its low ratings, they had some good dishes. Couple dishes that I enjoyed were the Salt & Pepper Shishamo and the Beef Stew Rice. It’s rare to see Shishamo at a Chinese restaurant, but the quality of the fish was quite good - crispy and packed with flavorful roe. The stewed beef was also very tender and I liked that they kept the bits of tendon to add a satisfying, jelly-like texture. There were, however, some dishes that I thought were just okay - Baked Pork Chop Rice and the HK Style Butter Toast. The pork chop was on the dry side, and the basic tomato sauce didn’t do much to elevate the dish. The butter toast had not much to write home about on its own—it was dense and didn’t have much flavor—but paired with condensed milk, it went from plain to satisfying in one swoop. As for their signature Iced Baby Milk Tea, it was a playful surprise: they serve it with milk tea frozen into the shape of a little character, which keeps the drink cool without diluting the flavor as it melts. Overall, a solid addition to the neighborhood. Would pop in for lunch now and then.
I’ve been to this restaurant multiple times with my friends, and even my picky eater friends keep talking about this place! The Hainan chicken is our go-to dish, always flavorful and tender, they have really good balance of chicken fat and meat. (But tbh everything we tried so far were all good) I also love their egg puff and Hong Kong milk tea—absolute perfection…😭 The atmosphere is clean, cozy, and such a vibe. I’ve never revisited a restaurant this often, and it’s easily one of the top 3 Hong Kong-style spots in Boston. Highly recommend!😋😋