Was passing by Old Airport Road Food Centre recently and found out about the existence of 汤包 BAO The Original Soup Dumpling that is located around the area where most of the Muslim stalls are situated within the food centre — 汤包 BAO The Original Soup Dumpling is a recently-opened establishment in the area. 汤包 BAO The Original Soup Dumpling does stand out quite a bit from the other stalls surrounding it within the vicinity — whilst most of the stalls there seem to feature yellow and green signboards, 汤包 BAO The Original Soup Dumpling is the only one that sports a red signboard; the signboard also features a cute illustration of a soup dumpling as well. Turns out, 汤包 BAO The Original Soup Dumpling is a Muslim-friendly dining establishment that serves up Chinese fare; the menu at 汤包 BAO The Original Soup Dumpling being mostly central around its soup dumpling offerings. 汤包 BAO The Original Soup Dumpling does serve other soup dumplings ala-carte on in sets that are bundled with noodles on the side; the soup dumplings coming in a variety of flavours for its patrons to choose from.

One way to give everything that 汤包 BAO The Original Soup Dumpling has to offer a try in one seating would be for one to go straight for the Combo of 5 Flavours + Noodle — the Combo of 5 Flavours refers to all five (5) flavours of the soup dumplings that 汤包 BAO The Original Soup Dumpling serves up; this being the Chicken, Herbal Chicken, Beef, Prawn and the Truffle Mushroom soup dumplings. All bowls of noodles that accompany the soup dumplings as a set are dry noodles that had been tossed with scallion oil; the noodles are actually pretty flavourful and on-point here — they carried a fragrant hint of scallion oil and were pretty savoury. The noodles are also executed in a manner that it carried sufficient bite as well; it also does come served with a dollop of Lao Gan Ma-esque chili on the top which can be mixed into the noodles — adds a savoury and smoky hint of spiciness that tickles the tastebuds which would be pretty manageable for those whom are tolerable to lighter hints of spiciness.

Amongst the five different flavours of soup dumplings offered, our top picks would be the Chicken and the Truffle Mushroom. The consistency of the soup dumplings may not necessarily gel well with purists; the soup dumplings coming with an aesthetic that is a little bit flat — the dumpling wrapper being a little thick in a way that seems to resemble that of Teochew-style Kueh which carries a firm and bouncy texture. With that being said, it does come filled with soup and minced meat filling within; the minced meat filling being a little bit on the thinner side. The Chicken variant of the soup dumplings can be described as the “original” at 汤包 BAO The Original Soup Dumpling — the soup does carry that slightly gingery note that one would typically expect in the usual soup dumplings served elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Truffle Mushroom does come with an evident whiff of truffle and an accompanying earthiness from the mushroom which would likely hit well with truffle lovers.