In all honesty this restaurant has arresting aesthetics. What. A. Logo. This is the first thought as you approach the restaurant, it’s perfectly descriptive of the restaurant’s name, and oddly (as it is a wild animal attacking another animal) makes you hungry. You’ll be hungrier yet when the aroma fills your nose with ginger, chilli, and pork. Glance across at the other tables and the patrons will be fully focused on the bowls and plates in front of them, eyes down, mouths in constant labour, and the food just looks so good. It’s colourful, varies in textures, and arranged artfully.
The menu consists of two main items: bao buns and rice bowls. The bao bun is inspired by Taiwanese cuisine, and can be filled with fresh ingredients, slow cooked meats, and vegetarian substitutes (which are no less big-time players themselves). Some bao buns are topped with a cured egg yolk, which sits atop the filling like a cherry on top of a cake, the outside of which is white as snow and just as fluffy, informing you that this really is a treat worth savouring.
The rice bowls are more extensive meals, inspired by Sichuan cuisine. Filled with equally fresh ingredients but arranged in greater quantity across a bowl to create a circular piece of art, rather than a ‘miniature’ of the bao bun. The pieces are placed around the bowl for each forkful to explore across and create a forkful of differing flavours and textures from the last one, allowing new combinations each time.
The drinks menu at Tiger Bites Pig is largely Japanese, with a local wholesaler providing sake and hot teas. This means your experience here will feel like a round trip around East Asia, with China, Taiwan, and Japan all included as main features, some ingredients are inspired by other cuisines too. An experience worth having, is Tiger Bites Pig.