Our Story
Our greatest desire was to create a comfortable, fun, and casual spot to hang out – a place where people could socialize while enjoying their Bao and other kinds of delicious Taiwanese street food. Hobart already had a thriving street bar culture, so we decided to add a little twist by serving Bao alongside our customers’ favourite drinks. We also wanted to keep our son, Tomio, grounded in his Taiwanese culture. This is how Luna Chan was born. We designed our food stall to be kids-friendly, with ample and safe space for them to play as they enjoyed sumptuous Taiwanese cuisine. Soon our place gained popularity for hosting kids’ birthday parties. We even allowed our customers to decorate the space as they liked during special occasions. Nothing gave us more satisfaction than seeing people happy and having fun in a relaxed atmosphere while enjoying Bao and other Taiwanese delicacies. Gradually, the local community bought into the idea of Asian street food culture with Bao at the heart of it. The Aussie pub culture now had a twist to it – people could enjoy beer from a tap paired with Bao or another meal from our wide selection of Taiwanese street food. We thought it was a great way to support our local breweries and wineries while giving people a taste of our international liquor from Japan and Singapore.
Our Bao's story
We started Chan Bao as a modest business, selling Taiwanese Gua Bao in the local Hobart markets from the back of a truck. We were juggling running our business with settling down in a new country. It was scary. There was a new language to learn, a new culture to adapt to, and a different climate to get used to. We weren’t sure how we would make it.
Luckily, the local folk were friendly and, with time, Hobart became our adopted home. We decided to try a different way of getting our customers to appreciate Taiwanese Bao. This delicious stuffed bun, introduced centuries ago in China, deserved a better way of being served to cuisine lovers.
