Bite into these fully-loaded buns of bao

COCONUT’S HOT SPOT — Every now and then, cheap and easy comfort foods famous as cult favorites gain mainstream foodie status outside their native climes. Recently street-style Vietnamese Bahn Mi and pho have enjoyed a boom worldwide, as pad Thai experienced in the past.

A new joint beside nascent Peppina, Bao & Buns is bringing what they call their “Taiwanese street burger” to Bangkok. To everyone else, it’s simply known as gua bao – a steamed bun stuffed with delicious fillings, and this new joint certainly knows how to stuff these buns to the edge. There’s even free bao-fi! (their version of Wi-Fi).

The menu is tight and focused, featuring a rotating selection of baos stuffed with fried chicken, pork belly, braised beef, and tofu-mushroom filling. Most ring in at about THB90. The simplicity of baos is reflected in the compact menu, and this is a strength: a clear purpose and focus. Order baos individually or opt for a “Bao 4 One” set that comes with a mess of greasy deep fried taro sticks at THB199 – the crunchy texture works wonderfully with the chewy boas.

On our first visit, the decadent beef galbi was on the menu. It’s heavy and unctuous and packs a serious punch despite its bite-size presentation. One galbi bao might even be more than enough if you haven’t learned to love the globs of fat amidst stringy Chinese braised beef. The hugely popular pork belly bao recipe has already cemented a sterling reputation worldwide – it’s hard to get wrong – but at Bao & Buns they go a little further by topping it with pickled mustard greens and peanuts. It doesn’t hurt that the baos are made every morning, either.

The choice of condiments and toppings speaks volumes of an establishment’s food philosophy, and when Sriracha sauce makes appearance on the menu (it slathers the fried chicken bao) it gets the hipsters salivating. Bao’s trendiness has gone so far as to  even shove a scoop of ice cream in a bao and put it on the menu .

Though the adherence to fads strays far from the bao’s hardened street-style roots, the way the versatile snack is dressed up is worthy of praise. The Sukhumvit 30s overflow with new spots, but with a crisp focus on elevating the underappreciated bao, Bao & Buns is a welcome addition.

FIND IT:

Bao & Buns

Sukhumvit 33 (next to Peppina)



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