I enjoy going to dim sum places, and always order some sort of steamed dumplings or Bao. You just can’t leave without having one or both of them! I’ve had some tasty ones from Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao, Yaso Tangbao, Jing Fong Restaurant, and Golden Unicorn. The bao offered at the BÀO Tea House is a bit different from all these other places. You can see from the cute and modern exterior and the interior, they are not one of those traditional bao eateries.
Even though they have some traditional-looking décor here and there, but you can see it looks more like a modern cafe. Definitely not a place to get dim sum… But maybe a tasty tea or coffee, and some desserts or snacks? And that is exactly what you can get from here!
And that is what makes the BÀO Tea House unique from others. They offer a different kind of bao, both savory and sweet, accompanied by other lights fares, and of course, all sorts of specialty teas.
We wanted to try a little of all the different kinds, so we decided to order three savory kinds to have right there, and three sweet kinds to take one. And since they had three types of savory bao, we wanted to try them all. So, we ordered one of savory baked bao, one of steamed gua bao, and one of onigiri rice bao. Or we thought… The staff actually made a mistake with our order, and we got two of the steamed gua bao, and no onigiri rice bao. Since they are made to order, they couldn’t simply “replace” our order. And with my hubby feeling extra hungry, we decided to keep the wrong order, and add a new order of a rice bao. They all come in a cute little box with air holes, so that they don’t get steamed up inside.
The first one we tried was The Classic Bao ($5.95/2 pcs). As you can see, these buns are NOT steamed, but they are baked. With that, they have a nice crunchy top, unlike any other traditional bao out there. This Baked Bun is filled with Char Siu Pork, served with homemade BBQ Sauce. The crunchy top had a sweet flavor to it. With that, it had a mix of dessert exterior and savory filling. Interesting… The bbq sauce was sweet and tangy, it had a good amount of meat in there. As you can see, they are not large, a nice size if you want to try a few different kinds. You can also order just one piece, instead of getting two pieces.
The second one we tried was the Pork Belly Bao ($5.95/2 pcs). Seems like these bao buns does not have an option to order just one piece, but since there were two of us, we needed to order two of each, so that worked out. This is Steamed Buns filled with Pork Belly that are braised, marinated, and dipped in their Spicy BBQ Secret Sauce, served with Mayonnaise. The pork belly was tasty, juicy and tender. It had a good thickness to it. The buns were super fluffy, and the sauce had a nice kick to it.
The third one was supposed to be Chicken Curry Rice Bao, but instead, to our surprise, we got Fried Chicken Bao ($5.95/2 pcs). They are very different items, so I am not sure how the mistake was made… LOL. Anyways, this Steamed Bun is filled with Crispy Chicken, served with homemade Chilli Sauce and Mayonnaise. The chicken was tender and juicy, and it was a nice size for the bun. The sauce had a nice kick to it. Again, they are rather small, great for a light snack, or get a few variety to make satisfying lunch.
Since we wanted to try the rice ball too, we added another order, this time, ensuring we get the rice ball. LOL. We already got chicken and pork, so we decided to go with Tuna Mayo Rice Bao ($5.95/2 pcs). It is made with Short Grain Rice filled with Tuna and Mayonnaise. This onigiri rice bao was good, very Asian flavor! Not too oily or greasy, which was nice. Rice was almost al dente, not mushy or anything like that. The way they have the filling, going all across the rice ball, almost like a sandwich, made it possible to have the flavor of the filling with each bite.
They had a nice selection of sweet baked bao flavors. They all looked very cute and tasty… The first one we tried was Choco Milk Bao ($5.50/2 pcs). The sweet baked bao can be ordered individually. Sweet Baked Buns with Chocolate is filled with Iced Milk Custard, topped with Chocolate, Almond & Cocoa. This little guy had a nice weight to it. A cute little bundle of joy! It didn’t quite like their photo, with lots of toppings, but as soon as I had a bite, I felt the crunchy texture and almond flavor. It was just all hiding under the chocolate coating! It had loads of filling, which was great. I had this one with a glass of milk, really nice dessert! The bun was doughy and mochi-y, make it more filling than you expect. The filling was interesting, not overly sweet, elegant flavor and texture.
The Lava Bao ($5.50/2 pcs) was one dessert I wanted to try. It made me very curious with the way it looks…it really looked like a lava rock! Sweet Baked Buns with Black Sesame, filled with homemade Custard & Coconut Milk. I liked the contrasting colors between the black and yellow. It had a nice coconut flavor, I thought there might be some coconut shaving in the filling? I somehow didn’t get much of the black sesame flavor. Still, it was pretty interesting dessert!
The last one we tried was the Taro Ube Bao ($5.50/2 pcs). Sweet Baked Buns with Ube, Filled with chunk of Diced Taro and Coconut Milk. Since both Ube and Taro come from sweet potato family, this one tasted a bit more savory than “dessert” in my opinion. Especially, the taro chunks in in the filling, with the earthy flavor similar to sweet potato. Maybe if they used Ube in the filling, it might’ve tasted more like dessert, as Ube is more sweet with notes of vanilla. But then, using the Ube for the bun can create this beautiful color!
We enjoy all the items we chose, and had a relaxing time at the BÀO Tea House. The female staff was very friendly and helpful. It is a cute little spots for affordable snacks and desserts. We didn’t get to try their specialty teas, I would like to go back again and try other food items, and some teas!
BÀO Tea House – 140 West 4th Street, New York, NY 10012