Bao Buns Soft Enough To Snooze On
It was a pillow so soft, white and inviting you could happily lay down your head.
Instead we munched our way through the downy delicacy, stuffed with spicy pork and drizzly dressing. This was a steam bun beyond your dreams, Taiwanese and tantalising.
Welcome to Eddie Huang’s Baohaus residency in north London.
This was the first time the NYC cult brand hits the UK, with Islington’s Neighbourhood restaurant leading the charge, and Brighton’s Shelter Hall following from this week (7 June).
In Neighbourhood, right opposite the Memorial Green, pale purple UV lighting made dishes look less appetising than their taste. Crispy chicken salad and minced pork stew on rice preceded the main act: the steamed bun.
Now this is not a meal for a first date. Elegance, romance and dignity will all fly out the window as you struggle to stuff a sizeable wedge of bun from fist to wide open mouth, dribbling relish down your chin. But it’s worth resembling a greedy chimp as you chomp away.
Intimate conversation was also a no no as we shouted to be heard above pounding old school R&B.
The open kitchen could barely keep up with demand from our long bench table as we stuffed ourselves silly with light as air buns filled with tofu, pork or chicken, all oozing with piquant sauces.
Neighbourhood is ideally placed to offer affordable fare (£6-£15 dishes) if you’re catching a movie at the Everyman Screen on the Green a few doors up Upper Street. Or just soaking up the summer sunshine on one of the capital’s most lively streets.
Just grab a Taiwanese beer or vodka cocktail with a Chairman Bao (forgive the bun pun) of braised pork belly and Haus relish and dream you’re in New York’s East Village.
