[Hong Kong] Little Bao
Little Bao | OpenRice
Address: 中環士丹頓街66號 – 66 Staunton Street, Central
Date visited: 2014.05
Price: HKD$78 per bao
From Momofuku baos in New York to street baos in Shanghai, I just cannot resist those fluffy steamed buns packed with meat and veggies. Little Bao in Hong Kong serves chic baos with choices of pork, chicken, fish, and mushroom sandwiched between white bao halves. Not quite bite size and not quite sandwich size, Little Bao gave me no excuse but to order three to try. My only regret is I wish I had an appetite for all four at the time. There are other dishes here–I just focused on the baos.
There are no reservations at Little Bao, which opens at 6:00pm. With just a few people in front of us, we lined up at 5:45pm. Five minutes later, there were 20 people behind us. The hostess was pretty efficient and came out to take names for spots before 6:00pm. If you go, be sure to have your entire party arrive before you get up towards the front of the line. People whose entire party has not arrived are skipped over until everyone is there, which is fair enough since this is meant to be a quick stop and it doesn’t make sense to let someone sit on three spots while others are waiting.
Please note: no automatic service charge but you are advised to tip according to service.
Fish Tempura Bao (HKD$78) fresh market fish, tamarind palm sugar glaze, pickled lemongrass fennel salad. I watched them fry the fish on the spot after I ordered. My favorite bao out of the three we tried!
Pork Belly Bao (HKD$78) slow-braised pork belly, leek & shiso red onion salad, sesame dressing, hoisin ketchup. I think the bao would have been fine with just the hoisin ketchup and without the sesame dressing, which overpowered everything else. But the pork belly was slow-cooked tender quite nicely.
Sloppy Chan Vegetarian Bao (HKD$78) Taiwanese braised shiitake tempeh, truffle mayo & sweet pickled daikon, fried shallot. Lots of truffle mayo. End of the story.
At HKD$78 per bao (the equivalent of USD$10), these baos don’t come cheap for the size. Worth a try for a snack but perhaps not economically efficient to fill up on if you are hungry.
