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The menu of this generically named Café Bakery boasts that their “house famous specialty” is the “B.B. Q Pork Bun.” And if that isn’t enough to get you in the door, let me point out the light price tag: a buck and a dime. These roasted pork buns (cha siu baau in Cantonese) are not the steamed variety favored at dim-sum restaurants, but the baked version found—where else—in bakeries. What really puts these guys above the multitude of buns that I’ve gorged on is the generous meat to bun ratio. Many cha siu baau suffer from being too doughy, which makes the hunt for pork like the hard-fought quest for the pearl at the center of an oyster. But the cha siu baau at Café Bakery is loaded with the good stuff: chunks of pork, saucy but not drowning. The egg-wash that glazes the bun is stickier and sweeter than usual, which is a fine compliment to the ‘cue. The great thing about Chinese bakeries is that they provide a steal for penny-pinchers, and a feast for the prodigal. So try anything that looks delicious or downright weird. You won’t be out more than $1.10.
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