/ this post has been edited from a previous post. it is just a compilation of two out of many trips to Wonderbao, i did it to get the posts' structure to look a little better /
Jason and i jumped up and nearly rushed out the door a few Sundays ago to check out Wonderbao, this place that recently opened about 150 meters away from where we live. Thank god i checked out the opening hours online and found out that they were closed. Decided to go a few day later, cause, really, we can never say no to bao(pau)s.
Wonderbao
Shop 4/19-37 A'Beckett St, Melbourne VIC 3000
https://www.facebook.com/wonderbaokitchen
Mon - Fri, 8am - 6pm, Sat 11pm - 4pm
The place was empty; no customers and one staff member (probably the owner). Maybe because it was 8.30am.. yeah. Maybe.
They had a caldron of soya milk.. nothing beats Jenny Hong back in KL, but it feels good to have soy milk that's not from a box. If you like the raw, soya milk taste sans the sugar that usually comes with it, then this is a good choice.
Cheung chay bao (chinese sausage), $2
Da pork bao (egg, shiitake mushroom, chinese sausage), $3.20
Char siu bao (bbq pork), $2
Nai wong bao (custard), $1.70
The filling for both the chinese sausage and char siu baos were little, but for $2, you can't expect THAT much filling. The da pork bao (and da chicken bao, below) is worth the money; 'da' i'm assuming refers to 'big' in mandarin, and it was sufficient to fill you up a bit on it's own. The nai wong bao, while pretty alright, isn't the normal nai wong baos that I've had, the custard wasn't as 'Asian'-ny as the usual.
Chai bao (shiitake mushroom, tofu and veggies), $2.
The chai bao tasted alright, nothing for me to sing and shout about at the top of my lungs; maybe it's cause I'm not the biggest fan of vegetable baos.
I was pretty happy with breakfast that day, though I was a bit disappointed that it was too early to grab the braised/roast pork belly gua bao. Went back the next day just for their gua baos.
Fried silky tofu gua bao with pickled mustard, coriander, sweet soy sauce and crushed peanuts, $3.80
Braised pork belly gua bao with picked mustard, coriander and crushed peanuts, $3.80
Roast pork belly gua bao with cucumber, pickled carrots and daikon and hoisin sauce, $3.80
I don't remember much about both the pork baos, but I remembered them being pretty good in flavour. The nuts on top made it a little messy to eat, but maybe that's the point. My favourite is the tofu gua bao though: I rarely pay the same price for a non-meat options but i've been back for the tofu gua bao multiple times.
And take three for the remaining baos i've yet to try! Hurr hurr.
Taro bao, $1.70
Da chicken bao with egg and shiitake mushroom, $3.20
The taro bao is really, really good. It's nothing like I've ever tasted before, so it had a different twist to it. It's the other bao that I've been going back for multiple times.
Feels good to have great baos (usually i'd spell it pau, but just so no one gets confused here..). Usually we'd go to Nam Loong near Russell/Lonsdale, but probably not anymore unless I want the old-school coffee-shop style baos. I really hope Wonderbao's business goes well and it seems like it will.. It was full and had a pretty decent line when we went there the other day at about 1.30pm. A bit of a surprise since it was pretty empty for our previous two visits.
You probably can't imagine the look on my face when i saw about 20 bottles of sriracha* lying around the shop.
*in my personal opinion, the best condiment in the world and one of Thailand's many gifts to the culinary world.
Would i go back there? Uhm, I already have, multiple times. There's something about places that sell snack-like food (like Green lol) that would definitely keep me coming back. And I did, multiple, multiple times.
Food: 8
Coffee: N/A
Ambience: 6
Value: 7
Staff: 8
I think i'll go get more baos now.
may.
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