Flickr/blizzardzz
Earlier this month, a friend and I decided to try Baohaus on the Lower East Side.
The small eatery on Rivington Street near Essex specializes in Taiwanese hamburgers－ Guabao 刮包 － white, fluffly Chinese buns, or 馒头 mantou (like the sweet bbq pork buns you get at dimsum) stuffed with savory slices of beef or pork belly and topped with Taiwanese condiments like crushed peanuts, pickled mustard greens 酸菜, red sugar and chopped cilantro.
It’s one of few places in the city that offers such Taiwanese street fare. Momofuku, the overpriced ramen shop in the East Village that is all the rage, has a similar dish except they stuff the bun with Peking duck.
It quickly became the next foodie thing blogs and food columns in the city, and was even featured on the Food Network and reviewed in the New York Times.
I had to try this place.
It turns out, all that publicity was both a blessing and a curse.
When I got down to Baohaus on a Tuesday night around 7:15 p.m. and the place – all 440 square feet of it – was packed.
In the basement of a narrow building on Rivington, Baohaus had a communal table (painted blue) that tightly sits about 10 people. There was a separate table near the door that seats 4. A television against the wall was showing an NBA game, while a stereo system blasted top 40 music. It was chaos.
The door was open, letting a draft sweep down into the eatery and causing all the patrons to shiver in their down jackets while many waited – an hour! – for their food.
When I went up to the cash register to order and pay, I had to stand for about 15 minutes as the cashier struggled to keep up with the orders. She took each order down on a sticky note…. one of which fell down behind the stove, causing a panic because that order had yet to be cooked. The cashier ended up having to take that order again.
I ordered the Royal Frush – $28.00 for any 6 baos, bao fries (sliced up mantou, deep fried and drizzled in black sesame sauce), a cup of boiled peanuts. We tried all three baos, ones with Angus Steak in it, others with Niman Ranch Pork Belly, and the tofu bao.
It took an hour for them to deliver the food. By then, it was nearly 8 p.m. and the staff told us they had a birthday party coming in and that we would have to eat out food outside.
“We’ve been waiting nearly an hour for our food, and now you’re telling us to eat outside?” I asked.
Yes, was the answer. They had a birthday party coming in and everyone had to leave.
I told them that we’d eat quickly and insisted they let us stay – it was pretty ridonkulous that we had to eat outside after waiting so long for Taiwanese street food to be prepared. We stayed, as long as could. When the food finally came, we were so hungry and so rushed that we even forgot to take a photo of the baos before eating them. So I’ve pulled a photo off Flickr instead.
Angus Steak bao was a good quality piece of beef, toppings compliment the beef, which was soft, stringy and tasty. Pork belly bao was tender, juicy, but not as tasty as the steak.
I am all for supporting small Lower East Side eateries, especially creative Chinese-run enterprises…Baohaus is the brainchild of 27-year-old Eddie Huang, an American born Chinese whose parents are from Taiwan.
But seriously. This place has to clean up its act and deal with the crowds a little better. They could start by fixing up the place. The blue communal table isn’t pretty and just doesn’t work with their little space.
Perhaps others have complained this month because Baohaus is now closed for renovations. On Eddie Huang’s blog: Baohaus closed Monday (3/15) thru Wednesday (3/17) next week for interior renovations!!!
I won’t be going back to Baohaus – I’m headed to Asia next month and can get the real stuff for way cheaper than $4 a bao – but I’d be curious to see how the renovations go and how this business survives.
Baohaus
137 Rivington St.
New York, New York 10002
646-684-3835
