TP Banh Bao 2

Never had a fried banh bao before until i saw it while coming here with my fam. It’s really good (but also really oily) & i never even liked baos.
My past experiences here with the man was fine, hes really funny and social. However this time around, one of the ladies working there gave us attitude while taking our order, like she was on her period? Lol or is it bc it was 9 in the morning and she was still cranky af? She just didnt look like she wanted to serve us at all. She kept «yelling» at us and saying how she didn’t have time to even put the stickers on the boxes so she told us to do it ourselves… and wouldnt give us more napkins when we asked, saying she already put some in the bag. we ordered like 13 boxes of baos –_​– it wasnt like we only bought two pieces or asking her for charity. The man eventually took over the ordering process and she moved onto the next customer (which i assume was a regular customer or smth bc she was really nice to him… all sweet talk). Like lady pls.

OMG! The fried banh bao (dumpling) is to die for. I had the pork dumpling and I couldn’t stop at just one. It has a crispy flour outside and juicy banh bao meat inside that is in perfect ratio.
I did notice the meat was quite sweet. So those of you who have a lighter palette might be warned.

I have a special place in my heart for banh bao’s…and this place is GOOOOOOD!!!
The meat here is super juicy and tender and they have a perfect ratio of bun to meat. The buns are moist and flavorful on their own.
My boyfriend and I ordered a box of 9 (3 each of the combo salted egg, quail egg and reg egg).
I generally prefer quail egg over regular, but you can’t tell much of a difference, so for pricing, I would just go with a regular egg next time. I’m not a big fan of salted egg, so my boyfriend ate all the salted ones and he said they were perfect.
The girl helping us out was very nice and was very patient with us. We got our banh bao’s warmed up and ended up eating half of them in the car. Will definitely be back for more

Can I give this place 100 stars?! This place was literally the highlight to my SoCal trip!!!
I recently visited oc and my cousin had told me about this little hidden gem that has fried banh baos. WHAT THE? Fried banh bao?! Never heard of it… I instantly thought well it would be way too oily, not too sure if I wanna eat a dough soaked in oil filled with meat. Whatever I tried it anyways. BEST THING EVER, I took my first bite and realize the dough was completely fluffy and dry, no nasty oil soaked into the dough the outside of the bun was crunchy and inside was fluffy and when u get to the center u have this chewy pork filling that is seasoned to perfection. I went back the morning I was going to drive home and grabbed 6 boxes of the orginal steamed buns, and 18 fried banh baos. My family and friends also agreed that it’s the best banh bao they ever had! Do not pass this place up. ITS WORTH EVERY PENNY AND EVERY CALORIE!

Boy this place is making a killing. I bought two boxes (9 per box) of mix and match banh bao for $ 28. Though there is an extensive variety from pork to chicken to taro. I prefer the thit tap cam (pork, egg, and sausage) over the BBQ ones. Though good, it wasn’t anything extraordinary. Ratio of bread to meat is good. They speak English here so don’t be intimidated this try this place out.

I come in salivating and prepared to try these fried Banh Baos, ready to order the required minimum of 3, I asked for one of each… 1 Thap Cam CHIEN, 1 GA CHIEN and 1 Xa Xiu CHIEN… The woman then insists that I just get a box of 9. «No thanks». She then asks if I’m sure and I tell her it’s just me eating these 3, I don’t need NINE. So then she tries to upsell me on a box of 6 and I tell her no, just 3 and woman shows a look of frustration! WTF? I tell her no, just 3 once more and I’m starting to feel like it’s not worth their time to fry up just 3. She says okay and I’m standing there ready with cash in hand.
She rings me up for 6.
Are you f’ing kidding me???
I repeat my order and she gives me this confused grumpy look. Mustache dude then explains to the woman in Vietnamese what I wanted. I overheard and it sounded correct. It seemed as if she finally understood as well.
Thinking that it would take some time for them to flash fry these things, I proceed out the door to wait in my car and to my surprise, she calls at me and tells me they’re ready. I grab the order, open up the box and lo and behold, see just ONE fried Banh Bao and 2 steamed ones. WOW. I break them each apart and noticed 2 Chicken ones and 1 Xa Xiu. No Thap Cam. Livid, I left cuz I didn’t want to bother anymore.
Starving at this point, I ate them cuz I paid for that shit, and it just did not taste like anything special. None of the buns were piping hot like it should’ve been, the steamed Xa Xiu bao was just mushed up and lukewarm meat and the dough itself was overdone and hard on the bottom. The steamed chicken bao was pretty tasteless and the fried one was just okay. I think the woman ultimately just grabbed whatever was sitting in the display with no regards to what I had asked for.
TERRIBLE!

How have I not reviewed this place yet?! I love, love, love these banh baos. Perfect size, so much meat compared to many places. I usually always have to rip off extra pieces of bread and the meat portion is super small but that’s definitely not the case here. We usually buy 5 – 6 boxes when we come by because we give them to family & friends (& usually keep 2 boxes to ourselves).
They have a lot of options too. I haven’t tried a lot — and Ive been meaning to try the fried one but I’m scared its going to be super oily. WILL TRY SOON though, lol.

I was SO excited when I heard about this place because I LOVE banh bao. The dough is made the Vietnamese way — a little chewy on the outside and slightly sweet. They have a nice variety of fillings such as ground pork, shredded chicken, taro, seafood and vegetarian. They can be ordered individually or in a box of 9. The reason I only gave 3 stars was because of the fillings. I only tried 2 so if I ever try more, I will adjust my rating accordingly.
New item: (Translates into BBQ pork & chicken) –3 stars — I expected chicken plus bbq pork mixed together. It was hard to tell for sure, but it seemed like it was all shredded chicken coated in the red marinade they use for bbq pork. I still enjoyed it.
Their house special #1 — 2.5 stars. I had high expectations for this. The filling is made of ground pork, a slice of hard boiled egg, one VERY thin slice (paper thin) of Chinese sausage (I opened 2 buns to see if it was a fluke and both has 1 almost transparent slice each) and lots of black pepper. Oh, and LOTS of sugar. It was so off-​putting to eat a savory bun whose filling was sweet like dessert. Sweet ground pork. I’m hoping maybe they accidentally put too much sugar in while they were seasoning? That was disappointing. I wasn’t the only person who thought so because the person with me said the same thing.
The dough itself didn’t have a great rise to it so it was a little dense, but I did like how sweet they made the outside bun. I may try it again if I’m passing by, but I won’t make a special trip all the way there again like I did today. Bummer. Not horrible, but I was disappointed. Great concept and variety –execution needs a little tweaking.

BANH BAO… come here for the banh bao. You will not be disappointed!
Made fresh and just the right taste. You get the subtle yet pleasing taste of the doughy bread on the outside and all the different textures/​tastes on the inside. I would recommend getting the one with quail egg, you can definitely taste the difference. It’s a few bucks more but I think it is worth it! Besides the banh bao, they’ve got other food stuff to choose from. I hope to return to try the other menu items! I did have some of their sesame balls which were pretty good! The only turn off was after I ordered, I was informed that they did not accept card payments. So just a heads up, bring cash! It will save you a trip to the bank.

I’ve been here a couple times, and they’re actually pretty good. Except for today.
Walked in around noon, and they weren’t busy. I ordered 6 boxes of their special bao, 6 single fried baos, 1 box of salty egg bao, and 3 bbq pork baos.
They were all good except the bbq pork baos were VERY VERY sweet. I didn’t expect it to be that sweet.
Their special bao was overall good. It was on the meatier side, so that’s always a plus. Their consistency isn’t the greatest. Sometimes it more salty and sometimes it’s a little more bland.
The first time I had their fried bao, it was decent. I mean, decent to have it a 2^nd and 3^rd time. This time, this took me at a complete shock. It had a rubber band in it.
I was so bummed, but now Atleast this gives me a reason to find a better bao place! I order a lot, so I would appreciate more consistency with the baos.
Service is good, ⁵⁄₅.
Baos were ok, ⁴⁄₅.
Consistency is bad, ²⁄₅.

Best banh bao ever.
The ratio of meet to bread is perfect. I don’t need to rip off any excess bread as is the case for almost all other banh baos. I love that you can choose between 3 different types of egg as well. the salty egg is money!
Now combine the quality with the novelty of the deep fried option and this place needs to get 5 stars. I’m hesitant to use the word «novelty» for the deep fried bao because it is more than that. It is delicious! But it really is the only place that I have ever heard of that serves them deep fried.
Pro tip: in the mornings, they have a bunch of deep fried baos ready, so you can order 1 at a time. Otherwise, you need to order a minimum of 3.

My friend brought these to our «family» dinner and they were amazing! i’ll have to go back to the actual store and order them myself
COMBO with quail egg is the way to go (can’t go wrong with added egg right), and EVEN further order them deep fried! deep frying a steamed bun seems excessive but the crust is so light, tasty and it doesn’t even seem oily
i also tried the BBQ pork bao but it wasn’t nearly as tasty as the combo
NOTE: you can order them by the box or individually

These are one of the places where I would not have known about if not for finding it on Unilocal.I had a weird craving all of a sudden for banh bao (steamed buns) and this place popped up on Unilocal.I figured if they are just specializing in steamed buns, it must be really good (the other reviews helped too).
First off, parking is a complete nightmare here. There simply aren’t enough spots for the number of businesses here. This was on a weekday morning too. I can’t imagine how much worse it’d be on the weekends.
Service was good for the most part, I waited only a few minutes after I walked in and was helped. The menu options are straightforward — written in both English and Vietnamese, and had per bao cost as well as per box (9 baos come in each box). There are about 10 different options — including the traditional banh bao filling of minced meat, onions, chinese sausage and chicken egg (#1/​Thap Cam). The #2 has the same fillings as the #1, but with quail egg instead of chicken egg. Honestly, I’ve tried quail eggs before — while they taste great, I’m not sure it justifies costing nearly 50% more than the #1.
The banh baos are small — about 2 to 3 bites — seems to be about 70% filling and 30% dough (that may or may not be a plus depending if you like more doughy steamed buns or ones with more filling). The filling is great for the most part, very flavorful, with just the right amount of meat, egg and seasoning.
You can also get your steamed buns deep fried here — and while the reviews seem to rave about it, I like my steamed buns the traditional style.
I’ll have to come back and check out the other flavors sometime — you can mix and match if you don’t want 9 buns with the same flavor.
Cash only.

Yummy! Their banh bao is really good! It’s the perfect ratio like everyone says. It’s good cold, but best hot! If you get their combo with quail egg, it’s freshly made and comes hot every time. It is also the most expensive banh bao but it’s good! Is it worth the difference between the chicken egg fraction and the quail egg? It’s hard to say… part of me wants to say no… but then I eat it and it’s so hot and the way the quail egg bursts in your mouth in that lucky bite… just makes it maybe worth it.
My biggest complaint is that the Chinese sausage is the tiniest sliver of meat known to mankind. Okay I’m exaggerating a bit… But seriously, you can make it a little thicker and profit margins won’t be down that much. They can afford it considering that they often sell out by 2pm even though their hours are technically open until 7 (they close as soon as they sell out, so if it’s getting later in they say, give them a call to make sure you won’t be wasting a trip). Their banh bao is also a lot smaller than other places, but the breading and meat is really tasty. I think part of the trick is because it’s so small. I normally don’t care much better for banh bao, but I like this place. It reminds me of the best banh bao I have ever had growing up as a kid — it was fresh from the cart carried by an elderly woman late night staying at my grandparents’ home in Vietnam when I was 9. It was steaming hot, broke perfectly in half and every bit was juicy with quality meat taste, rather than excessive American taste.
Anyway, prices are a bit steeper than competitors and it’s also smaller… but the quality is beyond the rest. It’s worth a try, and decide for yourself if the difference in price is justified. For me, it is if I’m going to be feeding my family. If I were to order in bulk for a big party, I’d probably go elsewhere like Banh Mi Che Cali where quantity is a better driving point.
Tip 1: you can deep fry your banh bao for 50 cents. Requires 2 minimum.
Tip 2: you can call in and order in advance
Tip 3: they close shop when they run out, so call in advance to make sure they’re not out. Usually runs out by 2 in my experience.

I came here with the intention of trying their deep fried banh baos and I was definitely not disappointed. Banh baos were my favorite thing to eat as a child, so you can imagine my excitement to find a place that deep fries them. The set up is similar to any Vietnamese to go place — they only have one table with a few chairs inside (which is probably for customers waiting for their order). It takes a few minutes for them to fry the banh baos so if you know what you want, call ahead to place an order! Their business cards conveniently have the whole menu on the back of them.
I got a box with the deep fried thap cam (number 1 — pork, sausage, and egg), deep fried xa xiu (bbq pork — similar to char siu), and steamed taro bun. It’s a $ 2.50 fee per box to have them deep fried, so to maximize that fee I got 8 fried and only 1 steamed bun. They’re a little dense once they’re fried but it’s different and definitely an interesting thing to try. Out of the two deep fried baos that I got, my favorite is the thap cam just because there were more things inside so it was a different taste every time I bit into it. These are good fresh, I made the mistake of waiting until the next day to eat my steamed taro bun and it just wasn’t that great — it was dry, hard to eat so I would recommend eating anything you get here right away to get the full experience.
I told my mom about this place and she thought it was an interesting concept so I’d be coming back so I can see how she feels about it.

Are their banh bao (steamed buns) good? Yes. Is it worth the price? Not really. I for one love eating banh bao, I literally can eat it for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner (I have in the past). I guess you can say I’m serious about my steam buns. There is only one place I like to get my steamed buns from which is the food togo place on euclid and westminster next to the supermarket (I cant recall of the right now). In my personal opinion they make the best steam buns, double the size of the bun compared to here, flavor is the same as this place, but the best part is its only 1.25, which is less than the price that they are charging here but double the amount!
However, if you do want to try out this place here are some details and pointers. They charged 1.50 for a single steam buns or 8.50 for 9. Also they don’t have pre fried steam buns, they fry it on request. When I came here I got a box of 9 because i saw how small the steam buns were and I knew that wouldn’t last in my household. I asked them to fry two for me and they said it will be an extra $ 2 for frying and they will fry as many as you want – the flat rate for frying is $ 2. Unlike other places I noticed that this place ratio for their steamed buns are a bit different, they have more meat and less dough (2 part meat, 1 part dough) Also, these buns are in high demand because it was a weekday and I came at 2pm and there were only 3 boxes left. So if you want to try them please come early preferably before 1pm.
Regardless of how i feel about this place, if you like steam buns you might like it here.

Been here on Saturday and another time before that only because people raved about their Deep Fried Banh Bao, so I obviously had to try it out.
They have quite a variety of banh bao which is great because who doesn’t love to choose from so many options.
I decided to buy one box. That came with 9 banh bao (flavor is Thap Cam or special). The banh bao are quite small compared to if you had gotten at other stores. And the minimum to have them deep fry it is three. I decided to just deep fry all 9 and that came out to be a total of $ 11 exact.
They don’t accept card, so be sure to carry cash!
After, they took my box of banh bao to the back where I probably waited 10 – 15 minutes before I got them back deliciously deep fried.
The deep fried banh bao is obviously scrumptious. I would definitely choose eating this over the regular bao.
Definitely coming back if I was only craving for deep fried baos.

I’ll get to the point, the rumors about how good the famous banh bao’s here are definitely true. It’s one of the best ones around. Even my mother (who is extremely picky about Asian food) approves! When my mom says it’s good then it must be really good because she compares everything to authentic Vietnamese food in Vietnam.
The banh bao’s here are a little bit smaller than usual but the low price makes up for it! Its smaller than most places, but it’s a perfect single serving size. I’m also a big fan because there’s more meat than there is flour! I’m more of a savory type of person; so I would highly recommend the #1.
Parking might be difficult because it’s limited. Try to look for parking on the left of the market. You might get luckier.
Tip: If you go on the weekends, try to go earlier because if you come by 2−3pm, they might be sold out!

It’s fascinating how you never really think how something you’ve eaten since you were a kid could be improved in any way. Banh bao has always been a staple snack and it’s always been great, with its doughey semi sweet bread paired with the salty ground pork, egg, and chinese sausage. The perfect portable buddy for those long road trips!
So when my dad came home with these smaller sized banh baos, I first thought, how cute! Turns out they aren’t just cute, they’re delicious! Turns out you CAN improve something so simple and familiar. The smaller size allows for a much more even bread to meat ratio. The outside traditional sized ones tend to be way too much bread and not enough meat. T.P.‘s bread is moist and the meat is well seasoned. Good luck with being able to eat just one!

Nom nom good! Banh bao chien changed the concept of traditional street food steamed buns. I prefer them fried SO much more after giving this version a try.
I never been to the Houston location but my cousin from that area was in town so we decided to check it out! Fried version banh baos are cooked on the spot when it’s order so they come out hot & extra crispy (give it 3 mins to cool). They do ask for you to order at least 3 fried buns minimum, & I enjoyed the combo with quail egg & vegetarian the most.
The gentleman up front was kind enough to inform me that the oil may have rendered fat from meat but I was fine with that. I noticed a lot of customers were buying a couple boxes of steamed banh baos at a time while I was waiting, so the original buns must be a hit.