I woke up today with a char siu bao craving. For those who aren’t familiar, char siu bao are Chinese BBQ pork buns, which can either be steamed or baked. While I like the dinner-roll feeling of the baked variety, the steamed kind was what my stomach wanted. So I set off to Richardson to find Garden Food Bakery, which is located close to First Chinese BBQ off Greenville. The steamed buns were wrapped up two for $2 and were located inside a glass case, along with a few other items (mostly cookies and pastries). I asked for one package and the woman working heated them up in the micro for me. It was 11:55 and the baked BBQ buns were already sold out, which was fine with me, but the other customer was not happy. He grabbed some steamed buns too and I’m hoping he liked them more, anyway.
I also grabbed a baked bun from the wooden shelves because they were marked as pork sausage. Once I got to the counter the woman told me they were actually taro, which I like, so I bought that too. Total cost: $3.50. Jump for the rest and more pictures.
I downed the first one in the parking lot (there wasn’t anywhere to sit inside the bakery, as far as I could tell). The pork was slightly sweet, but not too much so, and there was a very good ratio of filling-to-bun (more than I remember from experiences at other restaurants). The pork was slightly chewy (not tough) and fatty (a good thing). The sauce was thick. The bun itself was fluffy and not sticky. Pretty good eat-on-your-lap-in-the-front-seat food.
The taro (a potatolike tuber) filling was the consistency of mashed potatoes, and was a very light purple color. I’ve never had poi, but from images I’ve seen, this filling was a similar color. It actually tasted a bit like a banana to me. Just a bit sweet. The huge baked bun was golden brown with a few sesame seeds sprinkled on top. I liked it, but I don’t know if I would order it again. I would probably get the red bean instead.
In the end, I am full (much more than last week), and I’m satisfied, but I’d like to try a different place next time. I saw another Chinese bakery, Maria’s, off the 75 access road when I was heading to Garden Food. It was closed on Tuesdays so I’ll have to hit it next time.
