The Chinese buns known as bao are popping up everywhere — with unexpected fillings. Here are six tasty ones to try.
Brooklyn buns
When it comes to food offerings, Clinton Hill dive bar Splitty (415 Myrtle Ave., Brooklyn; 718-643-2867) only serves bao, including a very tasty — and very Kings County — potato and kale stuffed bun ($6 for one).
Baa baa bao
The lamb terra cotta isn’t the only tasty lamb dish at new Upper West Side Middle Eastern eatery Bustan. There are also lamb shawarma buns on the menu ($11.50 for two).
Worth shelling out for
At Dale Talde’s always packed Park Slope resto, Talde (369 Seventh Ave., Brooklyn; 347-916-0031), you can grab a lobster bao ($16 for two) with drawn chili butter for brunch.
Lucky ducky
C Bao Eastern Burger (108 W. 14th St.; 212-206-8388) is all about the bao, and one of the most satisfying is the larger-than-average Peking duck bun ($4.75 for one), stuffed with crispy duck skin and succulent meat and fat.
Hangover helper
Williamsburg’s Baoburg (126 N. Sixth St., Brooklyn; 718-782-1445) serves a “sober bao benedict” ($12) to booze-addled hipsters at brunch. The bun is deep-fried and served under a mound of pulled pork, a poached egg and a dollop of pink hollandaise sauce.
Thai style
Last week, Andy Ricker’s impossible-to-get-in-to-without-waiting-an-hour Thai spot Pok Pok (117 Columbia St., Brooklyn; 718-923-9322) started serving breakfast, and the menu includes the “Mantou” ($3), a sweet shredded pork bun, studded with crispy shallots.