Bun House closed in 2019 and moved to a new address in Chinatown
This Chinese bun fight comprises a casual ground-floor diner and takeaway, as well as a subterranean bar and lounge. As you may have guessed, it’s all about Canton-style bao, which are the closed, ball-shaped variety. Served in their bamboo steaming baskets, we recommend ordering the dark chocolate, pig blood and chilli variety for its novelty factor, as well as its half-crispy exterior and darkly gooey filling. The signature BBQ pork belly bao is a sticky, must-order mouthful, while a grilled chicken thigh variety balances its rich liver pâté with a faint prickle of Szechuan chilli. For the uninitiated, a range of pickled fruit and vegetable pots may seem obscure, but proved to be the highlight on our visit: the perfect antidote to all that fluffy dough, pickled baby shallots with rice vinegar and Shaoxing wine are far sweeter and moreish than they might sound. A side of deep-fried duck tongues criss-crossed with mayonnaise was a bony step too far for us, but there’s culinary joy to be found in experimenting with this unusual spread at such low prices.