Bao Bao Bakery, Boston

Update Review, December 2022

During my annual winter pilgrimage the Boston I decided to return to Bao Bao, an Asian bakery I had discovered a few years prior, when I wanted a unique dessert nearby my hotel.  Sadly, it didn't live up to my prior visits, but I'd still return to try more things.

Ube Taro Crepe Cake. $13.

I love ube, and I love taro, so I was pretty thrilled to see an ube taro crepe cake on the menu.  I'm relatively late to the crepe cake fad, but had a great one from International Smoke (review coming soon!) just a few weeks prior, and thus, I've been on the lookout for more.  

This looked great, a lovely purple colors, clear layers of crepes and cream, and more white cream on top.  It looked better than it was however.  It didn't seem particularly fresh - the back, where exposed to the air, was kinda dry and hard.  The crepes inside were a bit better, but still seemed harder than expected.  While both the cream and the crepes were purple, they didn't taste very strongly of anything ... and I'm not sure which part was supposed to be ube, and which was taro?  They were just mildly sweet.  The topping on top was a touch savory which was a nice compliment.

Overall, it was cream, and sugar, and crepes, and the layers were a nice ratio to each other, so those are tasty enough on their own, but it really lacked the flavor of ube or taro, and the texture wasn't great.  I suspect it would be better fresher, but even then, the flavor wasn't there. ***.

They also make a version that comes with boba on top for $3 more.

Original Review, August 2019

Asian bakeries are my weakness.

I can't resist them, particularly when I travel to a new city.  I somehow don't ever visit them in my own city (San Francisco), but they are always a thing for me when I'm in Sydney (Fujipan, Breadtop, etc), or Pasadena (85°C), etc.

And thus, when I was recently in Boston, and realized I was staying adjacent to Chinatown, of course I stumbled into several my first night there, starting with Bao Bao Bakery, one of the better reviewed places (also one of very few open later in the evening).

Storefront/

Bao Bao Bakery is owned by the same family as Double Chin, directly next door, and actually connected.

In fact, I stopped in to grab a treat after fetching takeout from Double Chin myself (zomg, the spam fries!).

Chilled Items.

 The refrigerated case contains a couple types of filled rolls and cakes, all wrapped up and grab-able.

Cakes.

 A few other mousse cakes and cheesecake round out this section.

Packaged Goodies.

Next comes bags of packaged cookies and snacks.

Soft Breads.

And then loaves of fluffy soft breads, including red bean paste, taro, and coconut, in addition to classic white.

Buns Galore.

And the, the fun stuff.  Assorted buns, soft buns or pineapple buns or crispy style "walzt buns', filled with red bean, taro, custard, coconut, matcha, and more.  They even make a trio bun with several fillings.

Savory selections include hot dogs in various forms (mini, full size, with corn, with cheese, etc), pork sung galore, curry beef, and fried bbq pork croquettes.

My first visit, I went later in the day (6pm) but the selection was still reasonable, but nothing compared to what they have earlier in the day (my later visits were in the morning or early afternoon).  Prices are ridiculously good, most items $1-2.

Tray of goodies.

After my first visit, I returned several times, more decisive each time.  

The format is to grab your own items on a tray, with your own set of tongs you pick up at the entrance, as with my bakeries of this type.

This time, I grabbed a tray immediately, and set about picking out one savory item, one sweet item, and one "for later" item.

Sweet

I preferred the sweet items I tried, and Bao Bao Bakery does have far more sweet (or slightly sweet) options than savory.

I only tried 4 items over my 3 visits though, and there are still so many more I'd like to try.

Taro Filled Pineapple Bun. $1.25.

I had a hard time narrowing down my choices on my first visit, as I wanted just one little treat, but, the taro pineapple bun was kinda a no brainer.

This. Was. Delicious.

The bun was ridiculously soft, fluffy, and sweet.  Perfect texture.  The pineapple top was slightly crisp, sweeter, and tasted of coconut. A nice compliment to the fluffy bread.  

The bun itself was tasty enough, and I would have been happy with the simple bun, but I did get a taro filled one.  The taro filling was generous, taro mash, sweet, flavorful.  As a taro lover, this was something I really wanted, but, it really wasn't needed here

They make these with several types of filling, including a custard filled one, which I actually think I might like even more.  I may or may not have also stuffed some soft serve ice cream into a chunk of mine, and made an ice cream sandwich, and *that* was incredible.

Pineapple Bun with Custard. $1.25.

On my next visit, I wanted to try another variety of pineapple bun, since I liked the taro one, but realized I wanted either plain, or, perhaps, stuffed with cream.

I somehow read "custard" and thought "cream", so I was a bit surprised when I actually broke into this one to find .... well, custard.

The bun itself was good, but, it wasn't as good as the taro bun had been.  Not quite as soft, not quite as fluffy, and the top wasn't really crisp.  It still had a great base flavor, and the topping was perfectly sweet, but, just not as good as the previous one.  Just from looks alone, you could see how different they were.  It was fine, but much more on the average side.

Custard Filling.

So yeah, inside the bun.  Oops, not cream.

It was a thick custard, an egg custard, sweetened.  There actually was a lot of it.  It was fine, but again, not exactly what I was aiming for.  Once I reset my expectations, I enjoyed it much more.

I ended up adding some taro ice cream inside, and made it into an ice cream sandwich, and enjoyed it even more that way.

HK Pineapple Bun. $1.10.

My last day, I decided to try the most simple expression of the pineapple bun, the simple HK bun, cheaper, at only $1.10.

Yes, I mushed it slightly in my bag before this photo.  And yes, I got this just to take with me for the next day in SF, knowing pineapple buns hold up decently for a day, and this would be the one most likely to be the best, since without filling.  Plus, I wanted to try the simple one!

It was ... fine?  Maybe after 3 days in a row of eating pineapple buns I just was less excited about it.  Maybe mushing it did effect it.  I'm not entirely sure.  But I didn't find myself loving it.  Maybe I really do want a filling?

The dough was still soft and slightly sweet, and I liked the sweeter crust, but it, much like with the custard bun, wasn't as substantial as the taro bun.

Wife Cake.

And finally, I wanted something to enjoy later.  I remembered reading a positive review of something called a "wife cake", which I knew nothing about, so, I decided to grab one, as they were packaged up and even sealed, and near the register.

Then, I did my research.  These things are also known as "Sweetheart cakes" or "marriage cakes" too.  According to the trusted resource Wikipedia, it is "a traditional Cantonese pastry with a thin crust of flaky pastry, and made with a filling of winter melon, almond paste, and sesame, and spiced with five spice powder."

I'm glad I read this, as, well, there is no way I would have identified what it was.

Wife Cake: Inside.

This was a unique item for me, not like anything I've had before.

The exterior was, as Wikipedia said it would be, a thin layer of pastry, far thinner than I expected.  It wasn't buttery, flaky croissant style though, nor was it crispy filo style, it was something different entirely.  Topped with sesame seeds.

And then, the filling.  Soft.  Sweet.  It sorta tasted, and had the texture of, mochi.  But ... it was winter melon, almond paste, and sesame?  I can't say I tasted any of those things.

I ... think I liked this.  I certainly liked trying something new.  For me though, it wasn't substantial enough, or sweet enough, to be a dessert item really.  I kinda wanted it as a snack with afternoon tea (or, I mean, I would, if I did afternoon tea), or as a breakfast item instead.

Savory

I also tried a couple savory items, drawn in by ingredients I love like pork floss, and, the excuse to consider a baked good a key component of a meal, not just a treat ...

Seaweed pork sung sandwich. $2.95.

For a savory option, I decided I wanted something with pork sung, but certainly struggled to pick just one.  Did I want the the soft fluffy pork sung bun, that I knew had mayo inside?  Or the crispy, pineapple bun like one?  Or the big roll with scallions and cream cheese?  I was debating all of these when I spied this.  Decision made, instantly.

I wasn't sure if the black bread was charcoal flavor, or squid ink, or what, but, I was excited for it.  

The thing was kind of crazy.  The exterior is actually nori, with the sandwich actually wrapped with seaweed.  Under the seaweed is a layer of mayo (more on that soon), and then the dark bread, then, um, more mayo, lettuce, cucumber, and pork sung.  And more mayo.

It was fascinating.  And I think I would have loved it if it was freshly made, but, even at 11am when I got it, it was suffering a bit from age.

The lettuce was crisp, a huge wedge, and was very much needed to provide freshness with the other items.  The cucumber slices were very very soggy, and I extracted them pretty quickly, as they somewhat ruined it.  The pork sung was sadly not very noticeable with all the other ingredients.  I did want to taste it more.

Mayo Overload.

What was noticeable?  Um, the mayo.

Now, I really enjoy mayo.  I have a heavy hand with it.  But this was overloaded, even for my tastes.  Mayo between every layer.  It oozed out everywhere.  I got mouthfuls of nothing but (warm) mayo.  This was not pleasant.  I had to scrape some out.

The mayo between the seaweed and bread also meant for soggy nori wrapper.  The soggy nori was hard to bite through.  I think if this was fresh, that crispy nori exterior would be fabulous.  But I did like the idea of the nori wrapper, i have never thought of wrapping a sandwich in nori ... 

And finally, the bread.  Soft, flavorful, although I'm still not entirely sure what kind it was.

Overall, this had some highlights.  I loved the concept.  But, I wanted to taste the pork sung, and I certainly wanted less mayo, and a fresher product.

I wouldn't get it again, and at a whopping $2.95, I think this is one of their most expensive items.

Deep fried pork croquette. $1.

I read many positive reviews of the deep fried pork croquette, and convinced myself it was totally acceptable to include as part of my dinner on the plane, since, it had pork, and thus protein, and thus I was being responsible.  Better than just munching on snack mix, right?

This was unlike anything I'd ever had before, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect actually.  I knew it would be fried, I knew it would have pork inside, and it looked mochi like.  All of these things were true, but it wasn't quite what I anticipated.

The $1 price tag was shockingly low for what was actually a large item, the size of 2-3 standard pieces of dim sum (which, really, this is just a dim sum item).  Since bought at the bakery directly, not served warm, but I imagine it would be great warm too.

Deep fried pork croquette: inside.

So, what was it?  

Well, the crust was actually about what I expected, soft and mochi-like, but, deep fried on the outside.  It was almost like a thicker version of the crust found on a red bean filled deep fried sesame ball, just, minus the sesame seeds of course.

The wrapper was good, but very, very, very greasy.  My fingers became oil slicks nearly immediately.  I know it was deep fried, but ... yeah, this was too much.

Inside was my issue.  I was expecting chunks of pork, bbq style.  Not sure why I expected that, besides that it is what I'm most familiar with for dim sum items (e.g. pork buns).  Instead, it was ground pork and ... bits of potato.  Doh.  Totally not my thing.  I didn't care for the filling at all.

So, overall, I'm glad I tried it, it was different for me, and I did like the wrapper, but, it really needed to be less greasy.  At $1 price though, I wasn't upset to dislike it.