Golden Steamer Big Bun with chicken, vegetables, and egg: Served in a scaldingly hot waxed bakery takeaway bag, the big bun from NYC Chinatown’s Golden Steamer takes several minutes to cool down before before consumption. Inside a fluffy and supple steamed white bun is a mixture of savory chicken, pickled mustard greens, and sliced hard-boiled egg. The lightly sweetened bun mixed with the meaty hearty filling, which steam has congealed into an almost meatball-like texture, is hard to beat at $1.25. 4.5/5.0
exceptional chinatown nyc bao bread asian goldensteamer big bun chicken vegetables egg 4.5
Meisum Bakery peanut bun: Generous mochi dessert coated with coconut shavings and sweet peanut filling. The mochi itself is plump and soft, barely sweetened, while the peanut filling is slightly crunchy, lending a surprising texture. Overall, a very satisfying (and cheap!) snack. 4.0/5.0
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Maxim Bakery Pork Bun: Maxim Bakery is a local Flushing chain that sells a variety of Chinese pastries and treats. For just $1.30, you can get a sizable Asian pork bun: it has a fluffy and slightly sweetened steamed bun exterior and meaty interior with a thick, savory sauce. This bun puts all food truck baos to shame, both in terms of flavor and value (you could easily pay 5x as much for 1/4 of the size). No one seems to speak any English, but they are accommodating and friendly nonetheless. 4.0/5.0
recommended flushing bao maximbakery pork bun 4.0
Golden Steamer Pumpkin Bun: Golden Steamer epitomizes what I love about NYC. It’s a hole-in-the-wall, cash-only bao shop right off of Canal St on Mott in Chinatown, with sweet and savory offerings all around $1 each. The sizable buns can easily be a meal on its own, offering an incredible value. This lightly sweetened pumpkin bun has a eggy flavor and starchy, creamy layers of pumpkin paste towards the center. The bread is more dense than their white buns used in their savory baos (reviews forthcoming) but the bread st... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended cheap nyc bakery chinese steamed bao goldensteamer pumpkin bun 4.0
Kimbo Sesame Bun: I no longer live close to an Asian grocery store, so on my last day with a rental car, I made a trip to Albany's Ranch 99 and stocked up on frozen asian foods, like dumplings and buns. There were many brands I recognized from my days reviewing frozen buns from Hmart, but I decided to take a risk and purchase one I hadn't seen before named Kimbo. Lucky enough, these Taiwanese buns turned out to be quite good. Steamed in my rice cooker, the bread is soft and fluffy and barely sweetened. Th... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended ranch99 taiwanese bao kimbo sesame bun 3.5
Golden Steamer Lotus bun: My coworkers may think I was joking when I said I was going to try every bun from Chinese bao shop Golden Steamer, but let me assure you that I’m going to do my best. This lotus bun was a more traditional option, with a thick and sweet lotus seed paste filling and standard steamed white bun that is denser than other options at The Little Italy bakery. Not as good as the other buns I’ve had, but still, at under $1, it’s hard to complain. 3.0/5.0
bao chinese nyc goldensteamer lotus bun 3.0