The Asian steamed-dumpling craze comes to Buda at Bao Box

Steamed dumplings are one of the most popular types of street food in the Far East, and the craze is slowly sweeping Budapest off its feet, as well: after the success of Baotiful at Szabadság Square, a new spot opened to popularize Chinese dumplings with meat, vegetable, and sweet fillings, called Bao Box. However, their concept is slightly different, with less focus on the ambience and more focus on the food, served with delicious sauces and vegetable cups for rather reasonable prices.

The already diverse culinary palette of Budapest is now even broader with the recent opening of Bao Box, a new restaurant that specializes in one of the most popular dishes of Asia: steamedChinese dumplings made with meat, vegetable, and sweet fillings.The owner of the place was inspired by a lengthy stay in Shanghai and a Chinese husband; in the Far East, one can find such dumpling places on every corner, while in Budapest, only a handful of Asian restaurants and Baotiful at Szabadság Square sell this Asian delicacy.

Photo: Hartyányi Norbert - We Love Budapest

While Bao Box only offers dumplings, their selection is surprisingly wide, and depending on the fillings, dumplings are sold in three price tiers. The “classic” bao, filled with pork, cabbage, and ginger, costs only 199 forints, while the second tier offers variations for 279 forints; these include the shiitake and pork, curry chicken, teriyaki chicken, and vegetable bao varieties. In the third and most exclusive tier, dumplings sell for 349 forints, and are filled with either satay shrimp or sweet-chili beef. We can eat these with various sauces (sweet soy, spicy soy, peanut, sweet chili) for 159 forints each, or with a cup of vegetables (249 HUF). In addition, we can also eat crispy fried dumplings (279 HUF), which has the same filling as the “classic” bao. The dumplings can be ordered in menus, as well, that cost 599 forints, 1,090 forints, and 1,499 forints, depending on their contents.We can already enjoy these steamed specialties at Móricz Zsigmond Square, but soon another location will open at Óbuda’s Kolosy Square – meaning that in the near future, Buda will have more locations for enjoying this trendy street food than Pest... but the way this culinary craze is spreading here, we bet that situation won’t last long.