Baohaus - 137 Rivington St.

[weinoo]

Stopped by this sliver of a shop (which in it's last incarnation was something of an ice cream shop, iirc) for a quick lunch the other day - halfway between Schiller's and Streitz's and a nice little addition to the neighborhood.

For $12, you get your choice of any 3 of their baos, + a cup of the vinegar/salt boiled peanuts (which were the perfect snack while waiting for the bao). I had 2 of the pork belly and 1 skirt steak - no vegetarian for me. I really like the pork belly - nice, sweet, unctuous and a little crunchy too. The skirt steak bao had the taste thing down just right, but, in my opinion would have benefited from the steak being sliced against the grain rather than along the grain, as mine appeared to be - maybe it was even shredded with the grain. I don't know if that's being done on purpose, or for textural reasons, but (in my opinion) it didn't add to the appeal.

There also appears to be an oxtail noodle soup available, but only on weekdays - I'm really looking forward to trying that as well.

[Bobster]

I've gone there 4 different times in an attempt to try the pork belly and they're always "out" or "closed for an hour".

I'll stick to Momofuku.

[mattohara]

http://thepopchef.blogspot.com/2010/02/yelp-greatest-hits-this-week.html

^in particular

and this quote:

Sorry for the waits this weekend, as many who read the blog know, I opened this spot with $300 left in my personal savings account and ZERO in the biz. This space is all I could afford. 90% of people are understanding, know the story and I thank you for your patience. When I could, I gave out cannolis, beijing peanuts, fries, etc. while people waited in line. We flipped 600 buns out of a 400 sq ft space with NO BASEMENT Saturday, you can't knock the hustle.

But, there are also a lot of people who come in now mad at me saying my space is too small and that we should have a bigger restaurant.... So, as a gold digger once told Daddy, "Buy me sumthin."

Edited March 8, 2010 by mattohara (log)

[Bobster]

So you're saying I should get over it?