First bao bun restaurant opens in Edinburgh
Sister Bao is serving up delicious bao buns packed with tasty fillings for breakfast, lunch and dinner, all hand made daily with the best fresh ingredients.
The restaurant opened on January 1 in the Asian foodie hotspot of Southside, just two days before the start of the latest national lockdown, so has been building a thriving takeaway business before opening its doors on April 26.
On the menu are a range of mouth-watering freshly steamed buns: popular fillings include pork with Chinese leaf, pak choi shitake, honey roast pork and spicy tofu.
There are also Xiao Long Buns, known as soup dumplings, originally hailing from Jiangsu province, alongside Won Tun, fried dumplings and a variety of delicious homemade noodles – such as the Dan Dan Noodles, served in a spicy sauce made with fried pork mince, Szechuan peppercorn, chilli and peanut butter are proving to be a big hit.
Founder Katie Lee explains that the restaurant's ethos is to introduce more people to a traditional street food favourite in China, but with a modern twist.
“We’re the first bao bun restaurant to open in Edinburgh and we wanted to focus on bao because of the potential to create exciting new flavours,” she says. “The soul of the bao is in the filling so we vary that all the time. We’ve made chicken curry buns and beef satay buns – there’s the opportunity to create a fusion style with the fillings and to introduce new and seasonal flavours.”
Alex Liu, marketing manager, agrees: “The method we are using is very traditional, we want to add something new but keep the authenticity at the same time. Food should progress as people progress.”
All Sister Bao’s buns are made with top-quality flour, free-range eggs, locally sourced meat and seasonal vegetables; no heavy oil or MSG is added.
And the range of flavours is helping the pair to build a local fanbase, with one diner posting on Google Review that her purple lotus bun (based on a much-loved Chinese mooncake filling) had been “life-changing”.
“The reaction has been amazing,” adds Katie. “People really do like it – we’ve been getting lots of five-star reviews on Google.
“With bao, there are no limitations: you can eat it any time, anywhere, and that is why we are making it.”
Sister Bao at 32 South Clerk Street, Newington, is open for sit in, takeaway and delivery seven days a week from 12pm to 9pm.
To order online, visit https://sisterbao.com/order-now