Gongfu Bao — Restaurant in Ottawa

3 stars is a little low, but it didnt quite make the 4 star cut, would definitely be a 3.5 if that was an option. The food is delicious, (but another example of a restaurant that uses cilantro on everything, we get it...). We tried the beef brisket bao and the pork belly one. The steamed buns themselves are excellent. Nice and soft, with that perfect subtle sweetness. The beef brisket was good, nice and tender and great bbq flavour, very much à la sloppy Joe style. It was missing something though, the sweetness of the meat and the bun together could have used some spice or some citrus to really cut through and bring the dish together. The pork belly on the other hand had an amazing sauce on it, some kind of pickled relish with just a touch of heat, we both wanted more. And the pork belly itself was succulent and rich, but didnt quite melt in the mouth the way some other restaurants' do (specifically thinking of the pork belly bao at Datsun, that melts before you even put it in your mouth). Had to chew a little bit, but definitely delicious. Especially with that relish. Service was good, great at the counter but missing a little bit at the table. Also with only 7 tables it seems unnecessary to give us tacky table numbers on a stick, not sure why the orders aren't just assigned to a table... it feels like a pull towards their street cart roots, but also feels like I'm at a bowling alley. I was waiting for some acne'd puberty-stricken teen to mumble into a mic that my order was ready. Finally, the atmosphere and decor is fine, but we were hoping it would pull more from its origins. The black and white photos of the street cart are cute, but not prominent enough to be important and seem out of place right now. The floors are also a little out of place, with two very contrasting tiles and neither of which seem to totally fit the vibe of street food. Same thing with the plates. When you have something like steamed buns you have a great opportunity to be creative with your plates. The boring white Homesense style plates don't cut it. Put my steamed buns in a basket or even just a plate with some colour on it. Lost opportunity. And at 12 dollars a plate I should be able to take a picture for instagram right? Overall, will definitely be back, there's some of the more creative dishes we have to try, and the service behind the counter really was great. It won't cut it for a romantic evening out or a business dinner, but that doesn't really feel like what they're trying to do, for street food in a restaurant, it needs a little work, but definitely merits a...

Let's start with the positive: First off, the atmosphere here was excellent. The restaurant felt cozy and inviting, and having the kitchen located in a central sort of fashion made it somewhat intimate. However, there wasn't too much seating, so we started off on a bar stool (which neither I nor the person I was dining with enjoy), but were able to move to a table later. The wait staff was more than pleasant to deal with, and were very accommodating, not to mention exhibiting a bubbly and cheerful attitude, which is always appreciated. The negatives: the aforementioned lack of seating, and a word of caution - the tile floor is very slippery when your shoes are wet.

On to the food, for this is presumably why one might go to a restaurant! Overall, I tried four dishes, and two drinks. I found that of the food I tried, the Shaoxing pork Bao was the best combination with the Bao. The flavour of the Bao and the pork complimented each other nicely. The fried chicken Bao was a bit lacking as far as an interesting flavour went, and perhaps would have been better with more Siracha on it, but I found it just a bit bland, kind of like fried chicken in a soft bun. The brisket was excellent on its own, but the Bao almost seemed to tone down the excellent flavour of the brisket. The Wanton chips were interesting, although I'm not sure they were my thing, seeing as I found them a bit bland. I tried two sodas, the bitter lime and ginger, on the recommendation of the server, and it was excellent. The two flavours complimented each other well, and I enjoyed it immensely. This went well with the Bao. I also tried the Rhubarb soda, which was more savoury and also very good, but quite tart and better enjoyed on it's own.

I enjoyed the experience, but I'm not sure for the price that it is exactly the best value for money. I think it is definitely worth trying, although perhaps not quite my thing. It's not perfect, but it's not bad...

Just had lunch ("soft open") here; I ordered the beef bao, toban sideslaw, and a cup of the house Bitter Lime with Ginger soda. The order came with two beef baos, each the size of a small mcdonald's hamburger, and a handful of slaw. The drink was approximately 300mL in size and came in s first plastic cup with lid and paper straw.

The bao and sideslaw was $14, and the soda was $4.00. For the amount and quality of the food, I would definitely rank this meal as on the pricey side for a simple lunch. I would have been okay if the entire lunch came to $20, but almost $32 (with taxes) was about $10 too expensive, in my opinion. While the place seemed quite busy, the lineup was very quick and service was fast and friendly.

It's funny how almost exactly this meal tasted and had the same textures as Czech duck confit with sauerkraut and dumplings. I tasted the bao independently of the filling, giving it a good sniff for the smell of yeast, (which I personally love); the bao had a great texture, very biteable and moist. The beef was tasty in itself, accompanied with some thinly sliced onion and some dried slivered root vegetable. It was fun and tasty.

The slaw was advertised with some kind of superlative ("amazing" slaw or something like that) and while it was good, I wouldn't heap it with the kind of praise the sign board had boasted. Just a bit more tang to it would have helped, perhaps.

The lime-ginger soda was fine- tasting stuff, but the small size of the drink made it feel a bit pricey.

I came away from the meal still feeling a bit hungry, which - for $30 - seemed mildly annoying.

Gongfu Bao makes a good lunch, but a $30 fast-food style lunch should be more...