De’ Bao: steamed bun sandwiches

Hi All,

Welcome to De' Bao!

TGIF. Friday night, always hot and ready for action! I’m referring to eating action [ and side action ;) ]

I pick you!

If you read through my blog, you’ll know a few of my favorite things to eat:

• Desserts – any kind, anywhere, almost any price
• Dim sum
• Italian/European/American
• Korean
• Japanese

The reason I heart dim sum is for the BAO. I love steam buns! Juicy, plump buns….guys, get your mind outa that side action gutter. I shouldn’t have mentioned that.

new Korean style cuteness

I’m all ‘bout the bao, ‘bout the bao, no pan/bread. [to the hit song All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor]

It’s all about the Bao. I can even eat plain ones as a snack. After I spotted De’ Bao on Phnom Penh’s 2016 cheap eats, I knew I had to drag someone to try it out with me.

keep smiling even on a rainy day

It was raining all afternoon, the evening I ventured to BKK1. My GPS pointed me in the right direction but I couldn’t find the De’ Bao’s sign. After doing a U-ee, I spotted a flat that looked like an eatery (and correctly guessed it to be the place). Entrepreneurs, if you want to be accessible, make sure your logo can be seen at night with BIG letters. Seriously, dark + rain + glasses = almost drove away to eat something else. Don’t lose customers this way.

my tsunami angel wings

I forewarn you, the pics on their FB page doesn’t meet my taste expectation. The drool worthy pics left my tongue wishing for more. Another table next to me left early without finish their food. After having a light snack here, I continued to Koh Pich to eat papaya salad and chicken wings.

Let’s just get to the details.

Space: Small. About 5 couple seating, one long table for about 12-14, a sofa for a few friends.

welcome~ what can i get you?

Atmosphere: Another cute shop, good photo op as you can see!

Service: Alright, but more to be desired.

Taste: I love bao. Some were hits and some were misses. See below for details. Would I come here again? Probably not.

comfy couch for relaxing time

Parking: Street parking kiddo. Prepare to bring a motorbike.

Photop: Great place for a photop. As you can see from this post, isn't it just dreamy? That evening I channeled beauty model and totally feel this is magazine spread worthy. AGREE?

too old to be a model, now a food blogger

Disturbed: Their FB page had a cured egg on the pulled pork bao but never to customers.

Enjoyed:

I decided to get the recommended box set that came with a free soda. The box set was $7 + 10% VAT. Counting down to my favorite:

served steamed and ready

• Mambo number 5: Shrimp Bao

I actually didn’t try this because I’m allergic to seafood. But it looked like a deep fried shrimp with mayonnaise in a bao.

pretending to eat the shrimp

• Number four, four, four, four: Pork Belly Bao

I also didn’t eat this because I’m not a fan of pork belly. It was a chunk of pork with sauce on top.

pork belly bao

• Lucky Number 3: Fried Chicken Bao

Fried chicken is fried chicken. It’s like any other fried chicken burger except a) smaller and b) more expensive. Middle of the line; not impressive.

crispy chicken drenched in special sauce

• Close to being the best but fell short, Number 2: Pulled Pork Bao

I really liked the tender, easy to pull apart pulled pork bao. The only qualm I have is that there’s no cured egg like the picture. Where’s my house special cured egg?!?!

pulled pork in my belly

• Best of the night, Number 1: Bao Ger

It's a mini burger. Meat was succulent, delicious sauce, and bao encompassing. Yumo.

Bao Ger with a looootttt of sauce

My take: twist on the classic bao. Try it UNO if you wanna experience it.

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debaocambodia/

Address: #49, St 288, BKK 1, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (near Monivong Blvd’s Por Kei Chinese restaurant, same street as Champs Elysee’s KTV entrance)  

Specs: 11am to 8pm, a flat shop so be prepared to do street parking

 

follow meeeeeeee, V!

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Let me know your thoughts. Shout it out in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.

XoXo V

* Sunny Up with V *

If you would like me to visit your place, let me know! I’m more than happy to check out and eat your delicious food =)

menu

Bao bao bao!

KAIFUN: cool hangout spot

Hi All,

I’m back from my hiatus! Please look forward to more reviews - no matter how sporadic they’ll may be. I have soooo much to update like places to go, where to sleep and things to eat in Hong Kong and Korea bbbuuuuuuuuttttttttt I’ve honestly been a bum. #sloth #deadlysin

Overthinking as to how much should I really eat???

I tried out newly minted KAIFUN in Phnom Penh. It’s located in BKK1 near Burger King. KAIFUN calls themselves “a casual eatery of small plates ranging from tacos, pizza, burgers, curry rices, kimchi to BBQ beef.” I agree with their statement. They had small plates of food where it’s kinda wanna-be tapas but they’re not Spanish so they can’t be called tapas sort of place.

A/C cottage that seats about 20 

Street parking is limited. Spaces for motos are plenty. Wide open courtyard in the front reminisce American’s summer days where you relax to a BBQ. A bbq cart, antique VW minivan for cooking, and a fire pit for pizza. Back lot is the small shop for probably 20 people. Really felt like I was at a friend’s countryhouse.

VW minibus serving up $1.50 delicacies.

The owner didn’t interact with me as he attempt to make his first paella. From the oohs and ahhs of the big party, you’d think it was spectacular. However, I’ve been to Barcelona, Spain and that’s not a paella. No, no, no.

Loved the atmosphere. It’s a cozy warmth feeling where you can chitchat with your friends and enjoy the night. Light snacks with one or two cocktails = PLEASANT evening. I went on a weekday so don’t know the weekend crowd. Presumably the same unpretentious vibe.  

peekaboo boo

What’s enticing is the big signs and simple menu that states practically EVERYTHING is $1.50. But when you start ordering a lot, those $1.50 plates add up. Especially if you add drinks. 

Let’s countdown to my favorite from KAIFUN:

#5 Coconut Salad: it sounds more exotic than the actual taste. It’s package cutely. A handful of sald is placed in a hard-shell cracker. I’m not sure where the coconut was, maybe it was suppose to be toasted coconut topping. The coconut was underwhelmed by the strong dressing.

beautiful but not lasting

#4 Clams: from an accountant’s point of view, 100g of these white claims for $1,50 is overpriced what’s selling at the local market. However, because it’s in a resturant, it’s a great deal. I think it’s cheaper than Lobster Bay prices. I also realised that these imported clams are becoming popular in Cambodia.

satisfying clams

#3 Mini Burger: it’s a mini burger and tastes what a burger is suppose to taste like. I actually assumed it was a beef burger - because most burgers are beef UNLESS specified otherwise. Think again my friends. Middle of the line, safe bet.

mini chicken burger

#2 Cuban Sandwich: I was probably expecting too much because I was thinking of Portos (SoCal love) and the cuban resturant where I use to live. I was disappointed because this was not the Cubana I was eagerly waiting for. Maybe I was wrong to judge. It said Cuban not Cubana. But still, where are my plaintain bananas? I do love the cheese in this sandwich but would love it more if it had more meat.

Cuban or Cubana: is there a difference?

#1 Hawaiian Pizza: My favorite for the night. It was just so small and CUTE. I may be bias because of my penchant for pizza though. Carbs (dough), Diary (cheese), little bit of Meat (ham) and a touch of Fruit (pineapple). Almost a homerun if they added some sort of veggie on it. But seriously, why would you want to add veggies to my hawaiian pizza? 4 out of 5 ain’t bad my friend. 

pizza!

Bonus Drink: Passionfruit tea. This was probably the best I’ve ever had. If they added liquor in, it would be the best passionfruit mojito in the world. Lots of passionfruit pulp and mint. [I forgot to take a picture because it was PHAT good]

Maybe KAIFUN does have something going on. It’s cheap so you can share and enjoy a variety of items from the menu. It’s bite-size so you get just a taste. Everything’s better when you’ve only had a little. Enjoy the weekends~

My take: try it once or twice to feel like you’re not in Phnom Penh; not on my list to be my fave hangout spot.

https://www.facebook.com/KaifunCambodia/?fref=ts

Address: Street 334, No.25, BKK I, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 12302

Specs: delivery available, open until 9pm for lunch and dinner, cash only

Let me know your thoughts. Shout it out in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.

XoXo V

* Sunny Up with V *

If you would like me to visit your place, let me know! I’m more than happy to check out and eat your delicious food =)

See you next time!