There are times in life when you want to sit down, order a bottle of wine and enjoy a good meal with friends. Then there are times when you just want something quick that won’t take up half your day. But with so much fast food out there, that tastes the same what can you really get anymore.
And what do really want – tasty, quick and doesn’t break the bank… welcome to O-Bun, serving up delicious bao treats. Don’t worry we know what you’re thinking – what the hell is bao? To put it simply, it’s a dumpling like bun that you stuff with delicious fillings. You can really put whatever you want inside to make it just the way you like.
Located in Pran Central Shopping Centre don’t be deterred by O-Bun being in a food court. They are giving a fresh take on fast food that is fun and tasty.
So, what is O-Bun serving up, first off, they got bao and a bunch of different flavours featuring fried chicken, tofu and char-siu just to name a few. But it doesn’t stop there, O-Bun serves up a range of sides that will go with your any of your tasty treats.
We decided to sample a few of the house favourites soft-shell crab, kimchi, char-siu, pork belly and fried chicken – you know because we just wanted something small. These bad boys are easy to eat, you can pick it up in one hand and just go to town. They even got #baopalm to see how many you can hold in one hand – the current record is five. Give it a try and see how many can do. Best bit is you can eat them afterwards.
Loving the fried chicken and char-siu baos they were only topped by the soft-shell crab which was crunchy, spicy and soft all at the same time.
On our way out, we stumbled upon the proverbial cherry on top – the sweet bao, deep fried with a scoop of Ben & Jerries ice cream (be warned the ice cream is seasonal so they will always have a different flavour on hand). We were lucky enough to have ours with The Tonight Dough. And a word of advice, grab a few extra napkins because this one can get messy if you don’t eat it quick enough!
No matter the day if you find yourself in the Prahran area its definitely worth taking a walk over to O-Bun. The only problem you’re going to have, is knowing when to stop because bao are like pringles – once you pop, you can’t stop. They are addictive!
O-BUN
Pran Central Shopping Centre
325 Chapel St,
Prahran VIC 3181
@obun_melbourne