Third-Gen Bao Maker Opens Café Serving Shiok Chilli Crab & Nasi Lemak Mantou Burgers
When 8days.sg spoke to Alvin Lee in 2020, he had just started his home-based business Taiping Bao selling baos hand-made from scratch using his family recipe. His family has been making baos at their factory in Tai Ping, a small town in Perak, since the 1970s, and Alvin, 31, hopes to grow the business in Singapore.
His pillowy buns, which come in traditional as well as new-fangled flavours like sweet peanut and pandan lotus, have been a hit with customers. The third-generation bao maker was churning out some 2,000 buns a month from the kitchen of his three-room HDB flat. He decided to quit his restaurant manager job to focus on his side hustle, investing $50K as sole owner of House of Bao cafe at Alexandra Central in January.
Besides his baos, the tiny 10-seater also offers fusion mantou burgers like nasi lemak and chilli crab “bao-gers”, as well as mains like nasi lemak and pork belly noodles.No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
Now imports buns from family’s factory in Malaysia
For Alvin, opening a brick-and-mortar store was a natural progression. “I have been working in the F&B industry in Singapore for 11 years and I wanted to do something for myself. Starting this café will also help grow my family business,” he says. His biz partner Robert Ong has since left the business to pursue a full-time job.
Alvin has been slowly rebranding the business over the past three years. In 2021, he revamped the packaging to sport a more premium aesthetic when he noticed that many customers were buying them as gifts. And instead of making the baos himself, Alvin now imports them from his family’s factory in Tai Ping.
“I am the only one who can make the baos here, so it was very tiring. I can only hand-make 40 baos in one hour, while our factory in Tai Ping, which has many workers, can produce 800 pieces,” he says.
This also frees him up to focus on cooking and running the store. Currently, Alvin is a one-man show and as far as possible, he tries to make everything from scratch.
The only downside is he now only offers five flavours of baos – instead of the previous 12 – and they are priced $2 more at $9.90 for a box of six “due to the increase in costs like logistics and taxes”. Customers can order them online or purchase them at the shop.
“We offered 12 flavours previously ‘cos we were making them ourselves. But our Tai Ping factory has to cater to large orders so for now, we only bring in our five best-selling flavours: classic mantou, premium red bean, pandan lotus, sweet peanut, and white lotus,” explains Alvin.
The look
It’s easy to miss House of Bao when walking through the ground floor of Alexandra Central. With its white, minimalist décor, the space looks like any other café. It doesn’t help that you can’t tell from the chic signboard that it sells bao. It’s only when you go closer that you see boxes of bao displayed on the shelf and House of Bao emblazoned on the backdrop. “I didn’t want the brand splashed across the signboard ‘cos it looks very traditional. I wanted something more modern-looking, simple and exudes a café feel,” explains Alvin.
The menu
Besides their range of steamed traditional baos, the café offers four fusion mantou burgers or “bao-gers”: chicken, chilli crab, pork belly and nasi lemak. It also recently launched nasi lemak and pork belly rice or noodles. Prices range from $2 for two classic mantous to $14.90 for a chilli crab bao-ger. “We get mostly the office crowd here and we’ve been getting requests for noodles or rice which is more filling, so I decided to offer nasi lemak, which can be eaten for breakfast. And from there, I came up with a nasi lemak bao-ger,” says Alvin.As for dessert, there’s chendol ($6) and a small selection of limited-edition ice cream sandwiches ($7.90), featuring House of Bao’s fried mini mantou and artisanal ice cream from Juz Scooop. Alvin hopes to introduce more traditional food from his hometown such as fried carrot cake, coconut bao, and curry bun served bread bowl-style.
Nasi Lemak, $9.90
The nasi lemak here is done “Malaysian-style”, which according to Alvin, is heavier on the palate, just the way he likes it. True to Malaysian-style sambal, the punchy hae bee-spiked chilli, is thick and not sweet — a plus in our books. The jasmine rice, topped with a perfectly runny sunny-side up, is lemak but lacks pandan fragrance. We also find it a tad too sticky, like glutinous rice. “I added a lot of coconut milk ’cos I wanted the coconut flavour in the rice to be strong. I find the versions here too light,” reasons Alvin.
The highlight is the chicken thigh, which has been marinated for a day in a spice blend including turmeric, lemongrass, and coconut milk, and fried till golden-brown. The meat, fragrant with floral turmeric, is succulent and flavourful, and the skin very crispy. It’s made to order so expect to wait around 10 minutes.
Nasi Lemak Bao, $11.90 (8 DAYS Pick!)
All the components of the nasi lemak, minus the rice, sandwiched between pale green pandan bao. Hand-made by Alvin using fresh pandan leaf juice, the mantou, which is slightly smaller than your regular burger buns, is wonderfully soft and fluffy with a hint of sweetness. However, the perfume of the pandan is rather subdued. Alvin explains that he is unable to steam it with pandan leaves as he currently only has one steamer. Doing so will affect his other buns.
Slathered with sambal, the thick burger is packed with sassy flavors and contrasting textures. We prefer this to the rice version here.
Crab Krab Bao-ger, $14.90 (8 DAYS Pick!)
This mantou burger which features a hand-sized soft-shell chilli crab truly hits the spot. Meaty and packed with roe, the battered crab has a nice crisp and pairs well with the piquant chilli crab sauce. Unlike zi char chilli crab which tends to be heavy on the ketchup, this one’s tangy, garlicky and packs a punch.
To prevent the mantou from going soggy, the crab is only dolloped with gravy. Definitely ask for more sauce on the side ’cos it’s great with the accompanying crispy fries too. Also available with deep-fried mantou buns though this soft steamed version adds a nice contrast to the crunchy crab.
Pork Belly Bao-ger, $12.90
This is basically kong bak bao in burger form. Luscious chunks of fatty pork belly are seasoned in dark sauce marinade spiked with cinnamon, star anise, and five-spice powder for one day and then braised for four hours. The result is meltingly tender meat with a homespun quality. Moreish and decadent. Alvin cooks the pork belly in small batches and it’s usually sold out by lunch.
Sweet Peanut Bun, $3 for two pcs
This is one of the traditional baos that started it all, and according to Alvin, their bestseller. Peanuts are first dry-fried in a pan, before being crushed and mixed with sugar. The bao-to-filling ratio is just right and we like the gritty texture of the filling, which is not too sweet. Kinda reminds us of peanut ang ku kueh.
Bottom line
Great baos, even better mantou burgers. We like the creative combinations, especially the nasi lemak bao-ger for the mix of textures and flavours. The prices are pretty reasonable considering that everything from the mantou to the sambal is made from scratch and well-executed.
The details
House of Bao is at #01-13, Alexandra Central, 321 Alexandra Rd, S159971. Open daily except Mon, 10am to 9.30pm. More info via Instagram and Facebook. You can also order traditional baos online here.
Photos: House of Bao, 8days.sg
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
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