AlwaysInvestigating: Rickshaw’s Buns

Arthur Bovino — April 14, 2009

Having recently heard about Rickshaw Dumpling Bar’s foray into steamed Asian Buns we headed over to check them out. There are two buns on the offer: the Braised Pork Slider (left) with braised pork belly, Chinese barbecue sauce and Asian cabbage slaw, and a Bulgogi Beef Bun (right) with sautéed ground beef patty, onion, sesame, Korean chili sauce and pickled vegetables. Buns go two per order for $6.

The buns were fine—lovingly prepared if ever so slightly stale. The Pork Belly Bun was moist and dressed with a sweet, apple-scented sauce mildly reminiscent of maple syrup. It was the obvious winner. Not bad for fast food—not bad at all. You could eat two orders of these and leave happy. The pickled julienned carrots, sprouts and scallions were pleasantly fresh and the sauce on the Bulgogi Beef Bun was an enjoyable ratio of salty to sweet with about a half-second of spicy heat. The meat itself? To paraphrase the late Senator Lloyd Bentsen, “Rickshaw, we’ve served Bulgogi. We know Bulgogi. Bulgogi is a friend of ours. Rickshaw, that ain’t no Bulgogi.”

Imagine an Asian McDonald’s McRib sandwich patty—that’s the bulgogi beef patty. Stick with the pork belly. Unless, you love the McRib of course, in which case, you will love the Bulgogi Beef Bun.

The only reason to even mention David Chang’s pork buns in the same breath as these buns, is to cite their responsibility in the recent proliferation of this open, folded-over preparation style.