Ivy L.
Yelp
I really really really wanted to like Bao Shi Yi cause of the location and convenience - I mean, what cooler way to get baos and dumplings than through the drive thru?! When have you seen this as an option anywhere?! Absolutely nowhere!!! I think this drive thru concept would be such a big hit - even outside of Covid. Not needing to mask up and step inside? Not needing to get out of the car when you're craving baos and dumplings and you're in a hurry? Yes, such an "American" concept but so so quick and easy! And not having to drive all the way to Bellaire for a quick bao fix?! Yes, please!!!
Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed with the food here. We came by on a Friday evening and there was 1 vehicle in front of us. They are only serving via the drive through at this time, and they have a limited menu. The first vehicle had to pull up to wait for their food and we had to sit there for a good 10-15 mins or so before our order was ready. However, to give them credit, we ordered quite a bit. I wanted to try everything on the menu. They gave us a free soy milk for the wait time - super nice of them to do so! Here's my take on the items we ordered:
*Mini Pork Buns - out of the buns we ordered, these were my favorite ones. Probably cause they were small and the bun to meat ratio was more to par than the larger buns. I wasn't a fan of the dough in general though - a bit dry, not very much flavor, kinda soggy if you let them sit too long. The meat inside the mini pork buns were ok - wish there was more meat, the flavors were adequate but nothing rave worthy. 3/5
*Juicy Cha Siu Buns - Man, I've been craving these for weeks now and this one was so disappointing. Again, not a fan of the exterior dough but I was also not a fan of the interior meat. No chunks of meat present - a lot of shredded up pieces and the flavors were not to my liking - it was missing the sweet juiciness of normal char siu baos that I love. 1/5
*Beef Onion Buns - not sure if they gave us the right ones but this one had mushrooms and thin noodles chopped up into a mix. I didn't taste any beef or onions so I'm thinking they mistakenly gave us the mushroom, bean curd and vegetable buns instead. Definitely not my favorite in flavors, and again lacking filling in all 3 buns and the ratios were just off. 1/5
*Shrimp, Pork and Chives Potstickers - Ok, now this is where they redeemed themselves. I liked the flavors of these potstickers - you can taste they are homemade, really juicy and good flavors even without the sauce. Only thing I have to complain about is that they crispy parts were a bit soggy by the time we opened it, probably due to putting hot fried potstickers into a container right after they were done cooking. Good amount of potstickers for the price. 5/5
*Onion, Cheese and Beef Potstickers - I enjoyed these as well. Couldn't really taste the "cheese" in them, though I was curious (and hesitant) to have this ingredient in a potsticker at the same time. We enjoyed them but not as much as the shrimp, pork and chive ones above. 4/5
*Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea - I liked the flavor of the milk tea. The boba was just a bit overcooked and squishy, but I would order this again. 4/5
*Cold Soy Milk - love the cute little container this came in. The soy milk tasted fresh, homemade and delicious. 5/5
Overall, I think I would come back to give them another shot for their baos - but definitely for a quick potsticker and boba/soy milk fix. I think they need to up their game on the food options, especially the baos and maybe speed up the drive thru line - but there is potential here and I would like to see how things are fixed after the soft opening period. Hoping things will improve and I will give them another shot in a few months after they have settled in a bit.