This Popular Chain Has Some Of The Worst Store-Bought Bao Buns

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With their soft, pillowy dough and flavorful, savory fillings, bao buns are hard to resist. They're tasty handheld treats, delicious and convenient enough to make for a quick weeknight dinner or the perfect on-the-go snack. And while nothing can beat a homemade bao bun, store-bought versions have made it so that you now don't have to trek to Chinatown or even break out the bamboo steamer. That said, not all pre-made baos are created equal, especially when it comes to Target's Good & Gather pork bao buns, which is a product that promises convenience while offering not much else.

In our ranking of store-bought bao buns, our reviewer put Target's take on the Chinese dish in last place, primarily due to the disappointing filling. Billed as roast pork prepared with soy sauce and sugar, they had "a chewy, beef jerky-like texture and slightly gamey, almost acrid taste that threw everything off." And despite containing other classic bao ingredients like garlic powder, onion, and sesame oil and paste, the buns also had chili pepper, sweet potato powder, and other spices that "created an odd-tasting profile that just didn't mesh." 

The flavors even reminded them of "curry with its warm spices," which was further hurt by a ratio of bun to filling that made everything feel "dry and unbalanced." But our reviewer wasn't alone in feeling this way, as the product reviews are filled with unhappy commenters, like the person who wrote about the bun being "too thick" with "odd tasting" filling.

Like our reviewer, another Target customer called the pork "strong and gamey," while a second said the taste of the filling was "very off-putting" and a third complained about how "the onion flavor overwhelms the pork." There was also a commenter who wasn't happy about the amount of bun in comparison to the "little filling," and yet another who claimed that it was "85 percent bun and 15 percent pork."

Granted, another one of our reviewers ranking Good & Gather frozen foods around the same time listed the pork bao buns as their number two pick. Apart from wanting "a touch more" pork, they said there was "not a single thing I'd change in terms of the flavor or texture of the filling or buns."

The discrepancy could be a matter of very different personal tastes, or the fact that our second reviewer strictly evaluated Good & Gather products. Meanwhile, our bao reviewer was able to sample several different types of store-bought baos, including from brands specializing in Asian cuisine and even bao bun-centric companies. Take Wow Bao, who Redditors have praised for its teriyaki chicken and Chinese-style BBQ pork buns. There's also Laoban, whose spicy beef buns were number one in our ranking and have garnered praise from people on the product page, with one person complimenting the "tender and juicy" beef and "other aromatics that deliver a depth of flavor." So it's safe to say that there are other good bao options out there. Just maybe not at Target.