Bun Belly

The best part about this place is that the food is very fresh tasting. That’s awesome. My Vietnamese crêpe was served with a heaping pile of fresh basil, cilantro, and mint. I had to figure out what to do with it but taking the leaves off was easy enough. For some reason I was imagining more of a thin omelette type of thing but it was actually a super crispy thin GF cracker type of thing. Not bad but not something I would order again.
The pad Thai was above average but not as good as Sway’s pad Thai. Not even close to that tbh. It was also spicy which was kind of cool. The chicken in it was particularly meh so I would go with tofu if you’re craving pad Thai while you’re there.
The tea pot of chamomile was very weak. I would not recommend tea after that experience.

Great baos can be found here! I had the bun belly and the Buddha Bao and they both hit the spot. Buddha Bao was the more interesting of the two imo. Haven’t tried many bao places in Austin but this is definitely a good spot for lunch. Service was a little slow at times but that’s because only one waiter was in for the entire restaurant. Good service despite that handicap.

The One Where They Made Me Threw Away My Coffee…
No, I’m serious. We walked in, got seated, and then the server noticed my half consumed coffee and told me that was not welcomed. I don’t think I’ve been told since circa 1999. Wow.
So now that you know what to expect (don’t bring ANYTHING outside in there), let’s talk about food. If anyone has been to Fat Baos in Houston, it’s like a small rip-​off version of that (but Fat Baos is SOOOO much better than here). We tried their pork belly bun, which surprisingly was not too fatty at all. The pork belly was cooked to a crisp (a plus) and an order comes with 2. We initially wanted the beef belly one, but they were out (apparently, our server was too worked up about my coffee that he failed to mention any specials or what they were out of, etc.).
We shared their Beef Phở and their Chicken Curry (lunch portion). Both were okay. The phở tasted like watered down beef broth, nothing special or good at all. The chicken curry was better flavored, but it was a bit heavy. The only complaint I had with the chicken curry was how the rice was undercooked. It was crunchy (umm… yeah… crunchy rice sounds about normal… not really).
I was not impressed with this place at all. I wish I had taken back my lunch hour and went to Kome, which is next door.
Unilocal alert: they do have a Unilocal check-​in offer (free ice cream bao) and I liked the presentation. The bun was grilled on the top and had a scoop of ice cream in it. However, I was pretty tired of all the bread and carbs by the time dessert came out.

Each dessert is artfully crafted from in season flavors grown locally. The dish I tried last was a grapefruit and citrus based dessert that was both creamy and crunchy, sweet and salty. What’s surprising is that people aren’t lined up out the door for this one. I’d compare this delightful dessert to something you could get at a 4-​star restaurant. But this is far more reasonably priced and you’ll be surrounded by kind down to earth individuals.

Bun Belly seems promising from afar, but fails to impress with dishes as unimaginative as its name.
Austin restaurants follow the latest food hypes in the nation, or at least they try. But with the exception of a few local greats, more often than not it’s a mere imitation of the form without grit. Bun Belly is exactly that.
Their namesake dish Bun Belly is the much-​hyped pork belly steamed-​bun bao. Steamed-​bun baos are by far not the best Chinese street food in my opinion, but a well crafted one can be enjoyable. Unfortunately Bun Belly’s version uses chunks of pork belly without the skin, rather than a single thick slice with the fat and lean layers in tact and the skin on, which would enhance both the texture (the size of the slice and fat layer keeps the lean part moist) and the presentation. It could also use some help from toppings such as peanuts/​cilantro/​onions/​pickles to improve the flavor.
Their shrimp spring roll is perfectly mediocre, with shrimps slightly fresher than what you can expect from any local phở restaurants, but too much basil. Their beef phở uses decent quality meat, but the flavor of the broth falls flat and the vermicelli is mushy due to over-​cooking. Their spicy fried rice is the most impressive dish of the night, but I had already forgotten its taste by the time I got to my car.
Bun Belly has some virtues. The ingredients are of good quality, the staff are friendly, and even the price-​portion ratio isn’t bad ($ 6 – 7 for 2 steamed-​bun Baos), it is by no means a bad restaurant. You can tell the food has been prepared with an effort, but it just doesn’t have the oomph. With its trendy décor and intimate ambiance, it’s a great choice if you are looking for an date restaurant with an Asian flare. But if you are looking for truly delicious Asian cuisine, Bun Belly isn’t it.

A friend and I enjoyed a quick dinner at Bun Belly on a weekend
I thought the pork belly that was served throughout the different dishes was amazing and perfectly cooked. Some might consider it slightly too greasy, but what’s pork belly without a little grease?!
The Bun Belly sliders: great mix of pork belly and vegetables.
Shrimp Spring Roll: nothing too special and comparable to other Vietnamese places.
Bun Belly Egg Noodle: I think the idea is very interesting, but poor execution with the below average noodle that they used. It looked and tasted like instant ramen noodles that you can buy at the grocery store. But I did enjoy the over easy fried egg with the yolk you can mix into your dish. They recommended I put some beef broth (comes on the side) into the dish, but probably better off served as a side soup.
Free Ice Cream Bun Desert with Unilocal check-​in: just ice cream in a bun. enjoyed the ice cream, but not the combination.
The Chef brought out a special dessert for us which was such a kind gesture!
Overall, great service and great looking restaurant as well! Interestingly different from a traditional Vietnamese restaurant. Excited to go back and try some other dishes!

I tend to be leery of contemporary ethnic food. «Let’s call it contemporary, dumb it down and charge twice the price.» It’s not bad — that just typically isn’t for me. Bun Belly has shades of that but our meal there was pretty damn good. We started with the fish spring rolls and some brisket bun. I’d re-​order both but neither were things I’d make a special trip for. The brisket bun was quite dry but we mentioned it and the manager fixed the problem right away with a replacement. Super service from him and our server Reno.
I got the shaken beef which was really tender and delightful. Robert had the egg noodle and was equally impressed by how tender the pork was. I thought my dish was more of the standout. They have cute accoutrements like funky salt and pepper shakers and a little stone for your chopsticks. With a couple of glasses of wine and two beers, we got out of there for about $ 70. More expensive than your average slapdash bowl of phở in a strip center but also a nicer experience.

Bun Belly is a great neighborhood spot. The interior is clean and modern. Dinner there is relatively inexpensive and fast. The people who work here are always very friendly. The highlight of the menu is definitely the «buns» my favorite being the brisket and traditional bahn mi. I have branched out to some of their other offerings, which although tasty, always make me wish I had just ordered a second helping of steamed buns!

Looking for Vietnamese with a flair? This is he place to go. We got there around 7 on a Friday and just beat the crowd. The staff was incredibly patient and friendly! We started with the octopus spring roll, then shared the veggie & chicken phở, and beef with delicious lime sauce. We checked in on Unilocal so got the dessert, totally worth it. Looking forward to going again. The only reason I didn’t give this five stars is the prices seemed a bit high and once he crowd came service slowed, all in all a very nice dining experience!

So me and a group of five other people went here for dinner New Years evening. There were only three tables that were full and many open tables around the restaurant but for some reason the «hostess» seated us at a four top in the middle of the restaurant. We asked if there were any way we could move a two top to the four top so six people could eat comfortably. Instead he moved us to another four top, make sense? Didn’t think so. I’m not ever picky about where I sit but there were six people and an open restaurant with hardly any people in it. The water cups and menu alone already was a tight squeeze.
It took about an hour for our food to come out, we all had noodle dishes and a bun. I realized that the hostess was also the person to clean tables and the bartender was the waiter so the place was obviously under staffed.
When my boyfriends food came out he took a bite of the bun when I noticed a HAIR stuck to it!!! It was SO disgusting. After I told the waiter about it she took it away and we waited forty-​five minutes for the new one…
When we got the check the bun was still on the check. I will never go back to this place and HIGHLY discourage anyone to as well.

We ordered carry out here and we’re disappointed by two things. First the favors were off. The chicken tasted old and the food tastes not recognizably like V M food.
Secondly the portions were tiny, with the price 1 ½ times of those of Phở houses.
What a disappointment!
I’ll never go back!

Cute interior, very convenient place next to kome, and right by my house
Food over all is okay nothing too fancy on the phở.
But for the price and amount I probably will stick to 888 or phở Dan /​phở

I don’t know what traditional Vietnamese food tastes like but this place isn’t trying to be that. It says «Modern Vietnamese» right above the door so you know what you’re getting into.
The interior was modern, clean, and had nice warm colors. The benches were comfortable, the service was quick and friendly, and the salt and pepper shakers were the highlight of my week. They have unique, cute little shakers for each table. We got some sassy chefs I loved it.
The food was a little pricey but it was worth it imho what’s an extra dollar or two. I had both a bun and a bahn mi. The flavor was simple but fairly bold, the texture was spot on I think the buns were perfectly soft and the bahn mi was perfectly crunchy. This is a hip, new spot for North Austin in an area that doesn’t have much of anything. They’re trying and it shows. I would come here again for sure. I like supporting new local businesses. We also got a free dessert for checkin in on Unilocal.Stop reading this review and just come in and try it for yourself if you’re in the area.

Vietnamese/​Thai food for yuppies and people who like a pleasant modern clean atmosphere. This ain’t no hole in the wall. Food was good, prices a little higher than I like to pay for lunch, but not bad for dinner. I had the pork belly bun and the chicken curry dish. The bun was good, but I would not order the curry again. I feel like I could have ordered better. There is free wifi here, and friendly table service, and I’m impressed by the interior remodel they did. I would stop back again if I’m in the neighborhood, but the food just wasn’t special enough to warrant going out of my way for.

It was a very trendy, Austin-​hipster Vietnamese food location. It is located between 35 and ²²²²⁄₂₉₀ on Airport. There is parking in front of the restaurant, it’s a pretty big lot considering the area that this place is located in. They have the parking spots of the Taco shop that use to be there as well, and they are all reserved for Bun Belly.
The atmosphere was very inviting, and clean. The bathroom was also clean as well, which was surprising. The little details of the décor was very nice. Each table had a different set of cute salt and pepper shakers. The wood paneling walls actually works for this location. There is a smell here, not sure if I would consider it an offensive smell or an inviting smell, that is up to you to determine.
The service was good, he was very nice and attentive at first we were the one of two tables that was there during lunch. It did get busier as we ate, and he came by less often. There are few items on the menu to chose from. Which some aspects of each dish are authentic Vietnamese, not most dishes were not authentic. The Banh Bao’s were okay, but they weren’t warm, like traditional ones are and that kind of ruined it for me. The dish I got was the pork belly, but one of my egg yolks were broken before I got it, I found it weird that they would plate it that way anyways since it seems that presentation was important to them. I also ordered the Crispy Noodles, which are like mi xao don, but this was way way too much sauce, the noodles were swimming in sauce and it wasn’t very crispy anymore. The bowl it was served in didn’t help the pooling of the sauce.
I think this place will do really because it is aimed towards American, the pricing is a little high for Vietnamese food of smaller portions that can be found at many traditional places. The food wasn’t that great to me though, it was okay, but for the price and overall experience I wasn’t left wanting more.

We had a wonderful experience at Bun Belly. We came for lunch and were pleasantly surprised at how modern the décor was; there are unique touches like various cute/​kitschy salt and pepper shakers on the tables and the entire place is relatively simple and clean. The music was really pleasant as well.
We started with green tea and the Mother and Child Bun to share. They were delicious. The chicken was super flavorful and moist and the egg cooked perfectly. I love the garnish of cilantro along with the soft, chewy steam bun. Yum.
I had the beef phở and loved it. The broth was complex and flavorful and the meat was tasty, I especially liked the brisket. My friend had the Pork Bun Bowl and loved that as well. The pork was honestly pretty perfect, marinated and still moist.
Our service was super friendly and attentive. Overall the experience was almost perfect. The only small change I would make– the seating was a bit uncomfortable… we were sitting at a corner ‘booth’ and the bench seats were pretty hard and the table a bit low, my back started to hurt a little, we both noticed this. That’s a small detail, but something that I think should be addressed. Other than that we Loved it!
We’ll definitely be back.

Fuimos con mi pareja a este pequeño restaurant sobre Airport Blv. Al llegar nos recibieron de excelente manera y nos sentaron en una pequeña mesa. El lugar es muy bonito y acogedor, es de esos lugares que te dan la espina de ser un «fancy place». Un detalle es que si bien todo parecia super diseñado los saleros y pimenteros eran distintos en cada mesa y no tenian nada que ver con el lugar, eso los hacia super adorables ja.
Compartimos un Bun Belly Slider que consiste de dos pequeños tacos con la tipica masa asiatica que a mi me encanta (una masa esponjosa pero muy sabrosa) mi bun vino con carne que contenia mucha grasa por lo que fue dificil comerlo. Luego pedimos, tambien para compartir, un Shaken Beef (USD14) que vino en un plato gigante, con verdes y arroz fritado. La carne estaba muy rica y el resto estaba ok.
Tienen una amplia carta de vino pero solo dos opciones puedes pedir una copa, el resto es solo botella. Tambien ofrecian una variedad de sake por lo que las combinaciones de estilos eran variadas.
En general la comida estuvo bien pero nada que justificara el precio de cada plato. Al final con dos platos compartidos nos quedamos un poco con hambre.

When I hear «contemporary Vietnamese» or «Vietnamese fusion» my guard is instantly up. I can’t help it if I’m wary of manipulating authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Nevertheless, I’m always tempted to try. ;)
Food: ⁵⁄₅
Pricing: ⁴⁄₅
Atmosphere: ⁵⁄₅
Service: ⁵⁄₅
I’ve been told to only get the sliders here and skip the vermicelli, so that’s what I did. I ordered the «Mekong Slider» which is a catfish slider (the menu says ‘Vietnamese basa’ but I have no idea what that is). The flavor is a little peppery, but very good and reminiscent of the famous claypot catfish dish (ca kho to).
My friend ordered the pork belly sliders, and they were also just as delicious. It’s a good portion of the pork belly and cooked to perfection. A dash of sauce is sweeped on the side of your plate for your dipping pleasure (I believe it’s hoisin sauce?). We also had the ice cream bun due to the Unilocal check-​in. Note that they limit one ice cream bun per table with that Unilocal deal! The ice cream was unique because it’s made in-​house. Ours was a soft pink color with some salted pecans. I’m not sure what flavor it was, but my friend claims red bean (I’m skeptical).
I’m a sucker for atmospheres and this is the perfect place to bring a date. The restaurant is a little small and there are a lot of tables available for two. The lighting fixtures are awesome, and I love how wood is so predominant in their décor. Also, I tend to check out bathrooms and if you don’t need to go to the bathroom here, just go. There are two bathrooms and are both unisex although the one on the left also has a urinal. The lighting fixtures in the bathrooms are also really pretty. It’s a little dim though, so everything will walk out believing they look good. :)
The only negative thing I’d say is the pricing. $ 7 for two buns is a lot. I think you’re paying for the «hipster, contemporary, classy» feel of the place though. The vermicelli and phở bowls were way pricier than their counterparts at other Vietnamese restaurants (like $ 12!!). Can’t comment on the taste because I haven’t had it…
Other random notes:
— There is a stone on the table for your use. My friend and I were perplexed about the use of the stone. We have the answer for you, so you don’t have to be embarrassed to ask! It’s a chopstick holder to keep your chopsticks off the table. :)
— Each table has a different kind of salt and pepper shaker. Cute!

New place on airport blvd with cute décor and some really yummy dishes.
I ordered the vietnamese crêpe and my dinner partner ordered shaken beef. I love vietnamese crepes, mostly for the different textures of the crunchy crêpe, the meaty filling, and the crisp lettuce you wrap it in and the flavor of the herbs you stuff in your concoction. I’d give it 4 stars.
The shaken beef was amazing and immediately gave me order envy though I came for the sole purpose of getting my crêpe fix. The beef was flavorful and perfectly cooked over a bed of fluffy rice that soaked up some the the beef’s juices and greens that were piled next to the rice was a perfect compliment. I’ll be ordering that next time. My friend’s only complaint is that she left still hungry– the portion was very small and for $ 14 bucks –you think you’d leave at least feeling satiated. I’d give it 5 stars but minus one for the small portion.
The service could have been better. Our server seemed distracted when it started to fill up and the pace became like molasses the later in the evening it got.

The Good: This place seems to have everything you can ask for in a restaurant. Great menu selections, good service and a pretty ambiance. The dish I heard was a must try, Egg Noodles, was delish but the dish our server recommended, Shaken Beef, was by far the best!
The Bad: this is a small restaurant so don’t plan to go with a large group. Perfect for small groups.
Can’t wait to go back and try everything on the menu.

I was very excited to see that Bun Belly now serves lunch. Yesterday, I called in an order for a spicy calamari salad ($ 10) and an order of shrimp spring rolls ($ 6). Both were extremely delicious. The spicy calamari salad was amazing. However, the salad was SO SMALL. I couldn’t believe I had been charged $ 10 for such a small salad. I also felt that the spring rolls were a bit on the small side for $ 6. Additionally, they charge for takeout containers. I usually don’t mind paying for takeout containers. However, they placed my tiny salad in a huge plastic bowl. I don’t see the point in paying for takeout containers if they’re going to use overly-​large containers.
The food really was great, just not sure it was worth the $ 20 for the amount of food I received.