Wun’s Tea Room & Bar, A Review

 

Who doesn’t like Cantonese buns? Buns are so playful, fluffy, and delicious. This is simply why when Z He launched the Bun House and Tea Room in early 2017, it became a hit sensation. This first iteration consisted of the Bun House upstairs with quick service, like a cafe, and the Tea Room downstairs which looked like a Chinese speakeasy-style cocktail den. Even buns were around, the Bun House was special because they were made fresh and were simply well made. After so much success, the restaurant decided to split the offerings and opened the standalone Bun House further in Chinatown, and revamp the old site into Wun’s Team Room & Bar. And this is where the review begins. 

Brunch

I’ve never been a big fan of brunch. I often think it’s an overhyped and overpriced version of a not-so-healthy breakfast or decadent lunch. Really, it’s a bad deal in my opinion. Brunch is truly an American concept, but supposedly it did originate in England in the context of British hunts. Nonetheless, even if it started in England, it definitely transported to America, revamped itself as a luxurious and sinful treat for mostly ladies, and then landed back on England’s shores. Why am I off on a tangent on this? Well, it turns out that my favourite kind of brunch is one that doesn’t feel like brunch! Wun’s Tea Room & Bar offers brunch on the weekend, and it’s definitely one of favourite brunches around. I went with my partner, Victor, and a good friend of ours that had the day off from her baby duties!

I started off with some Hong Kong Ice Milk Tea, a real treat I always order when I’m in an East Asian setting. We then shared the Scallop Prawn Toast and Spicy Soy Cheung Fun & Crispy Egg. The prawn toast was perfectly crunchy and luxurious. But speaking of luxury, the Cheung Fun was incredibly decadent. Cheung Fun is a steamed rice noodle roll made out of wide strips of rich noodles. They’re usually filled with shrimp, beef, and vegetables, and have a liquid dressing poured on top. The version with a slightly spicy and sweet sauce and crispy egg really was delicious. We also ordered some greens, and the other two ordered some crispy noodles with pork. 

Next, we had two larger dishes: the Canton Scramble Char Siu Rice and Smoked Haddock Glass Noodles. Char Siu is normally Cantonese-style barbecued pork. It is almost always eaten with rice, and it’s often used as an ingredient in rice and noodles dishes as well as bun fillings. We asked them to remove the pork, and it still was really flavourful and delicious. The glass noodles were also delicious. I’m a huge fan of smoked fish, but I had never had it combined with glass noodles. It works!

And that’s a wrap! From here we rolled our very full selves to a video exhibition. Needless to say, we had to get coffee promptly. There are other dishes I’d love to try from Wun’s brunch menu, like their sweet toasts. I will definitely need to give them a go next time. 

Dinner

I went back to Wun’s Tea Room & Bar with another good friend, but this time for dinner to try out the evening scene here. We definitely ordered too much food, but it was all scrumptious nonetheless. We started with the Hand-dived Scallops with Wild Garlic Butter and Glass Noodles, the Stir-Fried Squid & Spinach, Seasoned Soy, Fried Garlic and the Smacked Cucumber Salad, Bitter Leaf, Hot & Sour Dressing. All were really good, but I’m also partial to scallops. The greens were really good too. 

Up next we had the Wok Fried Prawn Cheung Fun, Black Bean & Chilli Soy and the Wok Greens, Fried Garlic, and Fermented Bean. Again, the Cheung Fun was amazing. This one is obviously slightly different from the brunch version, but I loved the prawns that were cooked to perfection.