Once is a fluke, twice is luck and three times is success! in this case Mean Bao can only be summed up as a fluke. This is the third location that spawned from the original at The Grange and it is vastly different from it's originators in success.
The baos are the same and the ingredients and menu are the same but different is the balance. These baos feel flat and one dimensional; a sweet on sweet on sweet slumber party. From the subtle sweetness of the buns to that of the few vegetables and ultimately that even sweeter hoisin sauce - this bao will have you in a diabetic coma in no time. With that being said the buns are deliciously delicate and fluffy while it blankets your mouth like curling into warm sheets during a winter storm. The pork belly is tender and meaty like fine bone marrow and that signature five spice really does pull through with some herby goodness from the cilantro. Just wish there was more vegetables and some sort of acid to cut the sweetness overload and the fattiness from that pork. Mean Bao 3 is obviously not nearly as mean as the first.
With the great TDOT going through a bao revolution these guys ought to pick up their game! There's no mercy for a lethargic bao; especially not in the current state of the cutthroat bao-down in this town!