Huntington Beach Road Trip to…. Garden Grove

I’ve written many books about road tripping through North America, but as you might know, a road trip had nothing to do with distance – it’s all about escapism.

This morning my daughter and I, on the way back to Chapman University, escaped to a place I just discovered, thanks to my mom, a fellow adventurer (and true Little Saigon maven).

Located at Brookhurst and Westminster, it’s called Baos Hog and though only a 15-minute or ride from HB, you may feel as if you’ve journeyed hours to some hidden, exotic flavor palace. Tiny, spotless and minimal, Baos Hog is a modern celebtation of Bao. As defined, Bao is “an old fashionedCantonese dim sum called tai pao (大包, literally “big bun”) brought to Vietnam by Cantonese immigrants. It was invented during the hardship days of old China to feed the ordinary.”

Fans of Peking Duck will be familiar with the small, pillowy bun that Chinese restaurants use to serve the duck, and Baos Hog takes that concept to a new level with freshly-baked, sandwich-sized Bao buns.

The menu is refreshingly simple. You can fill a bao bun with juicy, freshly sliced duck meat, braised pork belly, honey bbq pork or crispy pork belly. The sandwiches are garnished simply with sweet hoisin sauce, cucumber, fried shallot and not much else.

Everything is freshly prepared in the open, the meats are mouthwatering and the prices ridiculous- $3.50 per sandwich.

We shared lychee ice tea and cucumber ice tea, both unique and delicious.

My absolute favorite lunch in the area. We support many HB businesses and always will. But a little adventure is good once in awhile too and Baos Hog is an absolutely wonderful little road trip escape.

13918 Brookhurst Street

714-600-3311

Facebook: Baoshog