Baoz Dumpling

The place is AMAZING good food and also vegetarian dumpling for the the vegetarians.

Ok Baoz– please stick to the dumplings (PLEEEEEEASE)…so today bossman tells me he needs dumplings– so to Baoz we go– a co-​worker tells me that they are doing Vietnamese on the side (literately on the left side) and he stated, «I had it last week and it was really good» — so this guy has been on the lunch time adventures and had (I say had due to the total loss of foodie points on recommending this place for anything but cheap-​fast dumplings)…with that lead in here is my take on their attempt at Bun Thit Nuong=YUCK…this was bad– only the carrots and lettuce were nice enough to eat– I ate a couple pieces of the «meat» which was supposed to be «pork», but resembled the «chicken» on my «friend’s» plate… and I will say this-​the vermicelli wasn’t even good… WHAT THE… and the nuoc mam…(fish sauce that is on the side) bland and no hot sauce but the Chinese packet «hot-​sauce» which was gross… I am leaving the two stars only because my boss gave me a dumpling… one…so with that I tell you — there are WAY TOO MANY GOOD RESTAURANTS with decent vietnamese food. so you have been warned!

I’m a big fan of a healthy rivalry. So when I heard about a different dumpling spot downtown that some claimed was better than Doozo, I was all for it!
Armed with my directions on how to get to it in the tunnels, I made my way down there for second lunch today. Why second lunch? Because I had naively thought that a salad and a slice of cheese pizza would keep me from wanting to gnaw my arm off.
So I head down there. At first glance, I was a little overwhelmed by the menu and choices. I kind of like the simplicity of ordering at Doozo. But I asked the girl at the counter what I should order, and she suggested chicken dumplings. So off we went! I ordered 12 steamed dumplings with spicy sauce, 6 chicken and 6 vegetarian.
I waited a few minutes, picked up my meal and walked myself back to my office.
First bite was of a chicken dumpling. It wasn’t bad. As a matter of fact, the chicken filling was actually pretty tasty. And the sauce was good. But the dumpling wrapper itself was really thin, too soggy and torn in a few spots.
So then I turned my attention to the vegetarian. I had high hopes for this, because I am a BIG fan of the Dooza vegetarian dumplings. First bite, and my only thought was «NO.»
I can’t even explain why I disliked it so heartily. There was very little substance to the filling, first of all. There was maybe a teaspoon of filling in each dumpling. But also, there was very little flavor.
In any event, I heard, I tried, I decided that in my opinion, there is no rivalry. I won’t be going back.

Verdict is in from your old ex-​CIA pal, Baoz KOed Doozo. Let’s go to the play by play:
Round 1: Baoz egg roll versus Doozo spring roll. This was a near TKO. Baoz had standard, tasty, crispy, meat free egg rolls. Doozo’s spring roll was lettuce wrapped rice noodles and nasty, hidden mystery meat. Yuck. Baoz 10, Doozo 8
Round 2: Baoz veggie pan fried dumplings versus Doozo vegetarian dumplings. Doozo has no pan fried options and has thicker, doughier skins. Their filling is tasty with spinach and rice noodles. Baoz has pan-​fried option, thin skinned dumplings with a more traditional filling. As an ex-​CIA agent, I found both tasty and satisfying; but M and F did not really like the Doozo dumplings. Baoz 10, Doozo 9.
Round 3: Baoz sauce versus Doozo sauce. This turned out to be a service issue. Baoz asked if we wanted it spicy (we did) and their sauce was nice, mildly spicy. Doozo we asked for hot sauce, they said flippantly it was already there, and it wasn’t. Their dipping sauce was overly sweet and tasted doctored and «Americanized». Baoz 10, Doozo 9.
Round 4: Baoz service versus Doozo service. It was a KO. Doozo service plain sucked. Even, for an ex-​CIA agent who has lived in the underbelly of Asia and happily accepts poor service in Chinatowns across America, they seemed repugnantly out of place in the highly white-​washed food court, USA.
KO, round 4. Doozo left the ring on a stretcher. Baoz left with arm raised.

They now serve Vietnamese banh mi and spring rolls and coming soon Vermicelli bowls! I got two sandwiches (lemon grass tofu and original) and pork spring rolls and yummy! The sandwiches were packed with filling of meat and veggies and spring rolls delicious. I am Vietnamese so my standards are high for banh mi and this place passes. Whoo!

Bao’s really are the best. I can highly recommend the pan fried pork with extra spicy sauce. This is definitely my go-​to place for a dumpling fix!

This is the first dumpling place I visited in the tunnels. It was delicious and the spicy sauce was a great addition. I don’t know why it’s called spicy sauce when it tastes pretty sweet and not that spicy. You have to get it with the dumplings.

Decent prices for quantity! Loved it! Hot and sour soup tastes great and pan fried dumpling are yummmmmm!

A very affordable dumpling option with an okay vegetarian option, Baoz is a nice change-​up from Doozo, but isn’t nearly as good.
The vegetarian filling is not too memorable, and leaves a lot to be desired. I totally recommend you try it to see what I mean. The dumplings themselves are rather small, but you get 6, 12, or 18 of the little guys. You can choose between stir-​fried and steamed, though, which is nice, but I don’t think they are fried to order, so the result is a bit soggy. My biggest gripe with Baoz is the dumpling wrapper: it’s thinner and more consistent than any other dumpling I’d normally eat. That’s because the wrapper is definitely from a pre-​made frozen package. And when you eat it, I think if you grew up making and eating dumplings, you’d notice it immediately. If you like the taste and texture, more power to you! It’s just something that bothers me. I feel like it’s comparing made-​from-​scratch pizza to Tombstone frozen pizza.
I went for lunch on the Tuesday that Tropical Storm Bill was supposed to hit because Doozo was shut down. The person running the shop was incredibly friendly, and I actually scored a Unilocal offer to the nearby Asian drink place that is apparently run by the same people!

Grocery store dumplings served with a side of spicy vinegar sauce. The «egg roll» was the size my tiny-​girl pinky finger; no exaggeration. The sesame ball, which is usually my favorite, and grimy and over cooked. Okay as a quick cheap lunch, nothing else.

This place keeps getting worse and worse. I had not eaten here in a few months. Today I stop by and notice that not only have they raised their prices, but now they are charging an extra $ 0.35 just to have the dumplings pan friend (My wife is Chinese, so I know that pan frying them does not take much time at all and does not justify the extra cost). In the past there was no extra charge for this. So now if you want an order of pan fried dumplings, the total cost is now more than $ 1.00 than before with tax.
To top it off, the quality of their dumplings have gone downhill. Against my better judgment (Because I was already eating a late lunch and had to get back to work soon), I still paid the higher price for an order of pan fried pork dumplings. After eating the lunch I picked up today, I had terrible diarrhea, so apparently I suffered from some kind of food poisoning. I will definitely never eat there again, and I am going to ask my credit card company to refund the amount I paid for the meal.

Update to my previous 4 rating one,
Prices are higher, soup size is much smaller. Overall, this makes the other offerings in the tunnels/​shops much more attractive.

Baoz is amazing, these are the best dumplings in the tunnels hands down. When I worked downtown I ate here at least once a week, and now that I don’t work downtown I look for excuses to go downtown just to eat here.

I got the combo 8 pieces of fried shrimp dumplings (yummy) with egg roll (decent) and hot & sour soup (horrible). It was about $ 8 something, not a bad deal. I would definitely come back because I like traditional dumplings compare to the Americanized ones. However, I will skip out on the soup.

Not bad. The lunch special is pretty neat, but I wish they offered white rice. Dumplings with rice is one of my favorite comfort foods and I felt a little weird about just eating dumplings alone.
I got the egg drop soup and eggroll as sides. They were exactly as «ok» as I imagined them to be.
I like that they offer a spicy version of the dipping sauce. Can’t go wrong with a good sauce.

Even if I didn’t work above the tunnels, I would come drive downtown, park, and go into the tunnels to get these dumplings. They’re that good. Since getting 18 dumplings only costs $ 1 more than getting 6, go ahead and treat yourself. Spicy pork is amazing but they’re all consistently delicious.
The only issue with this place is that the lunch special comes with 2 sides — but the egg roll is the only decent one. If I could add a Coke or another egg roll instead of a cheese wonton (meh) or a sesame ball (don’t do it), then this place would be an easy 5 stars.
As it is, it’s still the quickest, most delicious dumpling place below sea level in Houston.

One of my favorite places to eat downtown as I love pan fried dumplings rather than steamed. I definitely appreciate that their dumpling skin isn’t as thick as Star Chef or Doozos.
I’ve tried all the flavors (pork, shrimp, chicken and veggie) and the pork dumplings are definitely my favorite out of the 4. Shrimp comes in a close second. I didn’t care for the veggie dumplings at all so if you’re craving those just make the extra trip to Doozos.
Also I would suggest checking your order before you leave. I’ve had the unpleasant experience of getting an order that wasn’t mine. This is how I ended up trying the veggie dumplings.

Baoz is one of my favorite places
To eat downtown. I would have given Baoz 5 stars on the past, but things have changed recently.
Hands-​down, the best thing to order is the 18-​piece lunch special. Two sides are included with the dumplings. I normally save half of the dumplings for a second meal.
I used to be able to get a coke zero as a side, but Baoz removed the soda machine recently. I also like the shrimp dumplings, but am now charged more for them, where I wasn’t in the past. Baoz does allow you to get a combo order of chicken/​pork/​shrimp if you like. Dumplings can be ordered steamed or pan-​fried (for an additional charge).
The hot & sour soup as a side is delicious and recommended. Recently, the soup has undergone a size reduction and is a cup in size now rather than two.
The Baoz ad line is «taste inside the bun». A little strange and creepy, but the food there is definitely tasty.
Baoz is in the tunnel next to a few other restaurants, and there are a few tables located in front of the restaurants. Be prepared to walk to a table further down the tunnel or elsewhere.

Oh my goodness, these dumplings were some of the best I’ve had. I had Doozo a few weeks ago and they were so doughy and tough. These are quite the opposite. The dumpling is light and airy, filled with a deliciously flavorful pork and a spicy dipping sauce.
They a offer a great combo here with your choice of 18 (who gets 18? Seriously!?), 12, or 8 dumplings and a choice of 2 sides. I chose 8 dumplings, a sesame ball and egg drop soup. The sesame ball was delicious and weird, I had no idea what I was eating, the contents were a total mystery to me (I have since learned that it is filled with brown sugar and red bean paste). The soup was just ok. Sometimes egg drop can smell like a chicken coop and that was the case today. I only had a few bites. I’ve since tried the other soups and was also unimpressed. I’ll stick to the other sides.
This place will definitely be a regular spot for me now! It’s super close to the office, delicious, affordable, and quick!

Arguably some of the best dumplings in Houston when it comes to Price/​Food ratio. This food is awesome. These dumplings are made by Cantonese so they carry a less traditional style. The only way to describe them is Cantonese. You know this once you hear the people in the back talk. Great food, I always go when we don’t know what to eat.
Be warned DO NOT TAKE THIS TO YOUR OFFICE BREAK ROOM. It will smell like the garbage truck just pulled in.