Mei Lai Wah — FoodNYC

What Reddit says439

View all

postMei Lai Wah Pineapple Pork Bun155 pts
“Out of all the hyped food I've tried this has to be the most disappointing. The filling was about half chunks of fat and the top was insanely sweet.”
H3
postDid a Manhattan bakery crawl couple weeks back, these were my thoughts on the places and my planned route for my next crawl. Based on these what are some places you’d add, change, or remove?83 pts
“Mei Lah Wah (Pineapple roast pork bun absolutely met my expectations and more. Chewy stretchy bun with sweet crispy top and fatty flavorful pieces of pork, what more can you ask for. It’s definitely one of the heavier items but I loved it)”
H3
in:What I ate in NYC for 2 days and a half27 pts
“5- Mei Lai wah I never had until now pork buns and let me tell you something it was really really good, the bread taste like some bread that I had in Venezuela before, the filling of pork was tasty, between the regular one and the pineapple I would recommend you to get the pineapple.”
H3
in:Some Cheap Chinese Food24 pts
“The bun was also good, but the filling was just not up to par in terms of flavor and technique.”
H3
in:Anyone have any good recommendations for places that sell pork buns?11 pts
“the filling is so disgusting - usually way too fatty or sweet, could even have unrendered fat and nasty gristly textures”
H3
in:What would be your perfect food tour through Chinatown (Manhattan)?7 pts
replying to u/theresaa_03: Thank you so much! Mei Lah wah is definitely a place to visit as it seems haha. I'm also super curious about the spongecake, I haven't thought too much about desserts/cakes in Chinatown, so that's a great recommendation!
“Mei Lai Wah is absolutely not a must visit and I honestly don't get why it's so popular here The pork buns are so inconsistent and the filling ends up being gross in some way: way too fatty or sweet, lots of unrendered fat or nasty gristly bits”
H3
in:Born and raised NYer’s, what is your overrated and underrated spot?7 pts
“I don't love Mei Lai Wah's roast pork buns. I mean, I'll still eat it, but I find the bread a bit too dense and heavy for this type of bun and the filling has too much fat pork for my preference.”
H3
in:Alternative to Hop Shing pineapple bun5 pts
replying to u/Trippydudes: Sorry don't know of any good pineapple bun places but wanted to point out that Hop Shing had the best roast pork buns in Chinatown. Mei li wah is gross. I'm still hoping someone will reopen hop shing!!
“Mei Lai Wah uses too much pork fat in their roast pork buns. It’s very decadent when it’s still hot, but pretty gross when it’s cold; just biting into gobs of pork fat.”
H3
in:Roast pork bun question!5 pts
“People shit on them for the sauce being too sweet or the meat being too grizzled or whatever but it's still the only spot where you're guaranteed to get a fresh hot bun because they're so popular.”
H3
postAre Mei Lai Wah pork buns supposed to be that sweet?3 pts
“I've been there a couple times and just find the filling of the pork buns to be overwhelmingly sweet and fatty. I was hoping for some nice savory tender pork to sink my teeth into, but it was so rich and syrupy I almost couldn't finish it.”
H3
in:Which are the must go food places in Chinatown and Midtown, NYC?3 pts
“I'm not a pork person, but the roasted bun was so good and so cheap as well! Definitely was the highlight! The pineapple bun was nice as well. I guess I could've skipped the chicken bun as it hardly had any filling and was very doughy.”
H3
in:Yet another pineapple pork bun2 pts
replying to u/Sad_Copy_6830: i had it and the pork was just bad quality. i also tossed like half. I go to Go bakery for bao they are the elite spot
“Yeah the bun quality seems nice but the actual meat filling is poor. Lots of super fatty bites with no lean meat”
H3

See all 439 mentions