Tiong Bahru Pau

With 7 outlets in Singapore, Tiong Bahru Pau (obviously) started in Tiong Bahru. Started in apparently 1969, Tiong Bahru Pau is still around selling their pau/​bao/​buns and other pastries like egg tarts and dim sum like siu mai and har gow.
Bought a couple of their pau (s) for a simple dinner meal. This is the inside of the pork buns. Soft outer pau skin with juicy meat on the inside. Besides pork buns, they also sell other options like chicken buns and char siew paus.
Also got their siew mai as well. Yes, they look pretty ugly in terms of presentation, but don’t let that fool you. Remember to grab chili sauce from their store as the combination of their chili sauce and siew mai is so good. Just something about putting those two together, really brings out the flavour of both the siew mai and the chili.

There is only one item you need order when you come to this joint.
1. Small Chicken Pau
That is all.

Tiong Bahru Pau. Classic. Timeless. Enduring.
It speaks volumes that this place is still going strong, and they’re going strong because they’ve managed to somehow pack nostalgia into a bun, and then sell it to folks.
I love both their Char Siew Pau and their Char Siew Sou, though I always recommend the sou more. It’s buttery, flaky, sweet, meaty, it’s just SO MANY THINGS in one pastry roll. There aren’t many places that do a better char siew sou (Royal China does!), but most of those places also charge a lot more for theirs.
So if you’re hankering for some good old fashioned pau, or a good, nostalgic breakfast, you need to try Tiong Bahru Pau. (I’d recommend some of the famous Tiong Bahru chee kwuey to go with it.)
It’s cheap too. :)

Unlike kids these days fed on McDonald’s breakfasts, I grew up eating pau. There’s something deeply comforting with eating a hot steamy pau. And one of the best places to get them still is Tiong Bahru Pau. I believe many people should know about them unless you been hiding under the rock or just hooked on fast food. Their char siew paus are easily the best with the right amount of char siew sauce, meat and the pau skin is always soft and tender. I even remember a time when there was a problem with Singapore’s pork supply and they substituted it with chicken and it still tasted fantastic. The other item I never fail to buy from them is the siew mai. In the past, most siew mais you get are the tiny dim sum ones. But at Tiong Bahru pau it has always been a nice big ball of meat. I can never resist them.
If you have kids, dont always indulge them with fast food. A good old steam pau and siew mai is just as tasty and more important, a continuation of tradition.

This was definitely one of the more popular stalls in Tiong Bahru market. It also sells a whole range of dim sum, but my group was too full after pigging out at the other shops. We chose to order their trademark char siew pau and siew mai.
The char siew pau came piping hot. However, it just didn’t seem to have the handmade quality of traditional dim sum places — the exterior was smooth with a thick skin — usually the sign of something factory made. However, the BBQ meat inside was delectable, and was stuffed full of tender pork meat. The siew mai, on the other hand, was one of the best ones I’ve enjoyed. While there was no giant piece of shrimp in it, I felt it had a great aroma, and the skin was excellent. For the price, its definitely worth considering getting a snack from this place, or even a whole dim sum lunch.

This is probably one of the most value-​for-​money pau that I have been enjoying for many years. They have consistently been producing soft steamed buns, packed with loads of char siew. While the char siew filling is not exactly my favourite in the world, they are very generous with it.
They have other dim sums available too, but I’m a great fan of the char siew pao, so that is my usual order. I have tried their siew mai and luo buo gao but they do not stand out in my opinion.