Gongfu Bao Cart

LOVE this food cart. They won the Best Food Award at the 2014 Ottawa Food Truck Rally, and I think maybe even the year before as well. I think I heard one of the owners, who I always see serving people, say that they grow their own hot peppers and some other ingredients, which is really great. Not sure if this is a regular thing they do, but I have great respect for those in this business who go out of their way to grow/​make things from scratch.
The only things that holds me back from giving a full five stars are the prices and, as Janet mentioned, inconsistent hours. I don’t see them at all in the winter. In the summer, they are typically there during weekday lunchtime hours and start serving at 12:30pm, though there’s usually already a line before that. There are random days when they aren’t there, so I wouldn’t recommend coming a long way, assuming they would be. I believe they post updates on Twitter — maybe check there first before going. They are located at Confederation Park on the Elgin side, with a big yellow umbrella and cart.
The taste and creativity of the food is fantastic. They always offer their standard Maple Charsiu Pork Bao, which is a closed steamed rice bun, as well as a vegetarian option that usually includes tofu and/​or chickpeas, and their «Killer Slaw». I do like my meat, but their vegetarian options are just as good. The coleslaw is made with a vinaigrette rather than mayo and is very fresh.
They may also offer daily specials, like the Pineapple Pork Taco Bao, which used their open steamed bun with pineapple pork filling from Slow Taco, a friend of one of the owners with a mobile taco stand in Prince Edward County. For those who like to beef up their lunches, they have hoisin sauce, sriracha hot sauce, fresh cilantro, lime, and sometimes peanuts as condiments for your buns and slaw.
I think my absolute favorite (I hope they see this so they made it again) was the jerk chickpea nachos, which used taro chips instead of tortilla chips. AMAZING. Very flavorful, not too salty, and quite filling with the diced potatoes mixed in. If they ever serve this again, you HAVE to try it, whether you’re a vegetarian or not. It was the vegetarian option that day during Poutinefest, when they also offered a «poutine» type of bao, with beef short ribs, cheese curds, and potato. The meat was tasty, and God knows I love cheese, but they topped it off with crushed regular ruffled potato chips, which it did not need at all. Liked the nachos way better, but I appreciate the effort in the bao.
They serve cold drinks as well for standard prices, but their baos and other dishes are at least $ 5 + $ 3 for the slaw. Doesn’t sound like much, but $ 5 for one small bao is pretty steep in comparison to BBQ pork buns for about a dollar at your local Chinese bakery. Delicious, but it’s better for your pocket to have it as a treat every once in awhile, rather than on a regular basis.

I am knocking a star off my review of Gongfu Bao. I love these guys, but even though we were told when they opened that they’d be open through the winter, I’ve no idea what’s happened to them! Last year in the winter, they disappear, and now when I manage to make it out their way, they only seem to be there when I’ve already ordered lunch.
When you’re walking from the Market it’s a bit of a hike to Confederation Park, especially if you are expecting delicious food that’s not there. Hopefully they can win back their star by being more predictable and/​or responsive in the future.

Had a chance to try this food cart not so long ago and I have to say it’s not bad at all even if it’s a tad pricey. Located on Elgin St just outside of Confederation Park there were 2 people working the kart. 1 guy taking orders and another guy steaming up piles and piles of buns!
The operation is pretty smooth, place your order, stand off to the side and you get your food steamed. They had a vegetarian bun and a maple glazed roasted pork bun. I ended up getting a maple glazed roasted pork bun with one of the soft drinks they have. I don’t recall the name of the soft drink but it was delicious. The pork bun took about 5 minutes to steam up and it comes pretty hot. The bun itself was pretty good. It’s a lot larger than the BBQ pork buns you might get at dim sum and the bun itself might not be what you’re expecting but it’s nice and fresh. I was hoping to bite into it and having flashbacks of some of the best BBQ pork buns I’ve had. Unfortunately it didn’t happen. The maple glazed BBQ pork was OK. It didn’t have the awesome flavours of a well roasted pork or texture either. For $ 6 I was hoping it would be excellent. I wouldn’t hunt this place down but may grab one if I’m in the area.
The team working there are really cool and you can’t beat eating lunch at Confederation Park.