Oishi Buns, Southsea | Food review

After days of bedridden misery and countless cups of Lemsip, the DD needed a takeaway to see out the worst of the symptoms.

Scrolling through the endless options on food delivery apps can be overwhelming, especially in Southsea.

That was until we came across a new listing on Uber Eats - ‘Oishi Buns’ - which offers Asian-inspired street food such as Bao Buns and Gyozas.

The street food stand has set up shop across the Solent region and Sussex and now has established itself in the Outside-In Foodcourt.

Bao Buns consist of a steamed flatbread containing a variety of fillings. They originated in China but were popularised as a snack in Taiwan.

My first impression was that of surprise when looking at the prices . We opted for the ‘Bao Deal’ which allows you to choose two buns for the humble price of £9.

Filling options include sticky pork, halloumi, Korean brisket, tempura prawn, teriyaki mushroom and tofu amongst others.

Side dishes also looked promising with duck spring rolls (£5) duck or veggie gyozas (£6.50) tempura prawns (£7) and Korean fried chicken (£7.50).

There’s also an option for fries loaded with either fried chicken, karaage chicken or tempura prawns for £8.50.

DD decided to go for the sticky pork and tempura prawn Baos while my companion, for the sake of variety, went for halloumi and Korean Prawn.

In the spirit of a comprehensive food review, we took advantage of the BOGOF duck gyozas and one portion of tempura prawn loaded fries.

We were very tempted towards ordering Oishi’s only dessert option ‘The Lotus Biscoff Bao’ which is a deep-fried boa containing ice cream topped with Biscoff sauce and crumb.

We were warned by the Oishi team that ordering this could result in a ‘delicious mess’ by the time it arrives so we reluctantly decided against it.

It took around 35 minutes for the order to arrive; bear in mind that DD’s home is about a five-minute drive away.

In the middle of a Storm Claudio downpour, the delivery driver dropped off the order on a motorcycle and did so, amazingly, with a beaming smile on his face.

Once we started tucking in there was a moment of realisation - we made the right decision to order here.

The sticky pork bao was the shining star of the order, a culinary delight I will never forget.

The light and fluffy buns were beautifully complemented by the rich belly pork oozing in hoisin and chilli sauce with cucumber, spiced peanut, sriracha mayo and pickled carrot.

All of these elements were perfectly balanced and executed brilliantly, the bread was not stodgy nor was it overpowered by excessive amounts of high-sodium sauces.

The tempura prawn boa was also very pleasant but I felt it would have benefitted from a touch more sweetness.

My companion was also very happy with the balance of flavours from the Korean prawn and halloumi baos which they ate without a word.

The side orders of the duck gyozas were just as you expect, crispy pastry filled with duck and hoisin.

The tempura prawn loaded fries exceeded my expectations, perfectly fried chips with Asian slaw, sriracha mayo, chives, crispy onion and pickled red onion.

Oishi Buns hit it out of the park, if you’re in the mood for a pan-Asian meal on a budget then I cannot recommend it enough.

Food: 5

Value: 5