It’s Chriiiiiiiiiiistmas – which means it’s time to shop until you DROP. Thankfully we’ve found the perfect little spot for a post-spree feast. Buns & Buns has just opened, right slap bang in the middle of Covent Garden’s Piazza. We headed over at lunchtime and the place was packed. Thankfully the clever space is like a big glass box, so you feel like you’re still in the thick of things, which creates a good buzz.
As you walk through the door you’ll notice a selection of handsome pink lobsters chilling on ice (for the brioche lobster roll with skinny fries we see on the menu later). Next to that you have a tower of bamboo steamers, keeping Buns & Buns’ namesake warm. The busy open kitchen makes it feel pretty theatrical & happily chaotic.
However once we sat down and looked at the menu we realised that despite the name, there were only three buns to choose from – prawn, pork or mushroom. It turns out Buns & Buns’ inspiration is really about bringing bread back to the table and enjoying it in a variety of ways. So actually we were in for a complete carb fest – hurrah! The menu takes inspiration from across the globe, so expect to find those buns nestled up against the likes pala romana, a crunchy Roman-style pizza bread, Chilean rib eye ciabatta and Pão de queijo (a warm cheesy bread from Brazil).
We’re not normally fans of menus that have a little bit of everything – pizza, bao buns and lobster rolls, how can you get it all right? – BUT we’re pleased to say our sceptical little faces were well and truly proven wrong.
First to arrive was *THAT* pizza. Priced at £17 we were expecting this to be nothing more than a tourist rip-off but oh-sweet-Jesus, this was HEAVEN. The oval shaped bread was charred in areas, deliciously chewy and groaning under the weight of a huge creamy ball of burrata, juicy cherry tomatoes and ribbons of prosciutto. Well and truly worth every penny in our opinion.
From the snack section we were impressed with a generous bowl of corn fritters and aioli and the roasted cauliflower with pomegranates and tahini – in fact this last one would jostle for position for our favourite dish. All the portions here are big, so there’s no chance of going home hungry. Of course we couldn’t not try a bun, and boy were they good – the pork belly filling gets our vote.
We arrived sceptical, we left, totally converted.
Thanks for the carb fest Buns & Buns!