This is Brick Lane’s hottest new spot
Z He and Alex Peffly have brought Bun House out of Chinatown and onto Brick Lane, turning a corner site close to Beigel Bake and HOKO into Bun House Disco. The duo have defo got the disco part down – as well as an actual disco ball in one corner, there’s lots of red neon lighting and Canto synthpop on the stereo. The place has been designed to evoke 1980s Hong Kong, and if there wasn’t an open kitchen behind the entryway with wontons and buns being steamed, or a load of tables and chairs in the middle of the space, you could very much be in a downtown disco.
Eat This
Steamed buns may be what Bun House is best known for but here, it’s all the other bits on the menu that you wanna focus on. In the daytime, prawn and veggie wontons take centre stage, which you can customise with different dressings and additional noodles and soup.
Come evening, you can still get the wontons – go for the juicy prawn ones in the hot and sour dressing – as well as a selection of Cantonese small plates. In keeping with the disco theme, they’re dishes that go really well with drinks, so prepare for umami by the bucketload.
There are some fun fusion takes on classic bar snacks, like the kung pao wings, the mala tater tots (which are extra moreish when topped with satay beef chilli) and the beef tongue crispy bun, essentially a Cantonese slider. The stir-fried cheung fun – rolled noodles with peppers, beansprouts, and an optional addition of chopped lamb – reads as one of the more understated dishes on the menu but all of the parts, particularly the chewy noodles, combine to make it a real scene stealer.
There’s no dessert section on the menu, so your sweet options are two buns, custard and black sesame (which is exclusive to Bun House Disco) or the kaya french toast with jasmine clotted cream. The latter is intensely sugary in the way a deep fried bread, coconut jam and condensed milk combo would be, but it’s (just about) reigned in by virtue of being a small portion.
Drink This
There’s a short list of classic cocktails with a Chinese twist, including a chrysanthemum martini, sesame old fashioned and a very punchy pandan negroni, on offer alongside a couple of wines and various hot and cold teas. Bun House Disco has also collaborated with Hackney Brewery, a Drunken Kwun Yum IPA and a Big Head Buddha Lager, both of which have very fun can designs and pair well with the food.
Why Go
This strip of Shoreditch is always buzzing and Bun House Disco fits right in. We haven’t made a daytime visit yet but the concept really works come nightfall and it’s a great spot for a late-night bite.
Key Information
Address | 118 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 7EE
For more information | @8unhouse