Premier Hospitality

Buns & Buns Covent Garden

Buns & Buns
Written by Roma Publications

Buns & Buns

Having first debuted Buns & Buns in Miami, founder Alexandre Zibi brings his take on the world’s best breads to Covent Garden.  He told Premier Hospitlaity about his inspiration behind the restaurant:

“I realised that every single country pairs bread with everything. So I thought, why not do a restaurant that pairs everything with these breads, because who doesn’t like bread?! I wanted to cherry-pick my favourites and bring them to Buns & Buns, where we hope that every table will happily break bread together, something that people have been doing for thousands of years.”

Now, all the way from Miami this iconic food venue sits at the heart of the Covent Garden market space.

Upon entry, guests are greeted by a towering steamer filled with bao, including the brand’s signature shiitake mushroom bun and a bourbon pork belly one. Housed in a glass box, passers-by have full view of the busy open-kitchen at the heart of the restaurant, cocooned by marble-clad counters displaying all manner of fresh produce from lobster to legumes.

Under the North Hall’s iron and glass retractable roof, the space features an open plan kitchen with a low marble counter where visitors can interact with chefs. It is decorated in earthy tones with copper accents, and has a classy art deco feel. There are glowing filament bulbs that hang in and out of the greenery encapsulating the space.

At the curving open-plan bar, Buns & Buns’ bartenders shake up cocktails based on fresh seasonal juices spiked with craft spirits. For colder days, the bar is pouring with seasonal spritzes, with freshly-squeezed mandarin and tangerine juice topped up with Prosecco.

Some of Buns & Buns most popular dishes include the Lobster Brioche Roll which is served with a mayonnaise-based Japanese dressing and matchstick fries. The lobster meat is tender and full of flavour and the bread is surprisingly soft and buttered, surpassing expectations for something that looks like an unassuming hot-dog-style bun.

The Truffle & Wild Mushrooms is mind blowing with its amazing mix of meaty and delicate textures. Girolles and chestnut mushrooms meet shiitake and shimeji, all brought together with powerful truffle within a plump and fluffy base.

The Chilli Thai Prawn bao bun is intensely garlicky, packing a lime-driven punch that is appeased by mayonnaise. The prawns themselves are perfectly cooked and melt into the bun.

One of the larger dishes on the menu is the Carbonara Clay Oven Pizza, which brings with it the welcome ceremony of tearing off chunks of warm pancetta and pecorino covered bread and dipping them into the runny yolk that sits in the centre of the pizza. It is a wonderful sharing dish that embraces the literal breaking of communal bread.

Copper-clad rotisserie ovens slowly roasts whole chickens marinated in yogurt and lime juice and for another Buns & Buns signature, try blackened poulet rôti with pão de queijo, a Brazilian bread loaded with melted cheese.

To tuck into the menu even further, visit: https://www.bunsandbuns.com/

Buns & Buns

WFC

WFC is an interior fit-out contractor specialising in the leisure industry. Established in 1976, the business completes fit-out projects for operators of bars, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, theatres and health and fitness and gaming venues.

This project involved completely removing an existing restaurant in the heart of Covent Garden Market and replacing it with a steel and glazing structure which houses a new theatre kitchen, bar and tiled seating area. The noise and access restrictions associated in working in such a sensitive location added logistical complexity, but the project was successfully completed in 8 weeks.

 

 

About the author

Roma Publications