Chinese street café Bun House is to open its second site in the heart of London’s Chinatown.

Real estate company Shaftesbury revealed that Bun House had signed for a 1,300 sq ft site on Lisle Street, where it is due to open in February 2019 to coincide with Chinese New Year celebrations.

The second, larger site for Bun House will span two floors and have space for up to 72 covers.

Bun House said it would continue its focus on traditional Cantonese steamed buns, with two new additions to the menu: beef brisket and a brioche-style pineapple bun.

It added that a small hatch serving traditional street food-style snacks, such as curried fish balls and cheung fun, will be unique to the Chinatown London location, paying homage to Hong Kong’s dai pai dong food stalls.

“We are delighted to welcome [founders] Z He and Alex Peffly’s Bun House to Lisle Street in Chinatown London. Their signature steamed bao include both hot and savoury traditional Cantonese flavours and also cult favourite sweet custard fillings, making them an exciting new addition to London’s leading destination for East Asian cuisine,” said Julia Wilkinson, head of group restaurant strategy at Shaftesbury.

“Z and Alex’s design backgrounds will also add a fresh creative aesthetic to Lisle Street and a new twist to the evolving voyage of discovery in Chinatown London, where East meets West.”

Steamed buns have been at the forefront of the speciality market of late, with supermarkets such as Waitrose creating shelf space for the product, and Tesco creating a listing for School of Wok’s Bao Bun kit.

British Baker subscribers can read our report on the rise in popularity of ethnic breads, including steamed buns, here.