Where it all began
Bite&Bite opened in Ottawa in 2023, born from a deeply personal craving — the kind that only comes from being far from home. The craving for sheng jian bao: those thick-bottomed, soup-filled pan-fried buns that fill Shanghai's streets with the smell of sizzling dough every morning.
In Shanghai, you eat them standing up, paper bag in hand, biting carefully from the side so the broth doesn't burn you. They're sold by the dozen, wrapped in paper, gone before noon. That specific experience — that particular joy — didn't exist in Ottawa. So we decided to make it ourselves.
"We didn't open a restaurant. We recreated a moment."
The art of sheng jian bao
Making sheng jian bao the right way is uncompromising work. The dough must be mixed to the exact right hydration — too dry and the skin cracks, too wet and it won't hold its shape. The filling requires pork with the right fat ratio, seasoned precisely, combined with a pork gelatin that melts into soup as the bun steams.
Each bun is folded by hand — 18 pleats, consistently, every time. They go into a well-seasoned cast iron pan, packed tightly, lidded, and cooked until the bottoms turn a deep golden-brown. Then sesame seeds and scallions go on top. That's it. No machines. No shortcuts. Just hands and heat and years of practice.
We fold hundreds of buns every single morning before we open. Everything you eat at Bite&Bite was made today.
More than buns
Shanghai food is a whole culinary world — built on layers of soy, slow braises, delicate broths and the particular sharp brightness of pickled vegetables. Our menu reflects that world.
Our noodle soups are built on stocks that simmer all day. Our cold dishes — the four-happiness wheat gluten, the smashed cucumber, the seaweed salad — are prepared fresh every morning using recipes that haven't changed in decades. Our wontons are folded one by one, filled generously, and served in a broth so clean it tastes like someone's grandmother made it.
We serve the food we miss. We hope it becomes the food you crave.
Our commitments
Every bun, every wonton, every cold dish — by hand, from scratch, every day. No exceptions.
We start from zero every morning. Nothing carries over. What you eat today was made today.
We don't adapt our food for other palates. We cook Shanghai food the Shanghai way — uncompromised.
Come taste it for yourself
Order ahead for pickup or get it delivered across Ottawa.