Chiu Hong Bakery – A Hidden Gem In Chinatown

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Chiu Hong Bakery is an old school Cantonese bakery located on the cusp of Chinatown and Soho. It’s the type old school Toisan family owned bakeries that are slowly dying in Chinatown. The place is dingy with no décor whatsoever. There’s not much more to say about the place other than it’s turning out some great pastries.

Lotus Seed Pastry (Lian Rong Su)

This is a flaky pastry that is filled with lotus seed paste. The dough was nicely flaky and not too oily or dry. The lotus seed paste was fairly dense and not overly sweet. It was pretty good. 7.75/10

Wife Cake (Lao Po Bing)

This is a thin flaky disc shaped pastry filled with a winter melon filling with roasted sesame. The version here is excellent, definitely the best version I’ve had in NY and pretty close to Asia level good. In particular the filling is excellent; it’s not the paste that most places have, but rather actual strips of winter melon. This is really excellent and definitely a must order. 8.5/10

Peanut Mochi (Hua Sheng Nuo Mi Ci)

Everyone knows about Japanese mochi, but there is a Cantonese version of mochi as well. I believe they were very popular a long time ago in the 50s or 60s. Anyhow, today they are an old school pastry that you don’t see a lot of people eating anymore. Chiu Hong’s version is excellent and homemade. The dough is very soft, thicker than Japanese mochi and dried coconut has been sprinkled on the outside. The ground peanut and sugar filling is delicious. These were really good. 8.5/10

Red Bean Mochi (Dou Sha Nuo Mi Ci)

These are the same except with red bean paste in the middle. 8.5/10

Red Bean Pancake (Shao Bing)

This was a thin disc shaped pancake made out of rice dough with red bean filling that has been lightly grilled on one side. The rice dough was soft, but had a slightly crispy texture on one side and the red bean filling was nice. This was surprisingly good as I thought it might be bad because it looked like it had been sitting around for a while. 8/10

Fa Gao

Fa gao is a steamed fluffy cake made of rice flour that kind of looks like a cupcake, but is much more fluffy. You normally eat these at Chinese New Years. They are simple, but fairly easy to mess up and are dry when they are bad. Unfortunately, these were a total dud here and were quite dry. 6.5/10

Baked Roast Pork Bun (Kao Cha Shao Bao)

This was a typical roast pork bun except the filling was really ugly and not the regular red or brown filling. It tasted much better than it looked although I thought it was meat wasn’t great. The bun was quite good and it could’ve been a good roast pork bun if it had a more flavorful filling. 7/10

Steamed Roast Pork Bun (Zheng Cha Shao Bao)

Same as the baked pork bun except it was a steamed bun. 7/10

I highly suggest trying this bakery because given it’s location in Soho, I can’t imagine it will be around that much longer. Some of the pastries here are really high quality and it will be a shame when they’re gone.

Address:
161 Mott St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 966-7664

Tao Hong Bakery – A Solid If Unremarkable Chinatown Bakery, But Try The Mango Sticky Rice Ball

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Tao Hong Bakery is a bakery I noticed because of a positive review on chowhound, which you can see here.

It’s a rather small and non-descript Cantonese bakery which would not particularly standout if you were just walking by it.  The interior is quite small with two display cases at the front and side and that’s really it.  The lady who runs the place is quite nice and can speak English pretty decently if you don’t speak Chinese.

Here’s what we got:

Pork Floss And Crème Bun

This is a baked bun that has pork floss (rou song) and a slightly savory white crème in the middle.  The bun itself was quite good; it had a slightly sweet flavor and was nicely moist.  The pork floss was good as well, but I’m just not a fan of the savory cream which sort of reminds me of room temperature butter.  This is a good version of this type of bun and probably the best one I’ve had in NY, but as a dish it’s just not my thing.  7/10

Egg Tart (Dan Ta)

The actual egg custard was pretty good; it had a decently egg-y flavor and was fresh.  The crust was standard, but not as flaky as I like it.  It was a pretty decent rendition, but I prefer Double Crispy or Ka Wah. 7.75/10

Coconut and Red Bean Pudding

This is a square of cold coconut and red bean pudding with some coconut shavings on top.  The pudding is creamy, but fairly light and not too sweet.  It’s not heavily flavored and generally tastes a bit more of coconut than red bean as the red bean flavor is faint.  It’s decent although I wouldn’t go out of my way to get it, but if you happen to be here might be worth trying.  7.5/10

Vanilla Cake Roll

The cake was decent although it could’ve been a bit moister.  The vanilla crème was good and it’s slightly salty which I liked as it contrasts nicely against the sweet cake.  It was decent, but nothing special. 7.25/10

Steamed Pork Bun (Cha Siu Bao)

The bun itself was pretty decent, fresh and reasonably fluffy.  However, I wasn’t crazy about the sauce; it was that red sweet sauce and it was a bit gloppy and too sweet.  I much prefer Mei Li Wah’s to these.  7/10

Mango and Coconut Glutinous Rice Ball

This is the standout here.  It’s a fairly large mango flavored glutinous rice ball covered in coconut shavings with fresh mango in the middle.  The lady told me to eat it the same day.  The glutinous rice ball was very soft and tender with a slight mango flavor and was sweet although not too sweet.  The coconut shavings add a nice textural contrast and flavor.  The mango in the middle was very fresh and tasted great.  This is the one thing I’d say is worth coming here for.  8.25/10

Overall, everything at this bakery is fairly decent and it’s definitely an above average bakery in NY.  Although I didn’t feel like anything was particularly standout with the exception of the mango ball and I prefer Double Crispy and Ka Wah for Chinese pastries.

Address:
79 Chrystie St (between Canal St & Hester St)
New York, NY 10002
(212) 219-0981

New Kam Hing Coffee Shop – One Of The Best Sponge Cakes In Chinatown

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New Kam Hing is an old school Cantonese coffee shop on Baxter Street in Chinatown.  It’s really small consisting only of a kitchen and small display counter.  It’s a true specialist only offering a handful of items and for many years it’s been known for its great sponge cakes.

It was originally run by an old Cantonese woman, but she decided to retire at one point and I heard it was going to close.  However, it appears that the Mexican worker who has worked there forever has taken over and now runs the place (he can speak some Cantonese btw), so it appears that this place will be running for a long time to come hopefully.

Sponge Cake:

There is only one thing to order here and this is it.  This is an egg-y sponge cake that will remind you of an egg-y version of angel food cake.  The version here is moist, egg-y and quite good.  The only version I’ve had in NY that is close to it is Ka Wah, which you can read about here.  While pretty-self-explanatory this is definitely quite good.  One thing to note is that they are significantly better when they are freshly baked as opposed to when they have been sitting around (I suggest warming them up in the microwave if you come when they have been sitting around for a while).  8.5/10

Overall, while not a destination spot if you’re in Chinatown during the day this is a great place to pick up a nice light snack.

Address:
119 Baxter St, Ste B (between Canal St & Hester St)
New York, NY 10013
(212) 925-0425

Mei Li Wah – A Cha Siu Bao Institution; Amazing Cha Siu Bao? No…The Best In Chinatown? Probably

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Mei Li Wah is a Chinatown institution and my blog would not be complete if I didn’t cover it.  It’s a cha chaan teng / cha can ting (literally means tea restaurant), which is a type of old school Cantonese restaurant that is common in Hong Kong serving tea, coffee and various cheap foods.  In particular Mei Li Wah is known for its various buns.

Originally, Mei Li Wah was a rundown super old school Toisonese run place, but a few years ago they changed ownership, renovated the restaurant and hired a much younger staff.  Now it’s a much brighter, cleaner and new looking restaurant.  The service is still fairly quick and brisk although it’s nicer than before when the old guys had little patience if you didn’t know what you wanted right away although some people liked that as part of the character of the place.  I’m not one for nostalgia, but I do miss the old school feel of the old Mei Li Wah a bit.

Generally, I stick to their buns, which are all displayed up front as I find a lot of their other food to be pretty mediocre.

Steamed Pork Bun (Cha Siu Bao / Cha Shao Bao):

This is their most famous item.  It’s a fluffy steamed white bun filled with diced cha siu (BBQ pork) in a brown sauce.  One of the major differences between MLW’s and others’ versions is that the sauce is much more savory and brown than the normal sweeter red sauce.  The sauce is the best thing about this bun as I really like that savory flavor.  The cha siu itself is decent although sometimes it can a bit too much fat in it.  The bun has a nice slight sweetness to it, but I’ve noticed over the last year or so that it’s become noticeably less fluffy than it used to be.  I still think this is the best cha siu bao in Chinatown, but because of the decline in quality of the bun I’d say it’s good, but no longer great.  7.75/10 or 8/10 on a good day (a few years ago I’d have probably given it an 8.25 rating)  

Baked Pork Bun (Cha Siu Bao / Cha Shao Bao):

This is baked white bun filled with diced cha siu (BBQ pork) in a brown sauce.  Same exact filling as the steamed version.  While I normally much prefer steamed cha siu bao, MLW’s baked version is actually quite good and maybe better than its steamed version as the bread is quite good with a nice honey glaze on the outside.  8/10

Big Bun (Dai Bao / Da Bao):

This is another famous offering.  It is similar to a cha siu bao except it’s bigger and filled with chicken, Chinese sausage, half boiled egg and shitake mushrooms.  They used to make these quite well, but I’ve noticed that the bun has gotten way too dry since they switched ownership.  The filling tastes like it sounds and is reasonably tasty.  Overall, it’s decent version, but not great.  7.25/10

Cocktail Bun (Gai Mei Bao / Ji Wei Bao):

This is the sleeper for me here.  This is a baked bun with sugar on top and a minced buttery and sweet coconut filling.  The bread is nicely moist and the sugar on top adds nice textural contrast.  The filling is good and not too buttery like most places.  I’m not sure everyone will like this as much as I do because I really like gai mei bao, but they make this really well.  8.25/10

Overall, they are pretty decent cha siu bao and certainly better than the vast majority in Chinatown which are quite mediocre.  I’d recommend coming to try out the cha siu bao and the cocktail bun.

Address:
64 Bayard St (between Mott St & Elizabeth St)
New York, NY 10013
(212) 966-7866

Yeh’s Bakery – You Want Me To Go To Flushing To Get A Boston Pie? Yes.

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Yeh’s is a Taiwanese bakery that’s been recommended to me for a long time, but it’s taken me years to finally getting around to trying it.  When I decided to revisit Main Street Imperial, which you can read about here, I decided I should do lunch so that I could try Yeh’s as well.

Yeh’s is located near Main Street Imperial which is not in downtown Flushing and is closer to the LIE.  The bakery is very small with just two glass display cases.  Unlike most Chinese bakeries, they have a much more limited selection consisting with a few types of cakes, cake rolls and traditional Chinese pastries such a sun cakes and moon cakes.

Sun Cake (Tai Yang Bing):

Sun cakes are a traditional Taiwanese pastry from Taizhong / Taichung.  They are difficult to find outside Taiwan and last time I was in Taipei they were actually even difficult find to there with one bakery even jokingly telling me “go to Taizhong if you want those”.  I believe they’re not that popular amongst younger generations.  Anyhow, it’s a circular flaky pastry that looks similar to a wife cake (lao po bing) with a filling made of malt sugar.  At Yeh’s the English name says “honey cake” or something like that and while the flaky exterior is normal, the filling does taste like honey which is not normal.  However, I liked the honey flavor and it was much better than other sun cakes I’ve had in NY.  It isn’t close to a real good one in Taiwan, but it’s a decent version and worth checking out. 7.75/10

Boston Pie:

This is what they are known for.  It is a cake with cream custard filling and powdered sugar on top.  The cake is extremely light and fluffy literally one of the lightest cakes I’ve ever had anywhere.  The cream custard in the middle is also really light with the perfect level of sweetness (i.e. its sweet without being really sweet).  While it’s really simple this is one of the best cakes I’ve had in Asian bakery even in Asia.  I highly recommend you try this, it is really good.  8.75/10

Green Tea Roll:

This is another specialty.  It’s a cake roll with green tea flavoring and vanilla cream in the middle.  The cake is more dense than the Boston Pie and similar to pound cake.  The green tea flavor is very light so you will barely notice it and the vanilla cream is again only slightly sweet.  While not amazing I thought it was solidly good especially if like vanilla cake rolls as I do. 8/10

Overall, I really enjoyed this bakery a lot and if you like Asian style cakes then I highly recommend you try this place.  I look forward to trying the rest of their cakes and pastries.

Address:
5725 Main St
Flushing, NY 11355
(718) 939-1688

Tanglin Halt Original Peanut Pancake – Old School Tasty Mi Chiam Kueh (Peanut Pancake)

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Tanglin Halt Original Peanut Pancake is a stall at Tanglin Halt Market that specializes in mi chiam kueh (mian qian gao), which are pancakes with various fillings that I believe are Hokkien (southern Fujian) in origin.  However, this stall is specifically famous for their peanut mee chiam kueh.

Tanglin Halt Market is a very local hawker center where you will see no foreigners at all.  When I told the cab driver I wanted to go there he told me in his Singlish “wah you really must like the local taste lah, not for foreigners lah, why you want to go there?”, I explained that I was going to try the mi chiam kueh at Tanglin Halt Original Peanut Pancake and to which he responded that it was very good and that he used to live right next to Tanglin Halt Market and used to get these all the time.  I felt pretty good after that that I was in for a treat.

Anyhow, the hawker center has two parts to it and I actually ended up in the wrong part at first and was searching for stall 16 for probably 10-15 minutes before I found it.  It’s located in the part that has a wet market connected to it and is one long strip of hawker stalls as opposed to the other part which is like a bunch of clusters of stalls.

There is an old husband and wife couple who run the stall with the husband doing the cooking and the wife doing prep work and serving customers.  The old lady was really nice and sweet.  I don’t know whether they speak English or not, but everything is translated into English so you shouldn’t have any problems either way.

I found this video of the stall, which you can see here.  It’s cool because you can really tell how much pride they take in their work when you listen to him talk; he talks about how he does his prep work and how he is really happy to see his customers come back.

Here’s what I got:

Peanut Pancake (Hua Sheng Mian Qian Gao):

I’ve only had this once before at the place at Maxwell Road Center and it was so long ago that I don’t even really remember what it was like, so this was effectively like my first time trying it.  It’s a pancake that he fills with a mixture of ground roasted peanuts and sugar and then folds it over and cuts up.  The interesting thing about the dough is that he uses a yeast culture instead of the usual baking soda, which gives it a different texture.  I found the texture of the dough to be more gummy than I was expecting (it’s not like an American pancake or breadlike at all), but it was good and mine was pretty warm and fresh, which definitely makes a difference.  The peanut and sugar mixture is really good, they roast their own peanuts (he says he takes a day off to do prep work such as roasting peanuts) and you can really taste the difference.  The peanuts are crunchy, flavorful and sweet without being overly sweet.  They also give you a lot and I was eating the left over ground peanuts out of the bag because they were so good.  Overall, I thought this was pretty good and I’d definitely come back.  8.5/10

Yam Pancake (Yu Ni Mian Qian Gao):

This was the same dough, but it was enclosed and looks exactly like a Japanese imagawayaki that you find in Japan and Taiwan (I grew up eating imagawayaki).  However, again the dough was more gummy than bready.  This was not as good because it had been sitting around longer and when it cools down the dough gets harder and doesn’t taste nearly as good as the fresher warm peanut pancake I had.  The sweet yam filling was pretty good though as it wasn’t too sweet and had good flavor.  This was decent, but nothing special.  7.75/10 (this probably could’ve been a lot better if it was fresh)

I enjoyed coming here as the peanut pancake was very tasty and this is the type of place that I’m sure will not exist in 10 years and you won’t have people making this the old school way where make everything from scratch.  I’d recommend coming and trying it out before it’s gone.

Also, they are open 5am to 11am and closed on Mondays and Fridays (I came here at 8am to make sure I didn’t miss it).

Address:
Tanglin Halt Market – Stall 16
48 Tanglin Halt Road
Phone: 97123653

Mid-Autumn Festival – It’s Time For Mooncakes, A Taste Test of Local Mooncakes (Part 2)

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Given that people thought the first post I wrote about mooncakes, which you can see here and the fact that I realized a lot more bakeries in make their own mooncakes than I originally thought, I decided to try a few other bakeries.

I’ll get right into it since I already wrote a lot about mooncakes in the first post.

Koi Palace:

Koi Palace is obviously not in New York, it’s in Daly City, California and it maybe the most of famous Chinese restaurant in the U.S. I happened to be in Napa for a wedding, so I decided to stop by for dim sum (which I’ll be writing about soon since I’ve been there twice this year) and also picked up a mooncake. They had three kinds: purple yam with birds nest, mixed nuts with smoked ham and white lotus. In hindsight, I should’ve bought all three, but I only bought the mixed nuts with smoked ham and white lotus. So this was definitely the best mooncake of the mooncakes I’ve tried in my mooncake tasting this year. The exterior was nice and not overly oily. The filling was nicely moist and the flavoring was quite good. You could really taste the smoked ham, which sounds weird since it’s a dessert, but it went quite well and the mixed nuts gave it a nice texture. Also, the egg yolk was not dry either, which was good. Overall, this was as good as any of the good brands from Asia. I’m not sure if you can get them delivered to you, but these are probably worth it. 8.25/10

 Double Crispy Bakery:

This is one of the bakeries that I frequent somewhat regularly and I’ve written about before. I tried their white lotus seed with one egg yolk. The exterior was fine, but I found the filling to be too dry and the egg yolk to be too dry as well. The flavoring was decent, but nothing special. Overall, I found it to be a bit disappointing. 6.75/10

 New Wing Wah Bakery:

This is a popular bakery in Chinatown that is much nicer than most bakeries in Chinatown. I actually haven’t really eaten much from this bakery, but I notice that it’s usually quite busy. They had a big sign advertising their mooncakes (it’s only in Chinese), so I decided stop by. These mooncakes weren’t actually made at the bakery, but I believe they were made exclusively for them by a bakery in China. These were pretty decent, they tasted very similar to Lung Moon’s, but the egg yolk was moister; the filling was nicely sweet with a good white lotus seed flavor. Overall, it was a pretty decent mooncake. 7.75/10

Overall, I don’t the bakeries in New York really stack up against the well known Asian brands, but it’s good to know that you can get at least a decent mooncake at places like Lung Moon and New Wing Wah.

Address:
Koi Palace: 365 Gellert Blvd Daly City, CA 94015; (650) 992-9000; https://www.koipalace.com
Double Crispy Bakery: 230 Grand St (between Elizabeth St & Bowery) New York, NY 10013; (212) 966-6929
New Wing Wah Bakery: 246 Grand St (between Bowery & Chrystie St) New York, NY 10002; (212) 941-1924

Tai Cheong – A Hong Kong Dan Ta (Egg Custard) Institution That Lives Up To Its Reputation

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Tai Cheong is a very famous bakery in Central District, Hong Kong. They’re well known for all of their pastries, but they are particularly famous for their dan ta, which are Chinese egg custard tarts. I’ve been coming to Tai Cheong for over a decade, but I haven’t been in my last two trips to Hong Kong. Back in the day Tai Cheong was a rundown bakery with lines out the door; fast forward to today and it’s been bought by a publicly traded company (Tao Heung Group), expanded to have branches all over Hong Kong and totally renovated so it’s very nice inside now. What does that sound like to me? It sounds like a recipe for a massive decline in quality. However, I had to give it a try to see if that was actually the case or not.

Here’s what we got:

Dan Ta:

Drum roll…so how was the dan ta? Thankfully the answer is that they are as good as ever. They are definitely one of the best if not the best I’ve ever had. The flavor is amazing; the custard is very egg-y tasting and not as sweet as most versions, which I like better. I got mine hot out of the oven, so it was really soft and delicious. The crust is great as well; it’s not overly buttery or oily like many are and it’s also more solid as opposed to flaky, which is different than most places. Even though I normally prefer the Portuguese style ones where it’s burnt on top (normally get them from Lord Stow’s) these are definitely of my favorite versions anywhere. 9.25/10

Chicken Pie:

This is another pastry Tai Cheong is famous for. It’s a buttery thick pie crust filled with chicken, mushroom, peas and maybe a couple other vegetables in a thick semi-creamy sauce. It will remind you of a much less soup-y version of chicken pot pie. The crust is pretty moist and a bit salty. The inside tastes just like it sounds. I’m not the biggest fan of these in general, but it’d been a long time I’d had one and Tai Cheong’s version was better than most. 7.75/10

Overall, while it turned into a chain and the bakery got a lot nicer, the dan ta still taste exactly like I remember them and I highly recommend giving them a try if you’re in Hong Kong.

Address:
G/F, 35 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central 中環擺花街35號地下
Phone: 2544 3475
[button url=”https://www.taoheung.com.hk/en/brands/tai_cheong_bakery/index_p_2.html” target=”_blank” color=”grey-lite’]Website[/button]

Mid-Autumn Festival – It’s Time For Mooncakes, A Taste Test of Local Mooncakes

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Right now is a major Chinese holiday called Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhong Qiu Jie 中秋節); the actual date this year is September 30th, but it’s celebrated for a few weeks coming up to it. There is a long story associated with the holiday, but I’ll leave you to read this Wikipedia article to find out more about that. The reason you probably know about this holiday (assuming you’re not Chinese) is that people traditionally eat mooncakes at this time and right now if you go into any Chinese bakery or supermarket you will notice mooncakes everywhere.

Most mooncakes you will find here are imported from places such as Hong Kong, China and Malaysia, but some of the bakeries in Chinatown still make their own. I decided that it would be interesting to go try a few of the bakeries that are well known for their mooncakes, so that’s what this post is all about as I’d rather have a fresh mooncake than one that had to be imported.

Mooncakes are one of those things that you will tend to find that people either love or hate. I really like them, but I’ve had friends compare them to fruitcake in that it’s some weird traditional dessert people eat at a certain time of year, but no one likes them. Also, I’m writing about Cantonese style mooncakes, which will have a sweet filling generally made from lotus seed paste, red bean or winter melon paste. They can also contain salted duck egg yolks, melon seeds and mixed nuts and dried fruits. Other provinces in China have their own version of mooncakes, but I grew up eating Cantonese style mooncakes and that’s what’s readily available in NY, so that’s what I’m writing about. You can read this Wikipedia article about mooncakes to learn more about the various regional versions.

The three bakeries I tried were Kwong Wah, Lung Moon and New Golden Fung. I also bought one Hong Kong brand from Hong Kong Supermarket, which I thought was Wing Wah 榮華(a very famous HK brand), but it was the wrong brand. I was in a rush and saw the characters 榮華 in the name and just bought them, but I later realized that it wasn’t Wing Wah and was actually Grand Fortune. I should’ve known better since the box was so cheap at $15 for 4 mooncakes. Oh well, next time I’ll get the right brand. If you want to read more about Wing Wah, here’s a Wikipedia article.

For all the mooncake I tried, I got white lotus seed with one egg yolk.

Kwong Wah:

The filling was extremely smooth, which was weird because while it’s supposed to be smooth this was just too smooth; it was also quite heavy, oily, not that sweet and tasted strongly of the lotus seed. The egg yolk was a little dry and didn’t have great flavor. The crust was fairly thin and a bit on the oily side. Overall, I thought it was fairly mediocre and not worth the calories. 6/10

Lung Moon:

The filling’s texture was exactly how it should be; it was smooth, but still had some texture. The flavoring was quite good; a nice lotus seed flavor that was much better than Kwong Wah and also sweeter than Kwong Wah, but I’d say that it was “normal” sweetness for a mooncake. The egg yolk was a bit on dry side, but nicely salty which I really like against the sweetness of the mooncake. The crust was nice and not too oily or thick. Overall, I thought this was a surprisingly pretty respectable mooncake and worth trying. 7.75/10

New Golden Fung:

The filling had a similar consistency as Lung Moon, which was good. It was sweeter than Kwong Wah, but not as sweet as Lung Moon and the lotus seed flavor was by far the least pronounced of the three to the point where it was almost undetectable. The egg yolk was very salty and too dry. The crust was quite crusty, which while not normal I kind of liked. Overall, it was a decent mooncake, but unremarkable mooncake that I found to be a little too plain as the lotus seed flavor was non-existent. 7/10

Grand Fortune:

The filling was a quite dry with an odd chemical-y flavor that overpowered the lotus seed flavor. The egg yolk was very small and not salty enough. The crust was a little dry and rather thick. Overall, these were terrible, one of the worst brands I’ve ever tried, definitely do not buy these. 4/10

Overall, Lung Moon was definitely the best and the only one I would recommend trying. However, I still would default back to the Foh San brand of pandan flavored mooncakes that I’ve been buying for the last two years, which you can find at most Malaysian restaurants in NY.

Also, if you happen to have any recommendations I’d love to hear about them!

Address:
Kwong Wah: 210 Grand Street, New York, NY 10013; (212) 431-9575
Lung Moon: 81 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10013; (212) 349-4945
Golden Fung Wong Bakery: 41 Mott St (between Pell St & Bayard St) , New York, NY 10013; (212) 267-4037
Hong Kong Supermarket: 157 Hester St, New York, NY 10013; (212) 966-4943

Kam Fung Restaurant – Serious Food Nazi Service, But Oh Man The Pineapple Buns And Cold Milk Tea Are Worth The Abuse!

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Kam Fung Restaurant 金鳳茶餐廳 is an old school cha can ting 茶餐廳 in Wan Chai that is famous for their pineapple bun, cold milk tea, chicken pie, egg tarts and various instant noodle / macaroni dishes. Cha can ting literally means “tea restaurant”. They are a style of casual restaurants in Hong Kong that are very popular and serve a type of comfort food that is a mix of Chinese and Western cuisine; you can read more about them in this Wikipedia article. The food might sound a little odd if you’ve never had it, but it’s very enjoyable.

The restaurant is a tiny restaurant located on Spring Garden Lane in Wan Chai, which is a street that has a lot of good local eateries located on it. In fact, I unintentionally ended up eating at Chiu Yuen afterwards because I realized it was located next door after I finished eating at Kam Fung. The customer base was mainly locals, but Kam Fung is quite famous, so there were a few tables of mainland Chinese tourists who had read about the place in their tourist books.

Now I’m going to dedicate an entire paragraph to the service and the way things work at the restaurant as I think you’re going to be a little surprised if you’ve never been there before. The interior of the restaurant is super cramped and pretty chaotic. When I walked in I told the old lady at the front that I was one person, she looked at me, turned around and went back about her business. I was confused, but then realized you had to seat yourself. So after I hustled my way into a seat, I kept trying to flag the waiter (there is only one waiter) and he kept ignoring me and even ignored the other old lady at my table who was a Hong Kong local then I came to another realization that he only comes and talks to you once it’s your turn to order, so just flag him once and then wait your turn. Finally, he came to take my order and was gone in a heartbeat after taking it. He showed up about 10 minutes later with my food. So the rules of engagement here are: a) find your own seat b) flag the guy once and then wait your turn and c) get your food and pay up front. Now as a happy ending to the story when I was paying the old mean lady smiled at me and asked me how I liked the food. I don’t think they are evil necessarily just really gruff old school efficient Hong Kong style service, so prepare accordingly.

Here’s what I got:

Iceless Cold Milk Tea (Wu Bing Dong Nai Cha 無冰涷奶茶):

They are famous for their cold milk tea without ice. Hong Kong style milk tea is a style of milk teat that is a little different than the milk tea that you may have gotten at your local boba place; I even found a Wikipedia article about it. It uses a fairly strong black bitter tea that I believe is a holdover from the British rule and it’s mixed with condensed milk. The result is the tea is more bitter and creamy and less sweet than the milk tea than the milk tea at your local boba place. The problem is sometimes you get someone who makes the tea too watery just using regular lipton tea bags or they put way too much condensed milk in it and turns it into a creamy mess. The tea at Kam Fung is basically as perfect a glass of milk tea as you’re going to get. The ratio of milk to tea is perfect and its super smooth not too sweet or creamy. Because it is served cold it is also very refreshing especially on a hot day like the day I was there. This is also the best glass of milk tea I’ve ever had. 9.25/10

Pineapple bun (Bo Luo Bao 菠蘿包):

Pineapple bun is something I have a soft spot for because they’ve been one of my favorite Chinese pastries since I was a kid, but they are also delicious and I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t like them. A pineapple bun is moist slightly sweet bread topped with a sweet crusty sugary topping. The version here is different than most other versions; the bread is more on the dense side compared to some which are very airy and the topping is almost like a separate really crunchy thin cookie on top. However, everything about it is just really good; the flavoring of the topping is much better than other ones and the crunch combined with the softness of the bread is just wonderful. This is the best pineapple bun I’ve ever had and is a perfect combination with milk tea. Also, you should note that many people get a pineapple bun with a slice of cold butter (bo luo you 菠蘿油), but I decided that would be a little too heavy that day since there were several other restaurants I wanted to try that day. 9.25/10

Despite the service and the crowded atmosphere this place really lives up to its reputation for the quality of its food and I’d highly recommend trying this place out and I’ll definitely be back to try some of their other dishes.

Address:
G/F, Spring Garden Mansion, 41 Spring Garden Lane, Wan Chai
灣仔春園街41號春園大廈地下
Phone: 2572 0526

Bread Talk – Serious Eats’ Favorite Egg Custard, Is It Actually The Best?

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A Serious Eats article about the best dan ta (egg custard tart) in Chinatown was recently brought to my attention on Chowhound.com (you can see both articles here and here).  They went the remarkable mission of trying 43 bakeries and proclaimed that Bread Talk’s dan ta are the best in Chinatown followed by Golden Manna and Taipan.

Bread Talk is a fairly unknown bakery located in the very southern most part of Chinatown far from the main bustling part of Chinatown.  I’ve seen it before, but honestly never thought about trying it.  I decided that I had try it as soon as possible since it’s fairly rare for me to hear about something totally new in Chinatown. The bakery is pretty new looking and is a long narrow room with the display cases on the right and seating in the back with Cantonese TV playing in the background.  It was actually sort of nice by Chinatown standards and looked very clean.  They had signs advertising their 2 for 1 dan ta and ji wei bao (cocktail buns).  They also had big signs advertising a long list of steamed bao (buns) with various sweet fillings.  I’m not sure if they speak English or not (one yelper claims they don’t), but you should fine since everything is in English and displayed.

Here’s what I tried:

Egg Custard Tart (Dan Ta):

Bread Talk only seems to offer the regular dan ta here not the Portuguese style ones (burnt on top).  The egg tarts look very pretty, the crusts look very symmetric and the egg custard is a nice light yellow.  The crust was excellent; it was nicely buttery, crispy and flaky.  The custard was pretty good, it wasn’t too sweet and when I heated it up it had nice consistency, but it lacked “egginess” and I prefer mine to be egg-y.  Overall, I’d say I prefer Ka Wah’s because I like their filling better which you can see here (word of advice, go in the morning when they are fresh as they are quite good in morning) or Double Crispy for Portuguese style egg tarts, which you can see here.  With that said this is definitely one of the better dan ta in Chinatown and is worth trying. 8/10 (8.25/10 for the crust, 7.5/10 for the filling)

Cocktail Bun (Ji Wei Bao / Gai Mei Bao):

Cocktail buns are one of my favorite Hong Kong pastries.  Their Chinese name literally means chicken tail bun hence the name cocktail bun.  A cocktail bun is a soft baked bun filled with a sweet, salty and buttery shredded coconut filling.  They were supposedly created in HK back in the 50s when people were trying not to waste ingredients so they created these.  Quality can vary pretty heavily with good ones being awesome and bad ones being pretty bad since they can be way too sweet, buttery, dense etc.  Unfortunately, Bread Talk’s version fell pretty flat.  The bread was just okay; I found it to be too dense.  But the real downfall was the filling was way too buttery and didn’t have enough coconut in it. The version at Mei Li Wah is light years better, so I’d recommend trying them there and don’t waste your calories on them here. 6.5/10

Overall, the dan ta are worth trying and a lot of their steamed buns looked pretty good, so I’ll be back to try some more stuff.

Address:

47 Catherine St

New York, NY 10002

Ka Wah – My Favorite Bakery in Chinatown

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Chinatown is chock full of bakeries.  Most of the bakeries fall into two categories they are either a) old school style cha chaan teng (茶餐廳, cha can ting, literally “tea restaurant”) that serve various old school Cantonese buns and pastries or b) more modern bakeries that have all types of pastries, buns and crazy cakes shaped into cartoon characters.  For example, Mei Li Wah would fall under the cha chaan teng category and Fay Da / Tai Pan would fall under the latter category.  Generally, the quality can vary from pretty decent to just okay.  It is sort of hard to tell which ones will be good and which ones will just so so because they really all look very similar.

Ka Wah is a throwback and is closer to being in the cha chaan teng category.  It is an old school Cantonese bakery that is in the eastern part of Chinatown jammed in the middle of a completely Fujian neighborhood.  Based on that fact and the décor, I think this bakery must be very old.  It’s run by 3 old Cantonese ladies, who are pretty old school themselves. Sometimes I have a hard time understanding their Mandarin because they have such a thick Cantonese accent.

Unlike most bakeries in Chinatown, this place only serves maybe 8-10 different types of pastries and maybe 4-5 different types of buns.  All of it is Cantonese classics: dan ta (egg custard), dan gao (sponge cake), lao po bing (wife cake, a pastry filled with a sweet winter melon filling), almond cookies, ji wei bao (cocktail bun), bo luo bao (pineapple bun) and a few other things.  They also serve good yin yang cha (yuan yang cha, coffee and tea mixed with evaporated milk and sugar), nai cha (tea with condensed milk) and coffee.
I come here on the weekends usually fairly early around 10:30am-11am when the pastries are fresh (they taste better in the morning when they are fresher).

Here are some of the things I get:

Sponge Cake (Dan Gao):

This place probably has the best sponge cake I’ve had in Chinatown.  The cake is very light and airy with a great egg-y flavor and it’s soft as a pillow.  I really like these and they are so light you can eat them like they were nothing and they go great with some yin yang cha.  As a word of advice these in particular taste much better in the morning when they are fresh. 8.5/10

Wife Cake (Lao Po Bing):

They make a good version here.  The crust is nice and flaky and the inside is flavorful and not overly sweet.  However, this is an old school type of pastry and it’s very Chinese, so I’m not sure everyone will like this.  My GF thinks that its “old people food” and she doesn’t like it at all.  She also says I like “old people food” when it comes to desserts, so this is the type of thing I like, but I’m sure there will be a decent amount of people who do not.  7.75/10

Egg Custard (Dan Ta):

Hands down the best dan ta in Chinatown.  The crust is flaky, crispy and buttery without being overly buttery.  The custard is nice and egg-y and not overly sweet.  They sell both the small versions and large version.  I prefer the small version as I like the ratio of custard to crust better.  These are great.  8/10

Coconut Tart:

I always forget what this is called in Chinese.  I’m not totally sure why I always end getting these because I don’t love them and it’s not the version here just in general.  I guess it’s a nostalgia thing because I grew up eating stuff like this.  Anyhow, the version here is good. 7/10

Drinks:

I forgot to take pictures, but these guys make some of the best yin yang cha (yuan yang cha, coffee and tea mixed with evaporated milk and sugar) and nai cha (tea with condensed milk) in Chinatown.  I always get a cup of it when I come here.  7.75/10

Overall, this place is great and I highly recommend coming here before they decide to retire or something.  It is also ridiculously cheap.  Highly recommend.

Address:
9 Eldridge Street
New York, NY 10002
(212) 226-0133

Lord Stow’s at EXpresso 咖啡吧 – Delicious Portuguese Style Dan Tat (Chinese Egg Custard Tarts)

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Lord Stow’s is a bakery in Macau that is famous for their dan tat (egg custard tarts).  At the Excelsior Hotel in Causeway Bay, the coffee shop called EXpresso has Lord Stow dan tat.  A friend of mine showed me this place last time I was in Hong Kong.  The store itself is just a small upscale coffee shop with typical coffee shop fare, the real appeal is the Lord Stow dan tat.  They are the Portguese version meaning that the tops are somewhat burnt and so they have a sort of carmelization on top.  Egg custard tarts are probably one of the more famous and popular Chinese pastries.  They have a buttery flaky crust and a very egg-y yellow custard that is sweet.  The Lord Stow version is very good especially when they are hot.  The crust is delicious and flaky and the custard is not too sweet and has a great flavor. 9/10

I definitely recommend trying these out if you are in Hong Kong.

Address:

Lobby, The Excelsior Hong Kong, 281 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay

銅鑼灣告士打道281號香港怡東酒店大堂

Phone: 2837 6777