There’s something bakeries that I have a liking for. The smells, the delicious offerings, the early morning vibes all represent a bakery for me. What is fascinating is that each culture and country will have their own version of a bakery and in it will be items that are unique to them and their culture. So, the Chinatown Bakery is no different.
Sitting bang in the middle of Chinatown (where there are outside benches) is this fairly small but goodie-packed Chinese bakery. This bakery is like no other – the offerings will truly fascinate you and push your boundaries. My best recommendation will just be to go in, explore and pick up what you like the look of. There are sweet and savoury options as well as drinks and snacks. The great thing about this place is that they list the ingredients of all the items, so you know exactly what you can and can’t consume (for dietary restrictions).
What we got:
Youtiao
Soy milk
Taiyaki
Hong Kong style milk tea
Pandan cake
Custard bun
Mooncake
Our experience:
As you can see, we got a little excited in there. Funnily enough, this stop wasn’t even on this particular Chinatown trip itinerary, yet we came out with a whole lot of goodies to try. We also loved the fact that there are plenty of benches right outside the bakery / more in the centre of the courtyard type of seating. Perfect to sample some of the goodies we just got.
As soon as I saw the Youtiao, I got very excited. It took me back to my mornings in Beijing. The Beijing local’s quick get up and go breakfast – youtiao with hot soy milk (read more here). Unfortunately, we could only find cold soy milk in a carton here as opposed to the fresh hot soy milk served in Beijing. Nonetheless, it worked well and provided for a great start to the day. Breakfast done. Be warned though, the youtiao is a bit oily (as it is deep fried dough). We downed this with the ever so cooly bottled Hong Kong style milk tea. Strong home style tea that is perfect for the morning.
On to the snacks now. Traditional Japanese Taiyaki is sold at the exit end of the shop. They come in fours and are lightly filled with a bit of custard. My wife loved this, I not as much as her. I think I prefer the modern take on it sold at Bake (where the Taiyaki is made into a crispy waffle cone holding soft serve ice cream).
This was the very first time we tried mooncake. There are many different fillings to choose from and we went for the pandan one. Unfortunately, when we got outside we realised it was black sesame. My wife was not a fan of this, I didn’t mind it so much. I would like to try other flavours though.
The egg tart is the Chinese equivalent to the Portuguese pastel de nata (one of my favourite snacks!). This version is famously not as sweet and slightly more eggy. I prefer the Portuguese version all day. This one here at this bakery unfortunately has lard in it.
Finally the pandan cake and the custard bun. Initially, I was eyeing up one of my other favourite eats from China – the pineapple bun. But it contains lard, so making it not halal. The custard bun looked and sounded delcious. A fluffy brioche type bun filled with thick, creamy and sweet custard. This was delicious. The custard reminded me of the filling used in Portuguese doughnuts. The pandan cake seemed to be the hot item on the day, everyone was around this and the ladies at the back were hard at work packing these. Pandan is one of our favourite flavours too. And just look at it – very pretty. How did it taste? The texture is super fluffy, almost cloud like (like I’ve felt clouds…) and the taste was very subtle. There’s a bit of cream down the middle and you can slightly taste the pandan flavour. If you don’t like too sweet, then this is for you.
Can’t wait to go back and try some of their other offerings!
Getting there
Nearest station: Leicester Square
Nearest mosque: Muslim World League Goodge Street (10 minute walk)
Parking: Ossulston Street – free evenings and weekends – plenty of parking spaces on Sundays – about 20-30 min walk from Soho/Chinatown, but it is just outside congestion zone
[…] There’s only one place to start really. Sitting bang in the middle of Chinatown (where there are outside benches) is this fairly small but goodie-packed Chinese bakery. This bakery is like no other – the offerings will truly fascinate you and push your boundaries. My best recommendation will just be to go in, explore and pick up what you like the look of. There are sweet and savoury options as well as drinks and snacks. The great thing about this place is that they list the ingredients of all the items, so you know exactly what you can and can’t consume (for dietary restrictions). For more information about this place and our detailed review read this post here. […]
[…] here to see where you can try this Youtiao and soy milk combo breakfast in […]