PrintA Guide to Bakeries in Manhattan's Chinatown
Manhattan's Chinatown is a huge neighborhood that seems to be getting bigger every day. Although it's a good thing that the neighborhood offers a nearly endless number of eateries, you may be overwhelmed by all the choices. Where do you go on an empty stomach? What do you order? Sometimes, when you're faced with such a wealth of options, it's best to narrow your focus a bit. This, then, is a guide to Chinatown bakeries. (For our purposes, we went to both the main part of Chinatown—between the Canal Street and Grand Street subway stations—and to the less-touristy East Broadway section.) With at least a bakery per block (and sometimes more), you should never be too far from one.
Bakeries in Chinatown offer steamed and baked buns, sandwiches, cakes, bread, and cold and hot drinks. Some also have dim sum and small rice dishes. Since items tend to be ridiculously cheap, bakeries are a good place to go to if you need to use up some loose change. Buns cost between a paltry 65¢ and $1, cakes will only set you back about $1, dim sum and small rice dishes are $2 to $3, and drinks cost between $1 and $2.
Lately, prices for items in Chinatown bakeries have been increasing by 5¢ to 25¢—a bit of a shock if you're accustomed to seeing mindbogglingly-cheap prices—but remember that the prices are still cheap compared to the rest of New York City. For the best prices, visit smaller bakeries where items tend to be 10¢ less than at larger bakeries.
Reliable choices found at just about all bakeries are the baked roast pork and hot dog buns. If you're looking for something sweeter, go for egg custard tarts (don tot), pineapple buns with egg custard filling, milk cream/cocktail buns, Napoleon walnut cake, or vanilla roll sponge cakes. If you're looking for a loaf of bread, I'd recommend the Pullman bread.
Recommended Bakeries
Ho Won: Located at the intersection of Elizabeth and Hester, this is where I usually go. They have really good pork buns, and I recommend their lotus-leaf-wrapped sticky rice (joong).
Mei Lai Wah, Chatham Restaurant, Sun Say Kai: There are often crowds ordering buns at these places. Mei Lai Wah has good roast pork buns and special big (huge, really) steamed buns, along with sweet, deep fried, flat dough. At Chatham Restaurant the roast pork is especially good and for only 65¢, the cheapest I've found so far.
Fay Da: I usually get my bread from these bakeries. This chain has a few locations around Chinatown.
A Word to the Wise
Keep in mind that when ordering at a Chinatown eatery, unless there is a single line (rare), you'll have to "fight" your way to get your order in. Also, some people order buns by the dozens, meaning that the shop might run out by the time you place your order. However, if you can get buns before everyone else, you know they'll be fresh.
Favorite Chinese Bakery Items
Roast pork buns/hot dog buns: When I need a filling and cheap quick bite. There are two different ways the roast pork buns are made: one with redder roast pork and the other is brown and has a little bit of gravy and onions. Hot dog buns are basically what they sound like: a warm, hot dog in a roll-like bun.
Milk cream buns/cocktail buns: I'd never been quite sure what the filling was in these, but a quick search on Wikipedia reveals that it's often leftover buns, sugar, and shredded coconut. The "cocktail" in the name may derive from the mish-mash of ingredients in the filling—said to be reminiscent of the way a bartender would make a mixed drink.
Sweet topping buns/pineapple buns with egg custard filling: A bun with a crunchy outside, filled with egg custard.
Special big steamed buns: The ones from Mei Lai Wah are huge, practically an entire meal unto themselves. Here's what you'll find inside: roast pork, part of a hardboiled egg, and a small piece of Chinese sausage.
Egg custard tarts: The classic Chinese bakery item—it's best to get one when it's hot right out of the oven. Although you can find them in many flavors, including papaya, Portuguese, green tea, and strawberry, my favorite is the plain one with a flaky crust.
Other favorites
- Pullman bread: Great for eating by itself or making sandwiches with
- Napoleon walnut cake: Flaky, creamy goodness
- Vanilla Swiss roll: A deliciously creamy and soft cake
- Paper wrapped cake: A light spongy chiffon cake
- Pizza buns: Pizza + sweet bun = weird (but a good weird)
HO WON
146 Hester Street, New York NY 10013
MEI LAI WAH
64 Bayard Street, New York NY 10013
CHATHAM RESTAURANT
9 Chatham Square, New York NY 10038
SUN SAY KAI
220 Canal Street, New York NY 10013
FAY DA BAKERY
82 Elizabeth Street, New York NY 10013
191 Centre Street, New York NY 10013
83 Mott Street, New York NY 10013
CENTURY CAFE
123 Bowery, New York NY 10002
DOUBLE CRISPY BAKERY
230 Grand Street, New York NY 10013
TAI PAN BAKERY
194 Canal Street, New York NY 10013
GOLDEN KING BAKERY
90 Bowery, New York NY 10002
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15 Comments:
Mei Lai Wah is my favorite, but they were shut down by the dept. of health late last week- not sure if they are reopened yet!
kll205 at 9:23AM on 04/23/08
has anyone seen mango buns (man guo mian bao, i think)? they were your basic sweet bun with this mango filling (heavily adulterated i suspect, but amazing) and some fantastic spiral-patterned flaky topping, like a very fine spiral maze. they used to carry them at dragon land, but they stopped a few years ago.
sloppydelicious at 10:32AM on 04/23/08
Hate to rain down on the parade but yes Mei Lah Wah has been closed due to DOH. The record is not very clear on the DOH website though.
http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/detail.do?method=detail&restaurantId=40366101&inspectionDate=20080103
aa1158 at 10:51AM on 04/23/08
Has anbyody ever seen Durian or durian custard filled pastries at a NYC chinese bakery? They have them at a few Dim Sum places, but I've never seen anything made with durian custard at a stand alone bakery. Anybody?
Zach Brooks at 11:35AM on 04/23/08
Actually, milk cream buns are "nhyai wong bao", which is a long, oval shaped bun split down the center and filled with pipped cream and topped with flaked coconut. The name of "cocktail bun" is the literal translation of "gai mei bao"=cock's tail bun. Or chicken butt bun, if you will. (j/k). The gravy in the cha siu bao varies from bakery to bakery but most of the time it contains oyster sauce & soy sauce amongst other goodies.
Check out the smaller mom & pop bakeries along Mott. One place (can't remember the name, sorry!) specializes in mooncakes that have Chinese ham & nuts in them. Gooooood eats.
Anyone have any info on Mei Lai Wah? I hope they're not closed. They have the best cha siu bao plus they do "dan zat". It's a big fried noodle coated in maltose. You know those fried noodles that come with your carryout wonton soup? Supersize that, cover it with sticky maltose and that's your "dan zat". YUM!
For me, Fay Da is okay for the Japanese style cheesecake but between that place & Tai Pan - give me Tai Pan any day. I like the variety and the quality of the bread better. It's as close as I'll get to HK right now without hopping on a plane! :)
Gastro888 at 12:11PM on 04/23/08
I fell in love with chinese bakeries in Singapore. I haven't found one near me in Minnesota. Oh I miss custard filled buns.
aharste at 12:42PM on 04/23/08
I like the Manna bakeries for the swiss rolls and egg custard tarts. Also, the bakery on East Broadway right around the corner from the F train has a great scallion roll and the buns with sweet topping filled with cream or pineapple. They also have this wonderful swiss roll kind of thing that looks like it is fried? in some sort of sweet crumbly pastry. Like cake in a pie. It's really good.
bluebird at 1:38PM on 04/23/08
Don't miss Mo Xi Guh bao (Mexico/Mexican buns) if you can help it! I have no clue why they're named the way they are, but what they are is a simple pillowy bun made from sweet dough, topped with a rich, buttery crust made from evaporated milk.
They're great for those of us who don't like overly sweet things, or are overwhelmed by goopy, gelatinous fillings. They're very rich and lightly sweet, great with tea.
Another treat is mwa ji (the Chinese version of Japanese mochi). No rubbery,. freezer aisle mochi here. The mochi at Chinese bakeries tend to be softer and stickier. They are dusted with starch and flaked coconut and can contain a dab of anything from red bean paste to ground peanuts and sugar.
And at some bakieres, there are ultra-fine egg cupcakes that look like a cross between a brioche and a popover. They are lighter than air and I can easily inhale several in a sitting.
Look for these next time you find yourself near a Chinese bakery!
fuuchan at 1:57PM on 04/23/08
I dropped by Mei Lai Wah today. I peeked through the window and didn't see any work being done along the lines of remodeling. I also didn't see anyone inside except two people in the back talking.
@ Gastro888: Mooncakes that have ham and nuts in them? Mott street below or above Canal street?
@ bluebird: Ooh, I'll check that place out when I start researching the East Broadway Chinatown post!
Gordon Mark at 2:43PM on 04/23/08
Awesome write-up!
A lot of the bakeries also take half-off the leftover goods after 7:30 pm or so. I mean, they're already cheap as they are, but if you happen to be in the area... All I remember is that I used to drop by Fay Da after work last year when I lived by Chinatown and pick up loaves of bread for less than $1. :)
Emily Koh at 5:21PM on 04/23/08
@ fuuchan - I don't know why Mexican buns are called that but they DO look a lot like the buns I find at panaderias. Pan dulce?
mandabear at 9:31PM on 04/23/08
Be aware that 'pineapple buns' (bwolwo bao) normally do not have egg custard filling as you have depicted. The egg custard filled buns externally look the same as the 'pineapple buns' but are called 'guy yeung bao' -- not sure what that is in English.
chinowitz at 11:24PM on 04/23/08
@ chinowitz: Yeah I know. I wrote pineapple buns with egg custard filling.
Gordon Mark at 11:50PM on 04/23/08
@mandabear
It seems a lot of Chinese buns can fall under the category of pan dulce! Mexican buns and bo lo bao both resemble kinds of pan dulce. Related, perhaps?
fuuchan at 12:10PM on 04/24/08
I was surprised to see Lung Moon wasn't on your list. They are my last stop before taking the subway back to Brooklyn. Their cram rolls are amazing. Baked baos are out of this world as well as red bean cakes. The only thing I've ever found lacking was their coconut buns which I would usually grab from a place on the corner of Baxter and Canal.
therealchiffonade at 12:16PM on 12/28/08