Chinese Bakery

Very rube staff on the phone. I tried to call and reserve a birthday cake. The clerk cannot address questions, did not want to reserve the cake, did not even write down my name, didn’t even tell me when the store closed or if the store takes credit card. And it wasn’t she didn’t understand, all the rudeness was spoken in Chinese.
Will never visit here again.

I come here regularly mainly for the buns. $ 2 for a pack of 6 or so. They are affordable and make a nice snack. I’m not a fan of the deep fried taro pastry or the steamed pork buns (filling is tough and boring).

Really great Japanese cheesecake! I’ve tried other Chinatown bakeries and even Uncle Tetsu, but this is my favorite.

The steamed buns were delicious. I got two of each kind. I honestly couldn’t differentiate between the three once they were combined into one bag, but still delicious nonetheless. I also got a couple of small hot dog bun and bbq pork buns. I highly recommend the hot dog buns as well!

Fear not about the food inspection closure, they passed the last 3 inspections this year post grand re-​opening.
Keep on chowing!
The taro buns and taro cakes are tasty.

A neighborhood hangout on a Wednesday afternoon. Cheap sweets, awesome steamed pork buns. Did I say cheap? Although we didn’t try the cheesecake it was only $ 3.50 and no hour-​long line up ;)

I quite like this bakery. Wide variety of baked goods and even seating for you to enjoy the food right after your purchase. I used to come here some I was a child and every time I visit Chinatown again, I would stop by here. This time I bought a deep fried taro pastry which was cold, I would’ve preferred it at least warm or room temperature. The milk tart and egg tart were good, I don’t recall ever trying a milk tart before. The pastry was $ 0.60CAD for one or two for a dollar. The milk and egg custard tarts were also two for a dollar. I would prefer if this bakery allowed buying only one of each for some of the baked goods so that I can try it, rather than forcing me to buy two of each. Will be visiting again next time.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again– you cannot beat china town prices for the amount of food you get. The main woman who runs this store is amazing and very sweet and friendly. Great hours and super conveniently located along dundas accessible both by dundas streetcar or Spadina streetcar and short walk. I’m a regular here and will continue to be. The deals are crazy good and I love the pork buns here. 3 for two dollars– what? Amazing!!!

Do NOT… I repeat, do NOT go there after their «Grand re-​opening»!
They got closed about a month or two ago by the Canada food regulatory agency, and have just re-​opened their store. What I see is a change of owner when I entered.
I was craving buns and fried sesame balls and «salty triangle» (also deep fried) when I went in. They had a promotion going on, $ 2 for a bag of 6 – 8 deep fried goodie. Given how hungry I was, I went ahead and bought two bags.
I greatly regretted my decision after I got home. The deep fried food (both the sesame balls & salty triangle) tasted like burnt lard oil. I can taste the strong favours of burnt pork intestines in it. It was absolutely DISGUSTING. As well, instead of the texture being soft and fluffy like I expected, it was full of sticky rice flours and tough to chew on. The content inside is minimal as well. So I went ahead and took a few bites into the buns, same thing, lots of flours and contents are minimal. Definitely not worth the money.
I will not go ever again. Would give a ⁰⁄₅ if I can.

Unique items: deep fried taro (quite tasty when fresh!) and other fried fare, Mexican Buns, cheap spring rolls.
The façade might not look great, its a bit dark inside, and the name may be rather. redundant, but pastries are really cheap.

Stopped by here on our way through Chinatown.
The good: Great value. We bought 3 pork buns, 2 sesame seed buns, and 3 egg custard tarts, which came out to $ 4. Everything looked fairly fresh (for 4pm) and the place was packed. There’s a microwave to self reheat anything you want warmed up.
The meh: I’ve had better tasting buns, but for the price, I can’t complain much. The bakery name isn’t the most original, but it is easy to remember.
Would I come here again? Yes. Filling and cheap snacks for the traveler on the way to their next destination.

Due to the rising costs of ingredients, buns are now 2 for $ 1 says the signage. The steamed buns are still 3 for $ 2.
I still like coming here. On a normal morning I’d have two normal size buns hot out of the oven because A) I like to eat them when fresh out of the over B) one doesn’t seem satisfying enough as there are so many varieties C) you just want to try at least a savory and sweet
So while they are smaller than your normal ones, you can satisfy all three reasons with smaller portions. I usually opt for the ham+egg bun, the cocktail bun (this means coconut), the curry beef or the pineapple bun (not literally tasting like pineapple, just might look like it). Now if it was 3 for $ 1, I’d eat all three as well. Oh, it is 5 for $ 2 though.
This has been my go-​to Chinese bun place because of the value and because my former go-​to place is closed now. But I do like this place. Why would I want to pay more than $ 1 for one bun in the suburbs?

The food is cheap. :D I grabbed a steamed pork bun on my way to the art museum. The pork and veggies were still steamy. It was a convenient snack and cheap to boot! It was only .70 cents. mmmm very nice. On my way leaving Toronto I bought a cheesecake that was like a sponge cake for maybe $ 3.00. I a used coconut butter as a topping. Delish! The service was friendly, they have seating available. I would like to try more things, but I merely passing through. Their operating hours are 8am-​8pm.

I love this place. It’s one of my favourite spots for cheap eats in the city.
In my opinion the BBQ pork buns, curry buns, and deserts stack up with any other bakery in Chinatown. This combined with the price is what has kept me coming back here for years.
You can literally stuff yourself, and have enough leftover for another meal or two, for under $ 5. Amazing.

This place makes great deep fried pork dumplings (oval-​like shaped, brown and crispy, deep fried, pork filled dumplings). They are packed with filling and perfectly crispy on the outside but soft and sticky on the inside. They are also very cheap too. If you go after 5pm they sell them for 5 for $ 2. They also make great mini veggie egg rolls, which they sell 5 for $ 2 after 5pm too. It‘s my default place to go if I want some deep fried goodness.
I can’t comment on their baked buns as I don’t normally get them from here.

Unlike the price of gas, there’s a lot of variability in the pricing of Chinese buns. The bottom end seems to be 3 for $ 1. Mashion and Ding Dong up near Spadina and College seem to be the cheaper options. For those who are coming from Yonge/​Dundas or, say, the art gallery and want to nosh on some chinese buns for that perfect «what white people like» weekend outing (white people love art galleries, ethnic food, and cheap eats they can brag about), Chinese Bakery is your convenient choice.
It’s a touch dingy inside, mind you. But there are a number of tables if you want to make this the cheapest lunch spot on the street. Table space seems to be at a premium, however. I can usually find a table at Mashion or Ding Dong.

Cheap but average chinese bakery
They have an everyday special of 3 egg tarts or certain buns for $ 1 which is really cheap. However, most of the buns looked old when I came in the afternoon. Like most places I visited in Canada, they accept american dollars on a 1 to 1 ratio

Egg tarts and BBQ pineapple buns are 4 stars– most other things win 3 stars. I like their red bean pineapple buns though.
Because of the service and the mostly-​3-​star reason, I am not rounding up.
Pastry is delicious and flaky for the tarts, buns are soft and springy, prices are cheap, just make sure to keep track of what you’re supposed to pay and count the change to make sure you’ve been charged the correct amount. The bags they supply mostly are not the kind that seal, so you must tie them.
Service is very brusque. This isn’t a problem for me, however my experience could definitley be lifted from neutral to pleasant if the workers smiled or spoke in lighter tones. They sell bags of egg tarts for a dollar. I think there are 6 per package.
For some reason I always seem to come in when it is extremely empty or extremely busy. Either way, there are usually some older people sitting at the tables inside, drinking coffee or slowly eating their things. You will not be bothered if you sit down to eat your purchases and relax by watching people go past the window.

Egg tarts — 4 stars
Coconut tarts — 4 stars
Milk egg tarts — 4 stars
BBQ pork buns — 3 stars

With the lemon yellow sign and the generic title you might think this place is a No Name product, but then you’d come to your senses when you notice the lack of Swiss type and the fact that this is a bakery, not a box on a shelf of a Loblaws. Think, man!
Anyway, the generic name is fitting because it’s like any other similar spot in Chinatown. Full of baked and not-​really-​baked goods, this place has more tarts, buns, and balls than Halloween on Church Street. The M. O is pretty standard: grab a cafeteria tray, load ‘er up, marvel at the unbelievably efficient packaging work at the cash register, deftly avoid their pitch to sell you day olds, hand over a laughably small amount of money and GTFO.
Bottom line: cheap and good. On Dundas West just East of Spadina on the south side of the street. Look for the store that sort-​of-​not-​really-​not-​at-​all-​actually looks like a No Name product.
Obligatory Title Pun: Open SESAME balls!
Menu Readability: Dude. Just know what you’re looking for. Signage in this place is useless.
Need to mention: Three BBQ Pork Buns for $ 2. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
What this place teaches me about myself: I love to bask in seemingly-​impossible prices.