Gary’s Bakery & Bistro

Went here for some bao, because of a 10 $ minimum for debit cards i got much more. Dicks. The bao was very bad, the baked was better then the steamed but both were gross. The rest of the stuff was all remarkably average. The bakery itself was notably filthy, even as dirty Chinese bakery’s go. Skip this joint.

I’ve been checking out various Asian bakeries lately, and today I went to Gary’s Bakery and Bistro. They have a good selection of baked goods, steamed buns, and dessert sweets. They also have a dining area with wifi where you can hang out for awhile if you’d like. Many of their baked items are in covered shelves along a wall in a self-​serve setup. You grab a tray and tongs and just pick out what you want. They also have some of the more «delicate» items inside their glass case. I’m happy to see that Gary’s has some of my favorite things: BBQ pork sticky buns, meat pies with flaky crusts, and egg tarts, and their prices are pretty much the same as at other bakeries in the area. However, none of their items really stand out in any particular way.

Im going to give it another go but so far unimpressed. By the afternoon there’s nothing left? Or there wasn’t that much out to begin with? All that was left was a sponge cake and a strange“Napoleon”
The place smelled like people actively smoke cigarettes in there.
The sponge cake was ok, the strange Napoleon thing was like taffy but not sweet, very oily and didn’t have much flavor.
Since there seems to be big fans out there, I’ll try it earlier in the day and see what else they carry. So far it’s not a must visit.

I LOVE the egg custard bun at this bakery! Egg custard bun, known as lai wong bao in Cantonese, is a sweet dish typically served during dim sum. It is incredibly difficult to execute well, simply because there are so many elements that need to be accounted for to make the perfect bun and the right consistency of egg custard filling. This bakery has one of the best egg custard buns I’ve ever had, and what makes it that much sweeter for me is the fact that each bun is only $ 1. What a STEAL! Whenever I’m back in Portland again, Gary’s Bakery & Bistro is on my list of places to revisit.

It’s hard for me to review this place when I’m not entirely sure what exactly I’m eating and ordering. Full disclosure; prior to Gary’s I’ve never eaten at a Chinese bakery before, so I’m not sure what to compare it to. However, I’ve been here to Gary’s about 7 – 8 times because I’m absolutely addicted to their pastries!
When you walk into Gary’s you see a wall full of pastries, and more often than not, while you’re here you get to see freshly baked goods brought out regularly! My absolutely favorite part of this place has to be the prices! I can completely fill myself (and some friends) up on hot dog rolls, custard pastries, and garlic breads for less than $ 5! Each roll is only about 80 cents to a dollar. The coffee’s not bad either!

No one really speaks English here especially if you arrive in the morning. Pretty self explanatory when you walk in the doors; head right and grab a tray and tongs and just grab what you want.
Everything is pretty good here with the exception of the toasted egg tarts-​they are a bit too sweet. You definitely need something to wash them down with.
I like their deep fried shrimp and pork bun/​ball? It’s savory and immensely crispy!
If you’re looking for something savory get the dried pork bun with mayo.
I am a fan of their bbq pork buns, they are one of the fluffiest buns in portland however the filling is very sparse and I wish they would change that.
Aside from that I sometimes feel that they overcharge me especially when I buy a lot, when you go here bring cash! Regardless pretty tasty place for on the go buns and asian stuff.

Their sponge cake ($ 1.75/slice) and roll cake ($ 6.95) are delicious and probably my favorite I’ve tried in the area. Very fluffy, not too sweet, and has just the right amount of whipped cream in them. The problem is I didn’t like their other items and the lady working there was super rude. I was asking her what some items were and she rolled her eyes then looked at me with her eye glasses pushed down and reluctantly answered me. It was like she was trying hard not to sell her baked goods. I asked about the bathroom and again she looked irritated. Even though the employees are rude, I probably would still come back to get their sponge cake.

good and delicious buns, bought some pandan cakes, coffee cake and tiramisu, meat floss buns, pork steam buns, although the service is not that good, just ok.
I only bought the cakes and buns from them as until now I think they are the most decent chinese bakery in Portland — taste wise. Would give another star if they hire more english speaking servers.

The egg tarts are purportedly the best in Portland. They were ok, but nothing compared to Golden Gate Bakery in SF.
I continue to mourn the access to good Chinese food in the Bay Area. Sniff, sniff.

Found a gem at this place. Ask for the stir fried rice noodles and pork for $ 2.75. Add egg for more protein. Make sure you add the sweet soy sauce that’s in the tea pot near the the other condiments. Delicious.
BBQ buns are still bad. This time no soggy bottom, but there was barely any filling in them.
The milk powder bun is growing on me and it’s pretty cheap at $ 1/​each.

Probably the best Bao I’ve had: the outside is super soft, not so rubbery like from most places and inside has ample well-​spiced filling. For $ 1.75 it’s a steal! There are so many sweet and savory offerings in the under $ 3 range.
The Dan Tat (egg tart) with the caramelized top is the BEST I’ve had, damn they are good.
I heard the items on the menu are worth a try, but apparently they stop serving them after the late afternoon. Service is surprisingly friendly (well, depending who you get), but parking can be hit or miss. This is the kind of place at which I’d stop if I just happened to be driving by, there’s always something to buy for later.

Love love this place.
Think yummy and you’ll find it here.
Love all the breads. My favorite is the raisen bread.

This place is a little bakery/​bistro on the corner of 86^th and Division. Right next to Wong’s King Seafood Restaurant. If you’re lucky you’ll be able to get a parking spot on the street, and if you’re really lucky you might be able to squeeze into their tiny 5 spot parking lot that they have outside. Sometimes even the handicapped spot is taken and they don’t even have the permit to park there…
Anyways enough if that, walking into the door, you’ll see on your left, tables to sit and eat your baked goods at on the right, you’ll be able to see a selection of baked goods to choose from, in front they have a display case where you can choose some sweet baked goods. If you’re coming here for cakes, walk around the corner and you can see the sizes that they have and the book for designs. It starts at 8″ for a whopping $ 25 and 10″ for 35 $ and so on for every increase they told me it was an additional $ 10.
Furthermore I came in, they stared me down like they didn’t want my business and as I continued to look around at their baked goods, and then eventually wander around the corner to their cake selection it took a while for the lady that was literally 2 feet away from me to finally come and help me.
When she did she asked us what I needed, and I told her. She told us the prices, I thought it was a bit too steep so I kindly rejected her and told her it was ok and thanks for the information. She suddenly gets offended and tries to guilt trip me by asking why over and over, followed by telling me that they have the best cakes in Portland and that they only use fresh fruit unlike other places. The funniest comment that the lady said was that the cakes were «moist and tender» I instantly thought of a steak not a cake anymore. I finally had enough of her that I didn’t even want a cake anymore and left without buying anything when I did plan on purchasing a few buns along with my cake.
In all, horrible horrible service, if you don’t speak Chinese it seems like they didn’t want your business, I know I’m not coming back here again, trying to guilt trip me into buying something that I didn’t want because it didn’t fit my needs, I felt like I was talking to a used car salesman, maybe that was her job prior to this; she should apply for it she’ll sell lots of cars.

Holy delicious Asian pastries batman! From savory to sweet, they have them all. They also do custom cakes and decorating.

Hands down the best Asian Bakery in Portland. The scrambled egg tart here is DIVINE! And all the roll cakes: orange rolls, pandan rolls, ugh!
Depends on who’s ringing you up, cashier’s attitude is not always the best, but it doesn’t really bother me. Most of the time they are pretty nice. I was very impressed with their service this one time when I came in half an hour before closing trying to buy a birthday cake. They didn’t have anything left so they just baked me a fresh one.

Finally. Warm dan tats by the dozen.
For the longest time, Portland was a place where you just couldn’t go to a Chinese bakery and pick up a decent egg tart still warm and flaking apart.
But here, you can! Even better, you can pick up some bruleed po tats too! It’s almost more than you thought was possible in Portland!
I don’t mind the lackluster service since I’m just in and out for the tarts and whatnot.
The pineapple buns left a bit to be desired as far as I was concerned, lacking a lot of the crumbly sweet topping. But they were ok. Frankly, I’m just pleased as punch to have found a place with dan tats that are comparable to larger cities — so silky and slightly sweet!
The servers often have cute red kitty aprons on too.
Now if only I could find a still warm and gooey jalebi in Portland…

FIRST EASTER IN PDX
This Easter bunny mama is looking for the best Portuguese Egg Tarts (PETs) in all of PDX. I sniffed (read) that Gary’s Bakery & Bistro has PETs that others brag about. Luckily I called ahead and they were able to save a few for me. Portuguese and Scrambled Egg styles are waiting for me. Which one was the winner? Easily the Portuguese style. Smooth creamy firm sweet filling. Wished Gary would have used the same crust from the Scrambled Egg on the Portuguese. Note: Scrambled Egg style is typical of larger custard pies.

***BEst Cakes Only*** (I give it 4 Stars ****) I went there to get a birthday cake for my father and ask about wedding sheet cakes and experienced rude service. They are lucky the cakes are holding up this business. If it wasn’t for the cakes I would never come back here!
Be ready and aware of rude and bad service, but expect good tasting fruit filled cakes. A love and hate relationship for this establishment.

In terms of selection and quality, Chinese eateries in Portland don’t have the crème de la crème goods despite being sandwiched between two of the most Chinese-​centric food cities in the world (San Francisco /​Vancouver BC). This bodes the same with Chinese bakeries like Gary’s, located in what has become the epicenter of Asian hoods: Southeast Portland.
With it’s own prominent corner and parking lot, Gary’s gets a lot of traffic from folks who are coming from nearby joints like Wong’s King (
) or some of the Asian supermarkets along division. Be it teenagers who are looking for a fun place to chill and eat a bun, or people who are just looking to grab some pastries for a post-​meal snack.
On the inside, Gary has done a marvelous job in making the bakery look hip for all crowds. The place is clean, contemporary, and an ideal spot to lounge while grabbing something small to eat. Even the bathrooms are well maintained, which really deserves its own star. Service is pretty friendly for the most part and there is usually plenty of help behind the counter.
I’ve purchased a few of their cakes here for special occasions (aka Asian birthday cakes), which are probably the best one will find in the area. They’d be cheaper in most other Asian metropolitan areas, but this will just have to do here. The po tats (Portuguese egg tarts) are solid, despite not looking as «charred» as some would like.
However, I haven’t had a lot of luck with their buns of any kind. From bo luo bao (pineapple buns) to ceung zai bao (Chinese pigs in a blanket bun) I’ve been disappointed. The golden rule of thumb for any bakery is to avoid the last 3 hours before closing for optimal quality in the goods (i.e. morning to afternoon is the best time) and I feel like I’ve come here around those times. Thankfully they’re cheap enough not to feel the pinch and it’s likely I’ll keep sampling until I get something
What pastry place without a little milk tea? They do make a solid cold milk tea, which goes very well with any of their pastries. I wish I could say the same about the boba.
I still have yet to really meet anyone who is gung ho about their: insert meat: over rice dishes or their noodle soups or even their karaōke setup. I would love to see this place as a night life spot eating buns and singing old school Chinese songs. In fact, I am willing to bet that it’s been done before.
Lastly, I’m flattered they like my work:

Best Asian Cakes in PDX!
There’s not a lot of places that makes good Asian cakes in PDX, but this place has to be the best so far. My family loves eating asian cakes because of their not so sweet frosting and the fact that you can order fruit or coconut fillings. The frosting at Gary’s has more flavor than most, its not very sweet & has just enough to satisfied your sweet tooth. It’s more dense than most places and very moist. Its due to the fact that they are wiling to put more butter & milk to bring out the flavor.
Here is how you need to order it: Get the green (traditional color) or vanilla cake, with fresh coconut meat or fresh fruit filling and add crispy flakes. I recommend you pay a little more for the cripsy flakes in the middle, i seriously think it makes a huge difference in the texture & flavor.
The best part about this place is they use fresh fruits, not canned fruit like most who will try to pass it off as fresh, but real fresh fruits. They even have an option of dry coconut, can coconut and fresh coconuts, but you know the prices are more as you get into the fresh stuff.
This isn’t the cheapest place to buy your asian cake, but it definitely is cheaper than a lot of high end pastry stores and the best so far that i’ve tasted in PDX. I’m about quality and not quantity so i’ll pay extra to get a smaller size for the quality I want. They open until 9pm on the weekday too & you only need a few hours notice for them to make you a cake… they can make it the same day!
Gary’s bakery does a decent job in designing your cake, especially w/​the spelling. its very pretty unlike some asian pastry shop. I recommend for everyone to try their cake at least once, then you’ll know what asian cake taste like. I’m sure you won’t regret it either.