Okay my penultimate favorite HK style bakery is the og Kee Wah in Monterey Park of the 90s. When they still had tongs and trays and you could get fresh baked breads off the still warm speed rack that they just wheeled into the store front. They’re definitely still best all around in socal for pineapple buns, coconut buns and red bean/date flower buns.
In SF my top favorite bakery is Lung Fung in the Outer Richmond. I feel like they’re best all around in the city and their shining star is their egg tart. Lard based crust that’s so tender it falls apart if you blow at it too hard. Carmelized bottom and barely set still jiggly custard. Absolutely bangin. Most folks love their charsiu bun which is very very good but my regular order is red bean pineapple bun and cocktail bun. Cocktail bun is best in the city. Curry pastry is also very good. You really can’t go wrong with any of their items there…everything is made with intention and a very good version of what it’s trying to be.
Garden Bakery in Chinatown has the closest pineapple bun that resembles the Kee Wah style holy grail of pineapple bun cookie topping. It’s really a world class pineapple bun and kind of slept on.
Honorable Mentions
Pineapple King. Okay hear me out…I know folks love this place but their pineapple bun solo, without the butter just isn’t that good? The topping is gravely and not yolky or sweet enough. I will conceded that the hot milk tea and warm bolo butter combo can’t be bea; in 2019 it was $5 exactly. Pre-covid you could walk in and choose your bread but I feel like now a 3 person line is at least a 20 minute wait. Their coconut bun is pretty damn good though.
Mr. Bread: this place is known for their Portuguese egg tart but I’ve had it perhaps 5 times in the last couple years and it’s underwhelming..I’d much rather have an egg tart from Lung Fung. All their other breads and pasties are serviceable. Strong for the neighborhood but not great.
Clement Restaurant: New takeout dimsum place on Clement in the Inner Richmond. Their pineapple bun is unusual. Worth a try. The cookie topping is crackly like Dutch Crunch and delightfully sweet. Their buns are also super tall and light. Pretty friggin yummy. Cocktail bun is just okay. Egg tart is average.
All Hype
Golden Gate Bakery: I’ve had their egg tart fresh fresh, still hot and maybe I’m too harsh but their crust felt like the gluten was overdeveloped and it was tough..flaky but it had that texture of dough not being allowed to rest before being rolled out…like the flakes broke in larger chunks and didn’t quite have the loose sablé texture. I also found the custard filling to be pretty light on egg yolk and just barely sweet. Like they took “not too sweet” sentiment too far.
Where are your favorites and what’s good there?
