Introduction
In New York, the pandemic gave birth to a litany of viral bakeries. We ate and reviewed them all — from croissants reshaped from crescent moon to cube, cylinder, wheel, diamond, and even flower shaped, to the most fragrant cardamom buns that warmed our souls in the middle of a NYC winter, to giant cream buns bigger than your face and a field of little stores specializing in bite-sized cream puffs, then to miscellaneous one-time wonders and then some more, as one year, then two and then three years passed after the pandemic, they all started to blur together. In Hong Kong, we dare say that the bakeries here seem to have a stronger creative heart, producing a repertoire that features more than the same old brown pastry. In the below, we chronicle the most viral bakery goods that we have had the privilege to sample in the last half year in Hong Kong — and for true dessert adventurers, we have ordered it starting from Kowloon side down to Hong Kong Island, crossing from west to east, from Sheung Wan/Central district to Causeway Bay, North Point, and ending in Quarry Bay.
Jellycat bread from +Bread
Dessert destination: +Bread, Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Hong Kong. - Budget: $$ (HKD $28).
- Short and sweet story: Since relocating to Asia, these Dessert Correspondents have been exposed to a new world of toys. Labubu, Chikawa, Doraemon, Jellycat. Not having kids ourselves, it’s been a very interesting thing to see how such toys can cross over to various walks of adult life in HK, including to desserts. In this latter respect, we certainly couldn’t help but smile inside when we visited a small bakery called +Bread at the edge of bustling Mong Kok. Many of the baked goods here take the form of cute, smiley-face creations. Cuteness aside, they are softly toned with the likes of pistachio, taro, red bean. Coupled with some great egg tarts, +Bread is well worth the trek to Mong Kok.
Modern egg tarts from Hashtag B or Bakehouse
- Dessert destination:
- Budget: $-$$ (Hashtag’s egg tarts range from HKD $12-28, and Bakehouse is HKD $12).
- Short and sweet story: Last month, we published a detailed round-up review of Hong Kong’s best modern egg tarts, see here. The most popular – and most viral – of those egg tart purveyors are unquestionably, Hashtag B and Bakehhouse. Hashtag B’s very generously-sized and flower-shaped egg tarts are our absolute favourite modern egg tarts in Hong Kong. If you are after something smaller and more bite-sized, check out Bakehouse to tick it off your must-eat list. However, do also check out the burgeoning range of other modern egg tart stores across Hong Kong – they are just as deserving, if not more so, of attention and hype. See further here.
Pineapple bun egg waffle from Chicken Egg Boy
- Dessert destination: Chicken Egg Boy, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Island.
- Budget: $$ (HKD $59)
- Short and sweet story: These Dessert Correspondents are generally indifferent to the Cantonese pineapple bun and the egg waffle. With the greatest honesty, we find them a little quotidien – just one of the many different types of baked goods that can be found in a traditional Cantonese bakery. What happens if you combine them both together though? A little shopfront in a less hectic part of Sheung Wan opened up around the time we relocated to Hong Kong earlier this year and did just that, and the crowds have lapped it up ever since. On a recent weekend, we traipsed over just after the noontime opening and ordered it. Each bubble of the waffle is perfectly formed, and taste-wise, it’s less doughy than the traditional egg waffle, possessing that crispy texture characteristic of the surface of a pineapple bun to offset all that carbohydrate intake. Somewhat interesting, but overall, undeniably excellent marketing.
Matcha mochi danish from Vission Bakery
- Dessert destination: Vission Bakery, Soho/Mid Levels, Hong Kong Island.
- Budget: $$ (HKD 60)
- Short and sweet story: Located across from Bakehouse in the Mid Levels, Vission Bakery attracts as big a crowd. However, by contrast to Bakehouse, we think the hype surrounding Vission Bakery is much more warranted. Think creative pastries, not just yet another soporific brown croissant. Two of the must-eat pastries from Vission Bakery are the “Matcha Mochi Danish” and the “Pistachio Custard Tart.” Here, the first is a circlet of flakey pastry pumped with a lava pool of very strong-toned matcha with jewels of mochi balls embedded within, whereas the second is exquisitely creamy and perhaps more universally appealing due to its more moderate pistachio tones. Bring both home, cut it into two, watch the matcha or pistachio custard flow, and share it with another dessert-loving friend. And definitely return for the other baked goods at Vission Bakery.
Truffle salt bread from Truffle Bakery
- Dessert destination: Truffle Bakery, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island.
- Budget: $$ (HKD $23 for original salt truffle bread; HKD $33 for chocolate salt truffle bread)
- Short and sweet story: Let’s be clear – we do not like truffle. We never understood it. So dear readers, you can imagine that we were fairly sceptical and not at all that enthusiastic about visiting a bakery called “Truffle Bakery.” One bite though, and we fell in love. A soft, slightly chewy sweet bun with a strong edge of salt — the contrast is most interesting indeed. While we didn’t really perceive any strong “truffle” tones in the original salt bread bun, the chocolate version did yield a more earthy edge, very slight though.
Instagrammable milk bread from Sarasei and Arome
- Dessert destination:
- Budget: $$ (Arome’s milk bread loaf is HKD $28.50, and Sarasei’s is HKD $19).
- Short and sweet story: Arome and Sarasei are two of those dessert spots that barely register a blip on online magazines or even Instragram, perhaps because they are a chain store bakery. However, when we saw their respective milk bread products pop up on Dianping — the Chinese food app that is the most reliable food information source that we have ever used, and especially compared to the local HK Openrice app — we knew that both would be well worth checking out. The milk bread loaf from Sarasei is embossed with a panda face and features light pandan tones, where Arome’s version is imprinted with a cute cat and possesses a chocolate edge. They are certainly both wonderful ways to start one’s early morning breakfast session, guaranteed to brighten up any gloomy day. 😀
Taro pudding bun from Jake ‘n’ me Bakery
- Dessert destination: Jake ‘n’ me Bakery, Causeway Bay and North Point, Hong Kong Island.
- Budget: $$
- Short and sweet story: Flying somewhat under the radar on IG, but most definitely not on Dianping, Jake ‘n’ Me Bakery is one of those bakeries that have been around for a few years, and yet much more deserving of hype than other bakeries. By comparison to all the other bakeries on this list which we actively Google-mapped to find, we stumbled across Jake ‘n’ Me while shopping in Causeway Bay. Many of the baked treats here feature taro, and our favourite is the just-slightly-sweet bun filled to the rim with a custard pudding. It is inscribed in taro dust on the surface, and also conceals a heart of taro paste acting as a perfect counterpoint to the sweeter surrounding custard. Definitely eat this one sitting, and not standing, as the custard is drippy.
Siu Mai mille pastry from Forest Bakery
- Dessert destination: Forest Bakery, pop-up shop located on Level 1, Cityplaza, Taikoo/Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Island.
- Budget: $$ (HKD $26)
- Short and sweet story: As long-time followers of this dessert blog will know, we have no problem travelling far for desserts. 😀 So when we heard that a bakery had popped up at the eastern end of Hong Kong Island, almost 30 minutes away from our west-end apartment but still easily accessible via HK’s wonderful MTR system, we jumped on that MTR without second thought. Forest Bakery’s viral siu mai mille pastry is one of those creations that make you wonder why no one had thought of it before — here, three mini siu mai dumplings are plopped onto an ultra-crunchy mille feuille pastry cradle that shatters into flakey shards on biting down. Served warm, it’s essentially pret-a-porter brunch. 😛
Dessert Correspondents 