Hing Shing Pastry

A way overdue review post, but, i remember my experience at this bakery clearly. I was like a child at a candy store ;)
Large variety of Chinese baked goods. All the treats reminded me of my childhood days in Hawaii. I went for moon cakes, but also left the store with some of my childhood favorites: slices of Bok Tong Go, almond cookies, and custard tarts.

I used to come here for bake goods. I’ve always made a point to stop by even though the traffic is horrible, the parking is a nightmare. NOT anymore. I once come home with mold in one of them. Their steam buns are fill with flower. More flower than the meat… so much flower that you just don’t want to eat anymore. That was my final trip.

I was intimidated at first because it was so packed and looked like it was one of those places where you get scorned if you dont order quick enough. Well, as a first timer, I was a but confused and took my time (not too long, but longer than the regulars) and when i decided to get some egg custards, I was happy to see that they were only a dollar each! The lady who took my order was super nice and the egg custard was divine, probably the best I’ve ever had, and i can trust that it’s very authentic as well. You can peek into the kitchen and see that many hands come together to make all of the amazing pastries! Next time I will have to try the moon cakes, which all sounded amazing and were gorgeous. Love that I found a genuine chinese bakery with amazing homemade menu items :)

I practically grew up with this bakery. They’re old school — solid bake goods without all the frills (fancy décor). Lots of old time favorites — dinner bun, rice pudding, sticky rice cakes and sponge cakes.

One of the few places in Chinatown where I have been able to find pork buns and sesame balls. Everything costs around $ 1.10 or so. There is also a woman behind the counter that speaks great English.
The downfalls however is that the pork buns aren’t so good, the bakery is not very clean, the dudes in the back smoke, and the quality is not up to other bakeries near by.

Stopped here on my way to Boston South Station to catch a train back to New York, given it’s the closest bakery to the station in Chinatown within a short walking distance and wow — would’ve gotten a lot more stuff had I know it was so tasty!!!
Loved the savory taro pastry — flavorful, moist and just delicious. That got devoured so fast I wish it had gotten 3 more.
Chinese tamale in bamboo leaf was tasty as well, as with my travel companion’s mochi, but wow, I’ll definitely be back to try more goodies next time!

Been to this Bakery a few times. There are some things that are very good and fresh. Some things that are ok. They have lovely baked stuffed sweet buns and we highly recommend the hot dog in a sweet roll. There is something special about the hot dog… it makes our toddler scream till he can get one in his mouth.

Really well made Chinese pastries. I got the Taro cake and a deep fried sticky rice dough dumpling filled with char shiu (BBQ pork). The total cost was 1.85. Cash only. The portions are good and prices on par with other bakeries in town. They don’t have the largest selection and it doesn’t look as modern/​fancy, but the flavors are good and authentic.

While traveling through Chinatown I wanted to try out a few of their Chinese bakeries, so we decided to stop in at this shop because it had a line that was out the door.
When we entered this small bakery we were immediately hit with the smell of tasty baked goods. The case was filled with a variety of breads, caked and buns. They also had an egg custard that looked amazing and reminded me of Portuguese pasteis de nata.
We bought a few of their moon cakes and pork buns. Everything we had was perfect and the moon cake was the best we had in Chinatown. The staff here was a nice but too the point and the language barrier was not an issue which was great.
The next time that we are in the area I will definetly be back to grab some more baked goods.

Just right in front of the Chinatown Gate. So convenient. The ladies behind the counter are very nice too. I mainly order the steamed pork bun and hot dog bun. The mentioned pastries are great and can keep you full for a while, especially the steamed pork bun. TIP: Do not ask for pork bun, they will give you the deep fried bun instead (I made the mistake thinking that they knew what I meant). Also, if you want the steamed pork bun and if you’re part Chinese but a non-​speaking Chinese, just ask for bao bao. If you want to pretend to be Vietnamese, just ask for banh bao.
All the goodies are all fairly priced and I like coming here over the other bakeries in China Town, why? I don’t know, probably just my preference and the fact that I’ve always had pastries from here since I was a little child.
Is there anything else worth buying? YES! The egg custard and ham and cheese sandwich is pretty good. But really, you just want the pork steam bun.
CASH ONLY

Have you ever stood at the counter of a Chinese bakery, debating between a custard bun (which has an amazing custard filling but the steamed white bun is kind of boring) and a pineapple bun (which has an amazing crunchy outside, but the hollow inside is kind of boring)??
Ok, well, I definitely have.
And luckily, at Hing Shing bakery, I didn’t have to decide, because they have combined the best parts of both pastries into one in a delicious pineapple custard bun! The custard and the pineapple crust are really delicious – perfect consistency and flavor.
I also had their egg tarts. They were pretty good (the crust isn’t as flaky as some others that I’ve had [probably a good thing because this means less lard]).
2 egg tarts + 1 pineapple custard bun = $ 3.00
I will make it a regular stop every time I come and go from South Station because it is so close.

This was my regular bakery for a while and it was OK, until I saw the cook smoking cigarettes in the kitchen and owner lady doing absolutely nothing about it. Another guy had his feet propped on the table where baked goods are prepared.
That is disgusting! Time for health department to make a visit to that place.

One of the better pastry stores in the area.
Though the selection is not as big as some others, I can tell you that everything seemed a lot fresher than other places. The staff was actually pleasant to talk to, they’re not yelling at you «what you want!!» whenever they’re inquiring about my orders. Instead, they treat me like a human being and ask me politely what i’d like to purchase. which is a far far cry from some of the other pastry stores in the same area.
Common courtesy goes a loooong way with me. especially in a customer service setting. Treat me like a human being and I will always come back and spend my money in your establishment. Places like Quic Pic BBQ has forever lost my business for treating me as inferior as their Chinese patrons and I’ve since converted others to stop their patronage there as well.

Are you serious with this place?! The most AMAAAAAZING pastries at 80 cents to $ 1 per piece. If you go in the morning make sure to try their taro balls. Deep fried mashed taro with roasted pork in the middle… ermahgerd it is freaking phenomenal!
I also tried their coconut roll which was DELICIOUS as well as a plain one (can’t remember the name) that had a sugar cookie crust on top similar to Melon pan! SO GOOD! Love love love this place!

This review is a long time coming. It’s the bakery my parents went to some 30-​odd years ago, and is the one I went to while doing undergrad about 10 years ago.
Their cha siu bao (roast pork buns) and bo lo bao (pineapple buns) helped feed me and my roommate through college.
The deep fried ham sui gok (shrimp, pork, etc dumpling) and wu gok (taro dumpling?) which are on top of the counter have always been addictive treats for me, as are the moon cakes which are practically floor to ceiling around this time of year. I’ve had all of these during a trip last weekend, so they haven’t lost the touch.
It might very well be impossible to get the ladies behind the counter to smile (and we were waved away when my girlfriend tried to snap a photo of the chefs rolling dough in the back), but give this place a try to experience some old-​school Boston Chinatown.

You look around this place and literally every corner is full of buns and pastries. It’s very similar to my dreams and what I think heaven probably looks like. We had the best Ham and Egg bun we have ever tried here, and the Taro and Pork bun was also unbelievable. It’s amazing how something so simple can be such a perfect food at any time of day. Not to mention, the buns range in price from about 70 cents to $ 1.25. Please never change!

I’ve been coming here ever since I moved to Boston for college and I’m so happy I found this place.
Here’s what everyone needs to try (everything is delicious, but these you can’t miss)
–Custard BUN crunchy cookie crust on top and perfectly sweet custard inside addictive bread.
–Coconut butter roll (a friend and fellow Unilocaler has pretty summed up why you should get one of these)
–steamed White rice cake: simple but delicious!
–Meat bun, because MEAT
–egg tarts are the best from the rest not so flaky that they break apart before you eat them and not too sweet.
–Almond cookies great with tea or coffee
–Hot dog buns for a quick and satisfying study snack
Took my friend from Germany here just the other day and she fell in love, like I-feel-like-I’m-Cantonese in love.
Yes, this place is the real deal.

My family and I have been coming to this bakery since I was a little girl. They serve the best Chinese pastries. My favorites are:
–Pineapple Bun (Bo Lo Bao) with no filling in the middle
–Regular Bun with egg custard filling in the middle (complete opposite of the bun above)
–Mochi Ball with Peanut/​Coconut Filling– It is a white mochi ball with coconut flakes on the outside. It is chewy with a sweet, coconut filling in the middle… ah so good but so bad for you!
–Anything that looks good to you!
Prices are reasonable and it’s been a favorite of mine and our family’s for years!

Ok, so after pretending to be a Mandarin/​Cantonese kid who forgot how to speak his native tongue — I was able to determine the name of the absolute best pastry you can get in this Boston Chinatown (or any other Chinatown for that matter).
«Sweet Coconut Butter Roll» … ninety cents, and worth every penny.
I’ve searched far and wide for these rolls. I could not find any other shop in Boston that sells it. I could not find it in my hometown, Lowell (which has second highest Cambodian population in USA). I could not find it in New York’s Chinatown (which is saying something). These are a rare treat indeed.
All the other pastry shops you see have «westernized» pastries, and focus more on a cake-​style establishment. Hing Shing only makes what they make best, and this must be a reason why they’ve stayed around for so long. Truly #1 in my book for Chinese pastries.
Lost in translation no more, I have found you my golden grail of tastiness.

I’m based in the New York City area and every weekend I would go to Manhattan’s Chinatown with my parents. Part of these trips always involved going to various Chinese bakeries. Back in the day, most of these bakeries were family owned, stand alone locations that weren’t part of a big chain like Fay Dah. There was something wonderful about them. Their goods were all made on site by cooks who have been at it for decades.
Nowadays it’s harder to find shops like this but they’re still around. Going through Boston’s Chinatown, I came across Hing Shing Pastry and a feeling of total nostalgia and warmth. It’s a rickety old looking place. Its sign is probably as old as I am or older and inside there is an old counter to the right with wood shelves in the back. To the left are cooing racks for the various confections coming out of the kitchen. The doors to the kitchen are wide open, letting you see the magic going on producing awesomeness. Chopping meats, cooking, baking, mixing dough. It’s an awesome sight.
I’ve tried many of the items here, but my favorites include the egg custard which has a light flaky pastry crust, their almond cookie crumble topped bun and their roast pork bun. All of them are delicious and fresh every time I went (I’ve been about three times across two trips).
If you want an authentic Chinese bakery experience, this is an excellent example to visit. Be warned, cash only and their English ranges from okay to not so much. For Chinese speakers, their primary dialect is Cantonese (which was awesome for me).