Asia Bakery

Not the largest and prettiest bakery, but whenever I’m in town I always get their Pâté Chaud which is a Vietnamese puff pastry with minced pork meat inside. Absolutely delicious and a must try!
Personally I find this Asian bakery to be the best one with the largest variety. I’ve only ever been to this one in particular and the one next door and have skimmed others, but they never seemed to have a large variety like this place.
I listed as a TIP, but they do have a buy 12 get 1 free promotion they always do, so if you want to try a bunch of different ones it’s a good promotion to utilize. Most of their baked goods range from $.75-​$ 2.
The place itself isn’t big, it’s probably large enough to fit maybe 10 people at max, but it’s a stop and grab type place, even though there are seats there for some who might want to sit and chat while munching on goodies. Otherwise, great place to quickly grab something.
I don’t know if they heat the pastries up there, because I always grab to go home and reheat later (which still tastes fine) but they aren’t warm unless heated.

My mom comes here all the time, so this place must’ve done something right by her. We usually get vietnamese sandwiches (which do vary in spiciness and ingredient proportions sometimes) and sesame balls (a bit greasy). Good food at a pretty cheap price.

I always come here for the yin-​yang (coffee and tea combined) iced drink — no one else makes it as good they do. These ladies are so quick to help and always very friendly. They always ask if I want something to eat even though I come fo drinks and vice versa; never fail to take care of their customers. I used to come here regularly and once I short some change but they let me off. I appreciated that a lot and came back to pay them back eventually.
Their baked goods are good too! I usually stick to my favorites — hot dog buns, egg tarts, etc. but they have a large variety of things that I haven’t been adventurous enough to try. Definitely will update if I do !

At times it can be rough trying to narrow down which Asian bakery offers both the best price and quality, especially when they are all bunched up together like peas in a pod in Chinatown. Likewise, I am telling you guys, if you want to save all the time and effort of having to go into each and every bakery, don’t.
The owner at Asia Bakery basically treats all her guests like they’re her «usual local» customers. or like your Aunt (assuming your Aunt is a nice woman). Also, the price is relatively generous for the size of each baked good.
Most of the other Asian bakeries in the area weren’t so welcoming and the baked goods don’t seem all too fresh, actually seems like they’ve been sitting on the shelves for at least a a day or two. Made the mistake of buying from Asia Bakery’s next door competitors and found mold on most of the baked goods immediately following the next day in the morning.
Can pretty much guarantee that you will be more than satisfied with Asia Bakery and their services and goods! Been coming to Asia Bakery every time I’m in Philadelphia since I found it.

Came in looking for pandan buns like I had in Bangkok, but couldn’t find them here or anywhere else in Chinatown. Still, they had pandan cake, and one of the ladies behind the counter recommended another pandan product (like a jelly cookie) that turned out to be quite good. Very friendly and helpful staff! Will be back next time we’re in town for a durian roll!

Friendly staff, great dessert buns and sponge cake. Try the coconut bun, egg tart and the pandan sponge roll.

One of my fav asian bakeries. Egg custard is great but my all time face is the sticky rice in a rice flour steamed to perfection. This is a pastry piece you can eat tons of. I have also bought tons of BBQ buns, curry buns, banh Bao, and so forth… No complaints in the pastry section.
The coffee here is ok. Needs more sugar. They also make rice porridge. Pretty good for breakfast. These items are all to go. The space is ok and a typical asian bakery but they make some of the best buns you can get.
The ladies in here are funny. Girl, what do you like? Lol. Meaning what kinda pastries do you want? Lol. Very nice ladies. I love it when they call me pretty in Chinese or Vietnamese. Makes me feel like a special customer. Lol. I enjoy the small compliments while picking-​out my buns.
Must try if your in Chinatown and in need of to go items for a road trip or mornings on a run.

Amongst the many signs and storefronts in Philly’s Chinatown is this little shop. lots of choices to choose from in regards to buns, and even a few other quick snacks. We ordered a few baked Roast Pork Buns and a few fried shrimp dumplings.
The buns were luke warm and the dumplings were certainly oily and on the cooler side.
It was a good experience, one of the ladies even noticed that I had dropped some of my money on the floor.

It’s relatively spacious in here. Not crowded at all. I like that. There are three sections for the food: one for the cookies and pastries, one for the bread and baos, and, one for the cakes and rolls. A cool thing is that this bakery offers big almond cookies, which I would have assumed all Chinatown bakeries would offer. It’s $ 2 for a large cookie. Decent deal. In addition to a self serve station is the workers who may get whatever you want, like other bakeries. The pastries are warm, and that’s a plus. They also have moon cakes year round, so if you need some, get them here — they’re decent. However, I bought a pineapple bun with coconut filling ($ 0.80). The top was crunchy but not flaky, and the bread warm. Unfortunately, the filling was quite the bush! It wasn’t as solid or sweet as they usually come, but rather… Mushy and bland. Probably one of the worse pineapple buns I’ve tried so far in Chinatown.

I’m sorry, but this place is a hit or miss for me. I stopped by here before and got my favorite pineapple bun with cream inside and I felt that the bun was flaky and the texture was off. I also tried the pork buns and while the inside was good, I thought the bun was flaky too. The only good I found here is the egg tart, but it is just okay, nothing phenomenal. Their warm milk tea does taste good and authentic like I can find in China, except it was a tad bit sweet for me. I don’t know if they just don’t like me or what. but I prefer KC’s pastries down the street. I also don’t like how they have to pick the buns for you. I just feel like they rush me every time so they can take my money faster.

This review is primarily for the durian cake.
Parking: limited street parking and they will ticket you.
The bakery is small and didn’t seem to have too many varieties of baked goods. Although, we didn’t arrive until after 4 pm and they close at 7 pm on Saturday so maybe that’s why they didn’t have much left. Looked around and didn’t see anything that I wanted to try so we opted to just pick up the durian cake we preordered the day before.
The durian cake:
— 3 layers of sponge cake (a bit more dense than the fluffy sponge cake at most asian bakeries but I think it has to be that way for a multi layer cake or the cake will collapse)
— 1 layer of whipped cream
— 1 layer of real durian filling (my favorite part of the cake)
— topped with more whipped cream and fruits (beware of the fruits, the strawberries didn’t look so good and I actually saw moldy strawberries in the glass displayed case).
I didn’t really care for the whipped cream as it was bland and it’s only there to decorate the cake but not for flavor. I enjoyed the cake and durian filling. I plan to order the cake roll next time with just cake and durian filling if they make that and just skip the old fruits and bland whipped cream. With that said, even though I wasn’t completely satisfied with everything about the cake, I am really glad that I found a place that make durian cake with a good amount of durian.

I don’t know about any of their other items on the menu, but it seems I’ll have to stop by for some of their savory items and throw in some sweet ones as well judging by the other reviews.
My family has come here for their durian birthday cakes for years. We swear by it, live by it, and uhh eat by it. Lol if you’re a fan of durian (and my whole family is), the durian cake will not disappoint. They bake their cakes fresh, and they use real durian that is slightly blended, but more so mixed with a bit of white sugar. What you get is chunky durian that you can still bite into and feel like you’re eating from the fruit, layered inside of a soft, light, and fluffy sponge cake that is the epitome of Chinese cakes. I have durian cake for my birthday every year, ever since I was born, and will probably continue to do so until the day I die lol. Durian FTW!
For those who don’t know, durian is a fruit encased in a shell that looks like a spiky weapon. Heavens forbid you ever find yourself sleeping under a durian tree, with ripe durian. Anyways, if you can get over the smell (which I’ve heard smells like stink socks, cat pee/​poop, gasoline etc etc.) you will be golden, because durian is known as the king of fruits. The fruit itself is like sweet cream encased in a very thin covering, and it’s slightly stringy. People who can’t stand durian don’t know what they’re missing, but it’s always fun to watch those videos as foreigners take on the challenge of trying it.

My mom gets the pork buns from here. These are seriously the best! They’re generous with the amount of meat they put in it and its so sweet and salty. Yum! We usually get 2 dozen at a time — freeze 12 and put the other 12 in the fridge for snacks. I’m not sure what they’re called though because these are different from the white, streamed pork buns… Both are great though!
My dad also loves the raspberry Danish. And, I’m really hoping to get a beautiful cake from here for my birthday!!! (Will update in a week or so!)

This review is ONLY for the bubble tea. It was one of the best in the bubble tea taste test (aka birthday extravaganza) I just went on. It seemed to be made from real tea and was very milky and pretty sweet. Not the sweetest in the bunch, but a close second. Overall, it was tied for 1^st place in my book (and about .50 less than the other front runner). Yeah!!! Very excited to have found a great bubble tea place right off of 10^th :).

Delicious cakes. Need a wedding cake or cake for any occasion, they are great!

TERRIBLE. My wedding was 2 Sundays ago and we ordered Red Bean Moon Cakes. We also called them the week before to confirm the red bean moon cakes. The day of my wedding we cut open the moon cakes and it was BLACK BEAN. Then the woman that owns the bakery tried to argue back with us saying that we wanted black bean. First off, they were wrong for taking our money and giving us the wrong moon cakes. Second off, what kind of customer service do they have to ARGUE back with us saying that (since my husband is Filipino) that Filipinos like black bean so she put black bean in it instead? The red bean was for our wedding to be lucky. I can’t believe what she was saying to us over the phone. She even blamed us… Why? We are the customers and we weren’t the ones that were wrong yet she tried to attack us saying that she wanted to put whatever she wanted in the moon cakes? Not only that, they were pricey and not worth any cent.
They tried to trick us and we were long time customers of theirs. I suggest if you are ordering from them to make sure you check what they are giving you is worth what you are paying. I am extremely disappointed and the fact that this happened on my wedding day at my tea ceremony makes me really angry.

Asia Bakery has been my go-​to for steamed big buns (dai bao) for years — I seriously don’t think that any of the other bakeries in Chinatown make these. Their hot milk tea is also my favorite, and they make Vietnamese iced coffee too (café sua da). There are only a handful of buns from here that I haven’t tried, but you can’t really go wrong.
Buns are cheap, service is friendly and quick. The woman who owns the bakery has been running the place for over 20 years (albeit in a newer location), so she must be doing something right!

Forget all the bubbles, the thick plastic straws, and the high tech cup sealer. This place makes iced milk tea old school, and does it right. I’ve been here for almost 20 years now and the same lady still runs the shop, although the location has changed once.
As for baked goods, it’s hit or miss, depending on the moisture of the treats. My favorites are egg tarts, bbq bun, and curry pastry.
You can’t beat the price or service here!

This is the only bakery I come to buy my birthday cakes! They have the best and freshest cakes and its a reasonable price. Also the cakes are not overly sweet which I like.
The pasteries are great also! The egg tarts are the best in the city! They usually run out by the time I get down there in the evening times, but usually there is a couple left hidden somewhere lol. Besides the tarts, I always get the Gai Mei Bow, its a bun with conconut paste filling inside.
Great place for bakery and cheap too!
Happy Eatings!

Stop here for hot buns all the time… the rest of the buns are a lackadaisical approach, and the bubble tea is super-​sweet (but the bubbles are some of the best).
Friendly staff, three tables, and a fridge of drinks, this place is best for the hot pork buns or pork and vegetable. You can also see on the LCD TV who’s making what in the back, a nice touch.