Sogo Bakery

Their panda cookies are interesting. Butter cream bun is also tasty. Don’t go here expecting great service or even a conversation with the workers.

I got a 12 pcs assorted moon cake box at work and my kid opened today just to find out all the green pcs (I don’t know what flavor is) are moldy already! The expiration says 10÷31÷14 and today is 09/​06/​2014.

This is a decent Chinese bakery located next to Lion Supermarket. They carry Sun Biscuits (tai yang bing) to my delight since a lot of bakeries don’t carry this Taiwanese pastry. I thought it was OK (the filling tasted a bit strong). They also carry mini pineapple buns (buo luo bao) to my delight because usually the regular ones are a bit large for me.
Unless you plan on going nuts here with your purchases, you basically have to bring cash because there is a $ 10 minimum for credit card purchases, and the items here are only like $ 1-​$ 3 each.

Went here tonight to fulfill my cake craving. Ordered a slice of mango mouse cake. It was horrible! The cake was so dry and the fruits were soggy. I guess I should’ve thought about it being in the fridge the whole day or maybe 2?! Not going there again for any cake craving …

Reading some of the negative reviews on this page about maggots and shit is kinda really fucking gross. However, I haven’t experienced anything like that so I’ll be honest and say that I’m pretty skeptical…
With that said… onwards to my review!
Atmosphere:
Don’t expect to be impressed. This place is a basic bakery that is more built for getting in and getting out efficiently, taking your snack to-​go.
Customer Service:
Nothing outwardly special… But the servers are decently friendly, welcoming, and attentive. You couldn’t really ask for more.
Products:
I had a slice of their Mocha Mousse cake and it was absolutely fabulous! Perfect texture and flavour without being too overpowering. Normally, I swear off any cofffee-​flavoured snacks (my little cousin was the one who picked the cake) because the strength of the coffee taste gives me a headache.
However, instead what I got was an amazing and luscious cake with no headaches!
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I’m kind of between 3 stars versus 4 stars, but seeing as how my experience with Sogo Bakery has been very limited, it can only be 3. However, there is a potential for an upgrade if Sogo Bakery proves to be consistently delicious each and every visit.

I like stopping by here to pick up cakes for special occasions. We usually get the taro or mango mousse cakes. They are really light and fluffy and are not overly sweet like cakes you would get at an American store. They are really beautiful and the fruit on top are always very ripe and delicious!
I have also tried their various types of buns and have enjoyed all of them (custard, cheese, pineapple, bbq pork, etc…) YUM!
$ 10 minimum for credit card purchases.

I had a slice of a birthday cake from here. It was taro whipped cream frosting, and had delicious fresh fruit on top. This is the first time I’ve had taro whipped cream frosting.

Unlike other bakeries, this place resells their unsold baked goods the next day… hence the freshness of what you buy will vary depending on how long the item has been sitting on the shelves. I know for certain a similar bakery in Sunset, San Franciso discounts baked goods at 75% off if they don’t sell after 7:30pm. If only this bakery will follow suite… :)
With that said, overall, the baked goods taste pretty good. Their cakes are very pretty and imo, tastes a lot LESS sweeter than cakes you’ll pick up at an American supermarket. If you’re lucky and stop by when the baked goods just came out of the oven… OMG! Yumminess!!!
I give this place a 3 star, because they resell day old baked goods at regular price.

This date cookies are yummy!
I like the 9 grains bread and they even have individual wrap for a fraction of the price. :-)
Cake for Mom; check! :)

4 stars for the Chocolate Mousse Cake, 2 – 3 for the Mango Mousse Cake. Thankfully, I didn’t try their baked breads since it seems so many people had terrible experiences with them, but I’ve never had a bad experience buying cake from here. Although this is the first time I’ve been back in a few years. In any case, Sogo Bakery is located inside the Lion Supermarket area, so you won’t see their signage from the street. Their cakes are also not visible if you walk by using the main aisle, so you’ll have to go in and look at the counter towards the back of the store. They usually have a ton of different flavors, but those cakes are not cheap! A small cake costs around $ 16/​each, and a large cake will run about $ 28. We purchased a chocolate mousse and a mango mousse– the chocolate mousse was nice and chocolately tasting, and had a decadent layer of ganache topping on top. However, it wasn’t too sweet, and tasted really freshly made. The mango mousse was good, but the whipped cream frosting was too light and I thought it was overpriced for what we paid. I will be back for more of that chocolate mousse cake though!

I’m pretty sure that the cream cheese bun gave me food poisoning/​stomach virus. And then later on my friend told me that her sister found a maggot in one of her buns and then proceeded to get sick as well.
I’m surprised because the buns are good enough to buy if I’m really craving the Asian buns. But now that the cleanliness is questionable, it is no more for me.

Sogo bakery is a u.s. company. their corporate h.q. and central kitchen is in newark, ca. they are in many ranch 99 markets. some sogo bakeries are near a lions market. (like this one).
sogo sells specialized breads, cakes, oversized chinese pastries. (not cheap one like in chitown), and milk teas.
eats:
wife pastry (1.75)
–almost all variants of chinese bakers have this. origins can be traced to farm villages in china. most have flaky crust and some melon fruit inside.
–very, flaky crust has hint of butteriness. not much melon taste, more flour present than melon. disappointing
crumbs:
–overall sogo’s pastry is cheaper than sheng kee but i haven’t tasted everything.
–all pastries individually wrapped and stacked on shelves.
–friendly, fast service.

Just as an FYI, the store is actually located INSIDE the Lion supermarket… I was a bit confused while coming here. The address is not clearly written.
Anyway, my family and I love the cakes here and usually it’s our cake of choice for celebrations because we generally don’t like cakes that are too sweet. Personal favorites, tiramisu & mango mousse. But they also have the unique chestnut cake (which most placed don’t make or don’t make it well), which my mom loves. Service is just ok, and not to be mean, but I don’t expect much from Asian stores. =/

This is the only place I go to for cakes – mousse cakes in particular. Their other pastries are okay (Sheng Kee makes better buns), but I’m really only here for their cakes. Since I don’t come here very often, my experience with the people has been all right. No one is ever rude to me, so I really don’t have anything to complain about.
In general, I like my cakes to be fluffy, less sugary, and less fruity. Sogo’s mousse cakes fit into that description. Everyone I bought a cake for from Sogo has said they don’t like sweets, but once they’ve tried a small slice, they’ve no longer reject my offer to buy cake anymore. Now, my mom pretty much expects a cake every year for her birthday.
I definitely recommend the Mini Mocha Mousse cake. When in doubt, try it out. Good ol’ mocha mousse hasn’t done me wrong. I’ve also tried the Mango Mousse, which is also very good. However, the cake itself didn’t taste very «mangoey,» and the excessive canned fruit on top somewhat killed it. I think I will try the Green Tea Mousse next.
Note: the cakes never look the same, so one day they may look super appealing, and another day it may look a little ugly. I’ve gotten the Mini Mocha Mousse on two separate occasions – the one I uploaded was the pretty one I got for my mom. The second time, I specifically called in to order the same thing. When I came to pick the cake up, it looked girly… and they knew it was for a man, too! Oh well. At least it tasted good.

I always walk right on by and straight to Lion Market. I even tell my family members to not come here since my very first experience here was the worst customer service I have had in my life. Somehow I just can’t stand buying products from a store I don’t feel comfortable walking into. That’s just my two cents as a retail customer service representative.
My experience involved being short-​changed a few bills. I talked to the cashier who rang me up and she accused me of pocketing the missing bills. The audacity. I wasn’t angry at losing the money – just the principle. I pretty much left and said, «You know what, just keep it.»
Please, I make plenty of money and have the reason an rationality to just let it go and walk away to never bring my business there again.
Honestly, would it kill them to show a little bit of good customer service?
On Quality:
I bought a few baked goods here and all of them were either molded or tasteless. The mochi I had purchased seemed like it was there for weeks and did not have that soft mochi-​like texture but more rubber-​like.
I’ve tasted their black-​forest cake, I had to admit it was delicious. However, I don’t feel safe purchasing them at the thought they might mold overnight. (From the reviews below.) I feel its more sanitary and better quality at Red Ribbon or the Chinese Pastry shops in Oakland.
Overall this place deserves no stars if that was an option.

This Sogo is located in the Lion plaza. I love their mango mousse cake! The cake is not too sweet.
They sell a lot of different pastries, too.

I’ve been to many chinese and mexican bakeries through my life and this place is just average. Its nice that each bun is in its own separate bag so no worries for people with dirty hands touching stuff and putting it back, BUT, the selection isn’t all that great, service isn’t super friendly (heard the girls at the cashier saying in chinese that they can’t wait for us to leave so they can close for the day). They probably assumed I didn’t understand chinese, but they were wrong. I laughed and thought to myself, I probably would’ve done the same lol. It is a little cramped in there so if you don’t know what you want, you pretty much have to get out of the way. There really isn’t anything special about this place except that its conveniently located right outside of a chinese grocery store and shopping/​restaurant strip.

Yes, they will discriminate against you if you don’t speak Cantonese. Yes, some old Chinese person will probably cut in front of you at least once. But, yes their pastries are good enough to keep coming back despite the bad service.
I am a big fan of their cakes. The cake tastes like what I would imagine a cloud tastes like: light and fluffy. The frosting also tastes guilt free; more like a whipped cream than a heavy buttercream.
Their everyday pastries are delicious too! I’ve had those hot dog buns, cocktail buns, and egg tarts. I love them all! They always taste fresh, soft, and hot out of the oven. I always make sure I stop by here when shopping in Lion’s.

This is your typical Chinese bakery that has a decent selection of various cakes/​buns/​bread/​cookies. Come early if you want a variety of items to purchase. I usually stop by here after getting groceries at Lion Market and the selection is very limited (weekday PM).
I had the mocha cupcake ($ 1.15) yesterday and it was quite delicious. It was more like a sponge cake — light and fluffy, not too sweet! The other buns are pretty standard and similiar to those you’d get at Sheng Kee.
Sogo is convenient and perfect for a small snack or breakfast buns when you’re on the go! And for getting that last minute bday cake!

I was quite disturbed when I last visited Sogo. I used to think of Sogo as a typical Asian bakery, always satisfying. But my last experience was troublesome. First of all, when I walked in, there was no warmth nor scent of baked buttery goodness. It wasn’t late in the day, either! The selection of buns on the wall were meager and they did not look fresh at all. I don’t know what was going on that day.
Some good things are that they have a good selection of bread, and they offer loaves cut in thick slices, too! Those are the BEST. Thick toast = happiness.
Also their tiramisu is pretty bomb. It’s not traditional Italian tiramisu with ladyfingers, but it’s quite light-​tasting and just really yummy =)