Cam Huong Bakery

Cam Huong Bakery is an unassuming mom and pop shop in Downtown Oakland. The store itself is pretty small and all orders are to-​go. It’s not the cleanest or newest looking place, but it is simple and gets the job done.
This place earns a sold 4 stars for their amazing banh mi sandwiches! I always go for their #1 sandwich which is a headcheese sandwich if you’re feeling adventurous. I’ve taken all my friends there and they have all become converts.
For $ 3.50, you get a crispy and delicious baguette filled to the brim with well-​seasoned meat and fresh, crisp vegetables. I also love that you add green peppers in your sandwich, for no extra charge, it really gives it a fresh spicy kick,
Although their #1 sandwich alone is deserving of 5 stars, I took off a star overall because their other pastries are just mediocre. Everytime I order banh mi from here I’m always tempted to try out the other treats laying around the shop. Sadly, I have always been disappointed.
I’ve tried their other ban mi sandwiches including the BBQ chicken, pork, and was not very impressed. the pork had a very gamey unpleasant taste and the BBQ chicken was too sweet. The pastries which I’ve tried were all a little stale and quite mediocre.
But it doesn’t matter, I’ll most certainly be back for their headcheese sandwich!

This place is acceptable for banh mi; it’s hard to find good places outside of San Jose but they are decent and pretty cheap for the area ($ 3.50 each). The place also has other buns that you would find at other Vietnamese/​Chinese bakeries, including moon cake. They didn’t have cha lua loafs (steamed pork/​ham) when I was there; I’m not sure if they don’t carry it but I wish they did. They have them in their sandwiches, though, of course.
Parking will be tough since it’s in Chinatown, but it’s open slightly later than other banh mi shops in the area (7:00pm).

Rather unremarkable offerings all around, whether buns, pastries, or other baked goods. Note that this 2-​star review is indeed for the Cam Huong *bakery* and not the Cam Huong *restaurant* down the street that serves decent banh mi sandwiches. If you see other reviews here that talk about banh mi sandwiches or entrée items, you’ll know that they’re actually referring to the restaurant, not the bakery.

I’ve passed this bakery hundreds of times on my way to work, but finally decided that today would be the day I’d give them a shot. I usually buy pastries by the dozen, but since I am new to this place, I decided to only test one on my first visit. There were many choices to pick from, so after careful debate, I decided on trying the chicken curry bun ($ 1.00 each). The bun was large in size, but after biting into it; I quickly realized that most of its mass was purely bread, the curry filling was easily less than 2 tbsp worth. Now that I’ve tried these buns, I’ve decided I won’t be coming back here anytime soon, there are so many better places in the Chinatown area to get cheaper, higher quality baked goods.

I used to come here all the time as a kid. I finally made a visit here all these years and I’ll tell ya, the lady behind the counter is crankier than the Dickins! I’d prob be cranky too making bread all the time so I let her bitterness roll off my shoulders. Then when I picked out my favorites, paid and left, guess what??? THEYRE NO LONGER MY FAVORITE. She’s pissed, the foods taste pissed, IM pissed. Everybody’s pissed.

This place is scary! I’ve had multiple co-​workers get seriously sick (like, call 911 sick — ambulances arrived and everything) within hours of eating food from this place. Another co-​worker purchased a loaf of bread and found a large inedible and unidentifiable chunk of nasty «stuff» inside the loaf. She called the county health department and the inspector visited the location only to be told by the owners that they haven’t sold loaf bread for years — which was a total lie. The inspector claimed there was nothing she could do (!!). Although I’ve never gotten ill from anything I’ve eaten there — I’ve also found none of it to be particularly good. Based on the seriously scary experiences of my co-​workers, I have decided to never eat there again.

I expected more from Oakland. Perhaps I need to try the vegetarian buns, but these were the worst BBQ pork buns I have ever had. The filling was the horrible and tasted like crappy mush. The chicken curry bun? Dont do it. I dont think that was bird. Someone tell me why I am finding better food in Sacramento? The staff is super sweet. and the moon cakes are the best, great price, so two stars…:/

One of the few places I know carries at least two types of vegetarian buns. Delicious and filling. I’ve been trying to heat my buns, though, since I saw one of the ladies sneezing on them one time. Ooops.

This is my go to place for Banh-​mi. The sandwiches are fantastic. The grilled pork is my favorite. I’ve had the chicken, and the curried chicken which are also great.
Their jook is wonderful! It has Pi Dan (1000 year old egg), ground pork, and tofu skin. Great flavor and great value. Their chicken wings are also to die for. Deep fried with garlic and basted in fish sauce. Fantastic!

I usually just get their coconut macaroons. Plain and simple like most American bakery shops, but theirs are moist and SO delicious. For a coconut macaroon, the size of it makes it quite snack for one to two pieces, but anyone can always eat more if you want a sugar overload. For me, I usually buy a dozen at a time since it’s not often I come by to buy them, but more of I can savor them at home while they last.

[Reviewed by Kel]
If your idea of a fun-​filled week is expelling your insides over a porcelain bowl for three days while dealing with a fever, this would be your spot.
No doubt, the sandwiches here are tasty. I’ve been here many, many times and have always had good, cheap sandwiches without getting sick. But one unsuspecting Friday, I ordered a roast pork sandwich. I came down with the chills, body aches, and a low-​grade fever several hours later. Before I knew it, I spent the night curled up in the bathroom with the toilet as my best friend. Not fun, my friends, not fun.
This would’ve been a one-​star review if my co-​worker hadn’t brought in sandwiches from here last week, which of course I ate. Trying to resist free food at work is like Lindsay Lohan in rehab: pointless. The bahn mi was tasty and I’m still alive, so one extra star.
If food poisoning’s your thang, then order the roast pork. Otherwise, try the BBQ pork; I’ve haven’t gotten sick from it yet.

Hometown goodness. This place has the best Vietnamese chicken sandwich in all of Oakland, and it’s only $ 2.50! Their Thai noodles and fried rice are oh so very good and they really overpack the box for you! Their pre-​packaged vermicelli and rice are really yummmm too! Great place to get a cheap and delicious lunch!
Their dessert cups are so very sweet and looks so pretty! The dragonfruit seeds are a must-​try! I know they look freaky (like tiny eyeballs or frog eggs lol) but ignore that, you’ll have a dessert orgasm after one spoonful!
The only cons are the service and the wait in line. I think the problem is that they only have one register and people are indecisive when ordering. Doesn’t matter much to me though, cuz it’s worth the wait!

This will be the one and only time I will ever go the this place. It was pouring rain out side and I was craving for a sweet roll of some sort! The woman was behind the counter talking rather loudly on the phone in her native tongue. So I browse around I picked up a package of rolls and was ready to pay and I decided to grab an additional cup cake type pastry. It looked super fluffy and yummy. I get up the the counter to pay and the woman tells me, «let me get you a better package of the rolls.» A little suspect in my mind already. What’s wrong with the one I picked? aren’t they all fresh? So I pay and back the rain I go. I get home to find that the bottom of my super fluffy cupcake has the beginning spots of green nasty mold! Gross! Then I tried the packaged rolls which were not as soft as the ones I usually get but after inspecting them for mold I tried them and they were so dry I could have choked on them.
Bottom line: Look carefully! Cannot trust this bakery for fresh or day old baked goods!

Came here and was tempted to get more eats — right after having lunch. Got a box of moon cakes (
) to try before the Autumn Moon Festival season. While equipments are on the used-​quite-​often side, everything looked fresh. The bag that carries the purchases was bigger and nicer looking than expected.
They sure can display a lot of items for such a small store. Service is friendly, though you have to open up first and break the ice. The owners were there and their young son was helping out = good work ethics. In Oakland’s Chinatown, about a block and a half from that big parking garage.

Went there today after going to the dentist over in Alameda. Although my gums were super sore from the cleaning, I was still ready to eat some Asian baked goods. Cam Huong Bakery is very conveniently located on the corner of Webster and 11^th Street, so it wasn’t too bad looking for parking around 9:00 a.m. on a Thursday. As usual, I had to order a shitload of food for myself and the hungry crew back home. We got 2 large pork buns, 2 chicken buns, 4 cocktail buns, 4 egg custard tarts, a pineapple bun, a huge raisin twist pastry and a red bean mooncake for just over $ 12.00. Not bad at all. I ate or sampled some of everything, except for the mooncake, which I am saving for my snack tomorrow. Everything was pretty tasty. I would stop by here again on a subsequent visit to the dentist.

I sometimes take the 88 to work when I’m too lazy to ride my bike and the bus drops me off near the bakery. They have a hot rack full of hot buns full of savory fillings including curried chicken, pork, even a simper ham and egg. You can smell the place from a block away. They also make all the rolls for the bahn mi joints a few blocks up. Nice to see local businesses supporting local business, and for less than a buck you can get a savory breakfast treat.

a pizza joint opened here briefly before the bakery took over.
the vietnamese coffee is ok. during the tet new year, they also make vietnamese mooncakes.
have sampled some bakery goods. nothing stands out. napoleon on franklin has great bakery goods!
btw, they make buns for vietnamese sandwiches wiich they provide for their affilate, cam houng on e. 14^th and down the street.

For only 80 cents I can make a meal out of the Baked BBQ Pork Bun. It’s really good and are kept warm in the baking rack. The melon bread is ok, though really stale the following day.
But go for the BBQ buns. and go early. I’ve had them run out on me in the afternoon.

Delicious pork buns. Emmmmmmm!
I recommended getting the traditional pork bun, and the chicken ones, but not the curry ones. I don’t like those ones. It didn’t go with the bread.

if you want GOOD bakery stuff from here you gotta come in the early morning when its fresh, otherwise you get cold and so so stuff…
LOVES:
*the baked pork buns
*the breakfast sandwich (egg and ham)
*mung bean pastry/​yellow bean pastry
*hot dogs in a bun
*curry buns
*MOON CAKE (when its moon cake time)
*new year’s meat log thing (only out durning lunar new year) in vietnamese its called «banh te-​ec»
*the apple struddle thing
*sandwich bread (this is big cuz i dont LIKE bread)
OKIES:
*coconut pastry
*the american pastries (its similar to anywhere else)…
p. s. this is part of the cam huong chain of restaurants that are owned by the same family…
EDIT: 7÷6÷07
i am somwhat disappointed… i bought little fortune cookies that werent folded over yet… so they are just plain round circles. they were fawking hard as a rock! sooo upset… i wasted $ 1.75! BOOOO… i DEMAND A REFUND… but since i cant get my $ 1.75 back i will take a star away!