Yet Bun Heong Bakery

Buffet Man Sez: Being from Hawaii, I have high standards when it comes to pork buns or manapua as we refer to it back home. The gold standard on Oahu is Libby’s in Kalihi which finely shreds the pork filling with no red food coloring. Simply da best!!! So how does Yet Bun Heong stack up? Pretty darn good, actually!
Their white, steamed manapua is slightly smaller but their pork filling is right on! Slightly sweet and finely shredded, no coloring. Wicked!
Their baked manapua is good but kinda weird looking… Not round; more like a square dinner roll and a bit smaller than the steamed version (Eh, what you expect from a guy named Buffet Man? Size matters, brah!)
Their pork balls, (called pork hash in the Islands) are bigger than Libby’s, but lacks some of the other stuff mixed in with the pork filling, like finely chopped water chestnuts to break up the meat. But still pretty Ono.
Overall, pretty dang good considering it’s out here in the Central Valley. Definitely worth the 60 mile roundtrip! We go eat manapuas!!!

I have been coming here since Child Smile was open and all I liked was the sesame twists and almond cookies. The steamed buns and the biko (sweet sticky rice) are my favorites. This place is worth stopping in and getting something. The woman is very sweet and always makes you feel welcomed.

Me and my family have been coming here forever, whenever we are in town and it’s still early we stop in for the steam buns

I’ve been coming here since I was about 2 or 3! The steam bums, meatballs, shrimp chips, almond cookies… heck everything is AS GOOD AS IT GETS!!! If this place ever closes… It’ll be a very sad day and I haven’t got a clue where I’d go to get my fix… Prices are just right too!

I love this place! Best place to buy Gin Doi’s…

My siblings and I were visiting Stockton from the East Coast and were craving pork buns. I’m glad I found this bakery on Unilocal because they really do sell the. best. pork. buns. Also, the owner, Cheryl (?) was such a doll. She was extremely helpful and kind when hearing our harried story of getting lost (from Brookside to W Main St where the shop is located).
The buns were SO good. Although the buns were delicious, fluffy and really flavorful, I do wish they’d stuff the pork buns with more meat. We also tried the har gow, shrimp crackers and almond cookies– each of which were absolutely delicious!
We had such a pleasant experience that we not only went once, but FOUR times during our stay in San Joaquin county.

I loved this bakery so much when I was a kid. The steamed pork buns were my absolute favorite here, and it was always a treat when my mom came home with a pink box full of them. I haven’t had them in more than 20 years, so it was time to make a visit.
The bakery has not changed at all! It looked exactly how I remembered it, and the displays also still looked the same. The daughter behind the counter was as sweet and friendly as I remember her, and I was happy to hear that her father was still around and doing well. I was, however, disappointed to find that the taste of the pork bun wasn’t as good as I remembered it. Did the recipe change? Either that or my taste buds have changed in my adulthood. I also wasn’t a fan of the pork and shrimp dumpling or the sui mai («pork & shrimp ball» and «pork meatball»), and I’ve had a lot of dumplings and sui mai in my life! Everything is a bit pricey for the quantity of food that you get, and if it was tastier, I would say it was worth it. But it’s not.
I really want to give this place 5 stars because I do still adore this bakery and I have many fond memories of it (and like Glen L., for tradition and respect), but the food wasn’t as delicious as I remember.

Perhaps I am too cheap and/​or used to the typical asian bakery prices, but I thought this place was expensive for what it is and medicore.
I got a steamed pork bun for $ 1.75 and it was pretty small, about the size of a dinner roll. The filling was unique. It was like the dried pork you eat with porridge, but very moist. I guess it was alright, but I’d rather get a char siu bao that you can get for .75 at most asian bakeries…
The other items were around $ 1.35, but all for a small piece. It didn’t look too appetizing to me. It included sesame balls (the ones you get at dim sum), shu mai, hai gow, rice crispy looking item, and some cookies. By my calculations, most dim sum places give you 4 shu mai/​hai gow/​sesame balls for $ 2.20-$ 3? For 4 of those here, it would cost $ 5.40? Pricey…

Wow! What can I say a Stockton Institution, and definitely a one of a kine! Dim Sum Bakery. I can remember going in there when I was five and getting a Box or two to take to family. Really miss those days and my pops! We remember when they were in the old Chinatown before the cross town freeway. The Bao were bigger and cheaper and the meat was more of a diced cut back then.
Haven’t had any in ten years but brings back memories. Wish the family well. I’ve been living in O’ahu Hawaii for the last 20 years and really missed their manapua/​Cha sui bao. also their Jin doi is the best if fresh! Still can’t find the thin crispy style they used to make. Out here they tend to be either soggy or too thick. Had to learn to make my own.
But if your ever in Honolulu near Kalihi it took me a while but I go to a place called Libby’s Manapua, same small family business and their Bao are like what I remember at Yet Bun Heong. and ironically cheaper and bigger with the same small grind cha sui not like Hong KOng style with the over sweet Hoisin cracked top steamed buns. Well At least our bakery still has family that honor the family tradition and business. The difference with Hawaii and California Ohana/​family traditions die hard here.
I suppose their children are all yuppies and the hard bakery life is too much and below their lifestyles now! Shame because when it closes their also dies a Stockton landmark and tradition. I give it Five stars for tradition and respect. But probably a 4 for taste compared to the Hanabatta days long gone.

This place makes the best steamed pork buns I’ve ever had. I just wish they had better hours. The old man who runs the place is very nice. The sesame twists are really good too.

Very sweet authentic little Chinese bakery. We stopped by today while at the Chinese New Year Parade and Festival in downtown Stockton. A lot less selection than Qiangs (this could be the time of day, around noon, or the fact that there were food vendors 2 blocks away selling Dim Sum at the festival) on the north side of town but located right downtown in the Chinese– Filipino-​Asuab center of town. This bakery is on the first floor of the Filipino Center. There’s an Asian grocery store right next door, I hear they sell Lumpia!

As I was riding my Bicycle South towards Nena’s #1 (
), I passed by the Filipino Center Plaza and noticed Foo Lung Market (
) in that Center. My mom used to shop at Foo Lung a long, long time ago. I wanted to check out their prices for 20lb bags of Rice and maybe some Hot Chili Sauce. Before that could happen, though, I spied Yet Bun Heong Bakery.
Yet Bun Heong has been in Stockton eighty years… yes, that’s right 8 – 0 YEARS. There are enough plaques on the right, behind the sales counter, given to the owners of Yet Bun Heong by the City of Stockton and the State of California congratulating them for their longevity, that can attest to that. And, if you ask the daughter of the owner, Cheryl, she’ll re-​affirm that — 40 years under grandpa, and 40+ under her dad. Her grandfather started this Bakery which is now owned by her father (who, BTW, is not in good health) and I guess she’ll inherit the business. But, after her, there is no one in the family that is remotely interested in running a Bakery… she does not have children, and her nieces and nephews are not even interested.
Prices for the Baked and Steamed Pork Buns (**** ½) have risen to $ 1.50 since Adam R has visited the Bakery. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, else is just a Buck.
New items added since Adam Rs visit…
Rice Cakes — Sweet Rice squares, similar to Bico, without the Coconut
and Chocolate flavor.
Rice Puffs — (aka Rice Krispy Squares)
Sesame Twists — Crispy and Sweet.
Shrimp Chips — Chinese Chips with Shrimp flavor.
Almond Cookies (****) — 3 3″ round cookies in a cello bag.

Don’t go comparing Yet Bun Heong with Qiang’s (
)… they’re really not in direct competition with each other. Yet Bun Heong reminds me of Dim Sum that my own mom would make at home or at a Chinese restaurant 20 years ago. After conversing with the daughter, it seems Yet Bun Heong’s customer base are long time Chinese residents in central Stockton.
I bought enough Dim Sum items to fit into a 6″ x 9″ styrofoam container. Ate some of the stuff at the tables in the center of the Filipino Plaza. Couldn’t ride around Stockton carrying this container underneath my jacket… so had to ride back to Lodi immediately.
I asked Cheryl what Yet Bun Heong means in Chinese… «One Fine Aroma»! How appropriate.
I never, ever, did get to Foo Lung Market. Maybe next time.
Until Unilocal updates hours:
M-​T-​Th-​F 10am — 3pm
Sa 10am — 1pm
W — Su CLOSED
Ca$h ONLY.

This is the «Asian dollar store bakery.» The man who runs the place is at least 85 years old, maybe even 95. They open at 10:00-ish, and close either at 3:00 or whenever they sell out of their food.
Everything except the buns is $ 1.00. The buns are $ 1.25 (as of 3/​/​30/​2007). The menu is small, so I can set forth the almost the whole thing here.
Steamed pork buns: Kinda like a dinner roll only steamed, and stuffed with a mixture of pork and other things. I think they’re tasty. Especially the pink dot painted on top.
Baked pork buns: Just like the steamed buns, only baked, so they look exactly like a dinner roll. No pink dot. Yum.
Pork-​balls: a different mixture of pork-​and-​other-​stuff wrapped in a noodle and steamed. I think there are water chestnuts in the mix, because it has little slightly crunchy bits inside.
Shrimp balls: a shrimp mixture inside of a really thick and yummy noodle wrapper (it’s really thick). There is pork in this. Come to think of it, I think everything has pork in it here.
Bico: The chewy brown sweet rice candy, which is pretty good.
Sweet bean donuts: If you’re like me and really get off at the thought of peanut oil dripping down your throat, then call me up and we’ll have an orgasm together as we chew on these delightful little treats. The sweet bean donut is similar to a donut hole in shape, but it is stuffed with sweet mung-​bean paste. I think the donut itself is made from rice flour. The whole thing is then rolled in sesame seeds then deep fried. If you get it fresh in the morning it has a crispy sesame coated exterior that gives way to a warm and chewy sweet center. Yum. Oops, I just drooled on the keyboard thinking about it… I better clean that off.
All of this stuff makes great road-​trip food; it’s all easily eaten with one hand and none of it is exceptionally messy. And it’s totally scalable to taste; that skinny little boy in your group can get one pork ball and the ginormous office fatty, like me, can order 2 steamed buns, 5 pork balls, 2 shrimp balls and 3 donuts.
Everybody’s happy! Get some while these guys are still around (remember, he’s about 85 yrs. old people; figure it out).
Oh, and it’s all take out. No tables inside, although there is a table in the Filipino Plaza outside their door and there are benches in the «Main Street Plaza» thing.