I-Ping Bakery

I-​Ping is one of the older Taiwanese bakeries here that have stood the test of time, likely due in part to supplying many of the Chinese supermarkets nearby. Even if you’ve never heard of them, you’ve probably seen their breads before if you’ve ever been to Jusgo or Welcome Food Center. If you come to their premises, you can buy the full range of their traditional style baked goods, along with other deli items like steamed buns and zongzi.
Be warned though, it’s not very pretty inside :). Behind their tinted windows is a disorganized mishmash of – I can’t even describe it – that makes even King Bakery and Merryland look nice. But the functional part of their bakery is pretty standard. Just grab a tray, load on the goods, and pay in cash at the counter.
Quality-​wise, they’re about average in today’s Chinatown. They can’t compete with newer bakeries like Kamalan and Six Ping in variety or quality, but still make decent enough breads that certainly aren’t the worst you can find. Prices are old-​school goodness (~$ 1.10 for most buns), so value turns out to be not too shabby.
My big issue with them might be consistency. Sometimes the base bread turns out to be almost indistinguishable from top bakeries — very soft, fluffy, and slightly sweet. Other times it’s stale or under-​cooked, doughy, and yeasty smelling. Some of their breads contain additives (to be sold in supermarkets perhaps), so you always question their freshness. Who knows how long an item’s been sitting out when barely any customers come in to the store? With so many other great bakeries around, there are only a few standouts I can recommend. Otherwise I’d hit up Kamalan, Six Ping, IBUN, or King Bakery for better, fresher breads.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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— COCONUT BUN ($ 1.25) /​as good as any I’ve had with plenty of coconut.
— BUTTER CREAM BUN ($ 1.35) /​also as good as any other with a deliciously sweet and rich butter cream.
RECOMMENDED
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— HONG KONG POLO BREAD ($ 1.10) /​not bad but still stick to King Bakery for this.
— TAIWANESE POLO BREAD ($ 1.10) /​one of the better Taiwanese style polo around with a thick, sweet crust.
— TARO BUN ($ 1.10) /​smooth but chunky, thicker taro paste. One time this turned out pretty nasty and overly sweet though.
NOT RECOMMENDED
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— CUSTARD BUN ($ 1.10) /​thick, dry custard that tasted a bit off.
— RED BEAN BUN ($ 1.10) /​very chunky, red beany, and not very sweet
— STRAWBERRY BREAD ($ 1.10) /​good bread but the strawberry jelly inside tastes artificial, too sweet (also made with HFCS)
— PINEAPPLE CAKE ($ 1.25) /​Horrible, avoid. No one buys these so they’re not fresh.

Individually wrapped baked goods. Looked typical. Bought a bunch of stuff and they tasted fine.

This is not a place you go for its ambiance. It looked like a storage unit with some refrigerators full of buns, a display case with more buns, and shelves of breads. Despite its humble appearance, the baked goods are solid. I tried a bread with pork sung and a scallion bread. Both were tasty, were packaged in individually sealed cellophane bags, and maintained their integrity over the next few days. The prices hovered around $ 1 or so, which is a good deal for the generous amount of carb-​y goodness you get.

Here’s an insider tip from someone who knows a few things about the Asian supermarket business in Houston (i.e. my parents may have owned a few markets in their lifetime) — I-​Ping Bakery supplies their baked goods to many of the Asian markets in Houston’s Chinatown. To me, that says a lot about the humble little bakery and how they are able to outbeat the other 10 240 943 832 Asian bakeries in town for the business of big-​shot supermarkets. Their breads are of fresh and delectable qualities, and their selection is of any standard Asian bakery (cream, shredded pork, taro, custard, etc.). The family who owns it are Taiwanese, so they also make some mean pineapple cakes and steamed buns. During moon festival time (Sept-​Oct), they make these green tea flavored moon cakes, which are awesome! And one favorite of my hubby’s is affectionately termed by us as the «man bread,» which is this 4″ cylindrical roll of yummy bread stuffed with shredded pork, green onions, and lard (yes, lard) — it’s so filling, it’s deserving to be a main staple of a hearty man’s breakfast repetoire.
I think this bakery is the best in town, and if you’re lucky, you may find me there every Saturday morning picking my favorite baked goods for the week!

I had to knock down a star. I feel terrible doing it, but I have since found better so it’s only fair. This place still has great bread, but their selection never changes. So it got boring and I rarely come anymore.

I love this bakery and visit every time I am in town. I only wish they sold in Austin chinese markets like one of the other Houston bakeries. They do tend to run out toward the end of the day, so be sure to stop in early. In addition to the yummy bakery items, they also have the pyramids (as my husband calls them), zong-​zi. I picked some up the last time I visited. These are very good as well. Almost like my grandmother use to make, but not quite. I like that they don’t just throw fatty pieces of pork in there, but actual pieces of meat. Go visit, you won’t be disappointed.

You can drive around Chinatown forever and find… a lot of Chinese bakeries. Heck, it is the opposite of gas stations in Wyoming. You could not see one for miles. It is easy to come here and get overwhelmed with the abundance of flour and butter shops.
I will do you a favor and tell you that here, there is not quite as much in the way of baked goods, but the prices are a tad lower than most. At $ 1 a pop, they are selling about $ 0.25 cheaper per unit. Does that really make a difference? Probably not… but it’s worth a shot, right?
I could not bring myself to rate any Asian bakery lower than 3 stars, simply for the fact that you are eating tasty, starchy, greasy calories for less than the cost of a double cheeseburger, save the tax.
In the way of recommendations, I only put a 3 here because most of the other bake shops in the Chinatown complex appear to have a higher selection, thus affording them a higher ranking. This joint just doesn’t come up to the caliber of variety as do the others. Oh well, you really can’t complain with Asian breads, though! They could sell at the Farmer’s Market and make a killing. Just don’t show the ingredient list…

After reading some of the Unilocal reviews before coming here I was really excited to try this place out since there was 5 stars on most of the reviews. I came to try out their raisin bread and custard buns. Sadly to say, I am very disappointed about this place. The raisin bread tasted stale and their custard buns did not have anything special about them. The custard that is inside tasted like vanilla crème instead of custard. Although I did noticed that there aren’t many selections to pick from and most of their buns were out.
As for me, I will not be back here. This place does not have anything special about it.

I-​Ping has the best polo (pineapple buns) in Houston (for Taiwanese style). It is my parents’ favorite Chinese bakery.
They have discounts after 6 pm or something but the regular prices are already relatively low for Houston Chinese bakery standards.
I-​Ping is located in the main Golden Square shopping center on the east leg.

I absolutely love this Taiwanese bakery. All their pastries are great but I go there every week because my son can’t live without their hot dog bun. My son is quite picky in terms of food but he can eat this every day every meal. They do run out of this hot dog bun so if you get there late in the afternoon, you run into the risk of not getting any. :-(
They have a variety of pastries and bread. Their white bread is thick and buttery. And of course, they make one of the best Egg Custard in town; they are yummy and if you are lucky enough to be there when they first come out of the oven, be sure to buy a dozen and eat one right away. It literally melts in your mouth.
This bakery is run by a husband and wife team with their daughter helping and they are friendly and great to chat with.

Tons of places sell bread but what makes this place special? Well, first it is the variety of bread that they have. Just today I got one with custard inside, one with strawberry jam and one with pork. As of now I’ve already finished two of them.
If you go around Chinatown you’ll see how greasy other places are. You won’t see that here. Everything is packaged nicely too, ready to be taken any where hunger may strike.
If I remember correctly at 6pm, the breads they sell are 50% off. Just another incentive to try this place out!

Tucked away in the overwelming chinatown district of houston is this little gem of a bakery, I-​Ping. Like the bakeries in Hong Kong, you walk into the little bakery and all it has to offer is displayed on simple shelves and it is your will and your tray at hand to select your delicious morsels. Goodies are baked fresh every morning… cantonese polo bread is the best i’ve had in the continental US, the red bean filled polo is to die for… almond breads, hotdog rolls (rolls with cuts of hotdog baked right in), strawberry bread, coconut, mung bean, green tea bread, croissants and more! Go early in the day, they run out of the good stuff quick.
When we’re in Houston, we like to call in and reserve 2 dozen of the polo and we pick it up before we head home to San Antonio. We usually have a dozen left by the time we get home.