Century Cafe and Bakery

I wanted to check out this place based on some good reviews and I’m so glad I did. I wanted some kind of a pastry for breakfast and they had a really extensive selection of both sweet and savory. I decided on the custard roll and wow. I’ve never had anything like it. It was warm and just a little bit sweet, but not too sweet. The custard wasn’t like regular custard — it was eggy and a little firm, but really good. I reluctantly shared it with my husband who also loved it.
We liked it so much that we went back again the next morning for breakfast. This time we bought four huge pastries (2 custard) plus a cup of tea and it only came to $ 5.50. If I lived in the neighborhood I’d probably go there every day. It was really crowded inside so we took our haul across the street and sat at the park which make for fun people watching. It only gets four stars because it is a bit divey and the service is a bit brusque, but not in a bad way. I think it’s just a cultural thing.

From the outside it’s just another Chinatown bakery, but it is one of the few that offers a full dim sum and boxed rice menu.
Pros: Fast, cheap, and their steamed pork rib over rice comes with vegetables and with a fried egg (might need to go again to double check on that egg though).
–Help yourself to the sweet soy sauce in the squeeze bottles on the counter.
–I pretty much –only– get the pork rib over rice when I’m there.
Cons: Be prepared to elbow your way to the front if it’s rush hour or you’ll never be served. People will cut the line and just because they’re old doesn’t mean they won’t go down without a fight.
–There may be a bit of a language barrier. The menu has English, but it helps to know Chinese.
–If you want a seat, be prepared to squish yourself next to some elderly Chinese folks reading their newspapers and drinking coffee or somebody spitting bones onto a tray.
Just remember that you’re paying for the bare minimum, a meal that will fill you up for cheap not for table service.

They moved around the corner. It’s on grand st. now. Place got smaller, understandable since the rent in Chinatown is expense. I usually come here for their dim sums n rice dishes. Places is OK not as much selections on baked goods as before.

I believe this bakery shop closed down. I walked by on August 2^nd and did not see a bakery store at 123 Bowery.

Popular bakery, seatings, cakes and a variety of buns and pastries and great bubble tea! loves it

Let me qualify my 4-​star review. It’s not fancy, actually it’s pretty much a dive. So why 4 stars? The dim sum here is pretty decent and is tasty if you need a quick fix. I’ve come here many times already. Dim sum is sold in takeout containers for a quick exit.
No dim sum push carts here because its a bakery. Order your dim sum at the counter, you pay and take it to any empty table then enjoy! It’s no fuss, fast, inexpensive dim sum.
It’s typical Chinatown counter service, very brusque. Menu also is displayed in English. Don’t take too long deciding because old ladies are totally going to get annoyed at you. Little old ladies in Chinatown are mean and the nastiest so don’t mess with them! Yeah, I have gotten into arguments with them because they will cut the line, on purpose. Don’t let them fool you. They know what they are doing!
They serve dim sum mad early in the morning until 6pm-​ish but the variety will dwindle as it gets later in the day. The selection is at its best during breakfast and early lunch hours. Open early enough to purchase on the way to work. located next to train station.
They even have ready-​made steamed pork ribs over white rice and steamed chicken, sausage and black mushrooms over white rice. Remember to ask for soy sauce.
In the evenings, the buns, dim sum and steamed rice dishes are discounted to get rid of inventory at the end of the day.
They moved around the corner to 243 Grand Street. Same place but much smaller.

Just dropped by and saw a «Store for Rent» sign. I wanted to try their zhong zi for the Dragon Festival :(

Dirt Cheap Chinese bakery in Chinatown. Nevertheless, they have a variety of cakes to choose from. Since I’m not too familiar with Chinese baked items, I decided to just get a bit of everything. So I bought the following and here are my thoughts:
Century Egg: I got this out of curiosity. It was a boiled «Century» egg filled with beans and ginger. It was ok, not really to my liking.
Tiramisu: Pretty good but heavy cream overpowered the cake a bit.
Coffee Cake: Actually liked this one, not too sweet
Melon Cake: Supposed to be Melon flavor but couldn’t taste any
Almond Taro Cake: Interesting with Taro purée as filling.
Green Tea Lemon Cake: Lemony but overwhelmingly sweet.
Total was only $ 10 which is definitely a great deal! Staff are pretty friendly and speaks good amount of English compared to other bakeries in Chinatown and they were able to explain what was in certain baked items that I asked in basic terms There are also English labels for the items which is a plus for those that don’t speak/​read the Chinese language. They also have bubble teas. The interior/​décor is really nothing to look at lol.

I use to come here all the time with my family after church on Sunday. I havent been here in a long time and I am glad, I finally went back. It brings back memories of childhood. They have various cakes, dim sum, and bread products. They also have tea, coffee, soda and other drinks. I love that they have dim sum because you don’t have to fight with other people for a table to have dim sum. Their sticky rice wrap is big and really good for $ 1.50. They use black and white pepper in their sticky rice, if you don’t like pepper then you might not like it as much. It a cheap breakfast/​lunch. The place is usually crowded, so I dont usually eat here.

I only purchased beverages from them. The first time I came here I ordered a cold ½ coffee ½ tea, and it was pretty good. The second time I came here I ordered a hot ½ coffee ½ tea and it wasn’t that good. Their prices are a bit higher than some bakeries that taste about the same.

Awesome customer-​staff service which is a plus in C-​town. Dim Sum and Baked Goods are very fresh and tasty.
I ordered mini round birthday cakes from Century for my 40^th birthday dinner (60 of them) and an 8′ cake for candle and cake photo opts. Manager Tom was very helpful and brought out the actual baker who would be doing my order which they customized for my affair.
Century boxed up the cakes real nice for my person who was to retrieve order and transport it venue for me. Century also, included candles for each little individual cake.
Guests were impressed when the waiters delivered a little cake to them with a lit candle.
Thanks century for a very impressive and sweet ending to my event!

Went here on a suggestion that they had large sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf for cheap. I was not disappointed. they were cheap and had an different flavor than I was accustomed to.
usually sticky rice wraps are just savory, but these had a bit of kick to them with a mixture of black and white pepper added to the mix of meat, mushrooms, and Lilly added to the rice. oh, there was also a piece of Chinese sausage added as an extra treat. For $ 1.50 it was not bad.
We also had a roast pork bun from here, the dough was a bit tough compared to fluffier offerings that we’ve had at other establishments. It was a tad sweet tasting which was good bit the doughy quality made it not so enjoyable.

Century Café and Bakery is utilitarian, speedy dining and pastries for the masses, typically tailored to the hoardes of people travelling via the bus lines in the area. I have to admit I don’t come here for the patries, although I am sure they are tasty. I come here exclusively for the take out dim sum at affordable prices. When I’m running errands in Chinatown but down have time for a full yum cha meal, I scurry to the very very back of the store, where a steam box contains little takeout containers of your favorite yum cha goodies. I usually grab a ha cheung and gow choy beng to go and walk and eat. Eat dim sum item will run you $ 2, which is a good deal. There are a good amount of seats here, but they’re a bit awkward to get around and not designed to let you linger. And I think this place is cash only.

This place may be all kinds of shady and grimy to the naked eye, but their dim sum is surprisingly satisfactory.
Walk in the door, past the glass displays of typical Chinese bakery treats and crowded tables filled with old Chinese ladies and children, and proceed all the way to the back. There you will find a take-​out counter selling various types of dim sum. Unfortunately because I walked in at almost 3pm on a weekday, they were already out of many dim sum dishes. I was sad to not be able to taste the turnip cake or the lotus paste bun. However, the shrimp rice noodles and the bean curd rolls filled with pork I was able to get were surprisingly good even after being microwaved at home, and generously portioned as well. I really liked that the bamboo shoots inside the bean curb wraps were still al dente, much fresher than I had expected. My only complaint was that the shrimps in the rice noodles were not deveined… But hey, for $ 2 each, both of those dim sum dishes certainly hit the spot.
I definitely suggest Century Café for cheap and dim sum on the go. I’m not sure I would ever want to sit down and and eat inside, but I am excited to come back here to try some more of their various dim sum dishes and maybe even a few buns the next time I’m in Chinatown and in need of a few snacks to take home.

Service is pretty decent — I have to give this place 3 stars only because I wasn’t too impressed with their Haw Gao.
Other than that — pretty good.
My lady was really nice and helpful!

I haven’t tried any of their cakes before, usually their bao & dim sum options only. Their baos are usually quite fresh because they’re constantly refilling the platters, my favorites are the pineapple top buns & the sponge cakes … my general favorites at any Chinese bakery that I go to. Oh & their Ovaltine is a winnn too :).
I’m a fan of their dim sum — simple & cheap packaging, but absolutely yummy! Plus it’s really affordable, averaging about $ 1.50 per dish (and you can feed a LOT of hungry people with dim sum at that price). Another + is that they open extremely early … I’ve stopped by at 6 AM to grab early-​morning eats.
Delicious food affordable at amazing prices — not too shabby, m’dear, not too shabby at all.

This place is like any Chinese bakery that you’ve seen. The place is big and has enough seats to accommodate customers coming in as long as you don’t expect clean and expect a lot of (40 — 60 something year old). I do come here once in a while for breakfast. There are dim sum, Chinese buns, Chinese bread and Chinese design cake.
***Not many places have hot soybean milk and this is seasonal so take advantage in the winter time and it is only $ 1.00 for a medium size. (1 extra star reason)

This is by far, my favorite dim sum place. This is based upon a combination of many reasons:
1. Convenience — none of the ‘push carts’ and ‘ordering on paper’ nonsense here. For dim sum, walk straight to the back and order at the counter. For chinese speaking customers, know what you want and order. For non-​chinese speaking customers, they lay out dim sum options so you can just point. Take your food and find a seat.
2. Quality stuff — Their food is comparable to the other dim sum restaurants around the area.
3. Great selection — aside from dim sum, they also have baked goods, and proteins over rice.

I know how it is to go eat dim sum with my family at dim sum restaurants on a Saturday or Sunday mornings. The wait is just so long that by the time we get our table, I’m no longer feeling that hunger. To me it seems a bit odd to go eat dim sum with one other person at the restaurant because you can’t really order a table full of dishes without enough people to help eat them. But, yes there’s a but, at Century Café, it’s just a different experience. No dim sum cart ladies or long waits for a table. Okay I lied, yea do you have to wait for tables, but nothing compared to dim sum restaurants and yea you will still have to share a table with other strangers here.
The food is pretty cheap and with a lot of varieties. There’s also a lot of baked goods too. So it’s a great place if you only have one person to go with you to dim sum I say.

I like this place for many reasons, but the biggest reason of all is because of their delicious little cakes. The prices are just right ($ 10 for 8 inch) and they serve a variety of drinks and baked goods as well. Service has been very good and they are very good at controlling big crowds like at Fey Da. Aside from the Chinese goods, I’ve known of this place to sell Vietnamese treats as well from Banh Beo to Banh Mi. Boba here is solid and most of their drinks are smooth as well as the tapioca balls.
Another reason I think this place deserves more love is the fact they’ve cleaned up extensively from when they first opened a while back. The place seemed a little dodgy for bakery standards, but they’ve done a remarkable job at shining up the place into one of the better Chinese bakeries along this side of Bowery.