Fay Da Bakery

Their mini cheesecake is not as rich as American cheese cakes; it literally tastes more like a cake, which I enjoyed. It costs about $ 2, and tastes really good and not too overwhelming. The portion size is just perfect too.

My Co worker just handed me a Beef Curry Puff. Its out of this world! I had to search this place and bookmark for future reference since we’re always in Chinatown. I must pick up some more of Puffs. Phenomenal!

Their mochi is okay, but not quite as good as the version at Taipan. The mango mochi tastes a bit off in terms of consistency, and the version at Taipan is softer and smoother. The filling is a white cream (flavored with mango?) but I like the Taipan one better.
The taro mochi is filled with a solid taro paste, and I liked it better than Fayda’s mango mochi. However, I think Taipan’s mango mochi wins overall for me.

I love love love Chinese bakeries. Fay Da is definitely one of my top favorites. It’s clean, it’s big. It’s also less crowded than the other one right next doors, but I think it’s because Fay Da is hidden on one of the side streets in Chinatown.
The prices are pretty good — usually around $ 1-​$ 1.50 for a bun. They taste fresh, last a while, but obviously eat them when you first get them as they do tend to go somewhat stale if you buy too much like I do and leave them to each over the course of 2 – 3 days.
I usually get the custard buns, the pineapple buns, cream buns. One of their hidden gems that I recently discovered was the tuna bun; so so so moist and tasty! I love it.
I also really really recommend buying their whole cakes. Have tried the fresh fruit regular cream and fresh fruit chestnut cake. Both are amazing, but the chestnut one definitely takes the cake (haha). So moist! The cream is also light and refreshing. Not too sweet. Also very affordable — $ 16 for a small one to serve 6 – 8 people, and $ 23 for a bigger one that can serve 8 – 10 people. They also give you candles and paper plates, forks and a serving knife!

Only given 3 stars because bakery was clean and girl asked us what would like to order after dealing with customer in front of us unlike other shops around there that don’t really acknowledge you unless your Asian anyways reason for 3 stars is being that I blind tasted the freshly mixed fruit cake no slices offered to buy so not worth $ 18 for a 8″ sponge cake that was flavor-​less (the sponge cake) heavy cream was ok fruits were alright nothing worth bragging about

Taro bun-​below average. Soft bun. Not much fillings which taste like diluted red bean paste rather than taro. Not too sweet.
Sweet topping red bean bun-​very good. A little crispy on the top. Sufficient red bean paste. Soft and chewy bun.
Sweet potato puff-​average. Not much fillings which has a cinnamon taste.

A wide range of flavored bubble teas with Asian pastries and sweets (and some Asian twists on classic American ones), this place is an awesome compliment to a lunch or afternoon snack stop. The complaint I have is that the pastries that are better warm (like bean buns) were room temperature with no option for heating up. Otherwise, a great stop.

Overall, I find this place quite pleasant for ambience, good seating, and cleanliness but the individual pastries and buns are lacking in a number elements.
For the buns, they’re kept in a steamer but it’s hard to figure out which bun is which aside from the roast pork bun where the red interior is visible. I happened to choose the pork and vegetable bun but the filling was really sparse and there was a lot more cabbage to pork ratio.
I also tried a taro puff which tasted too artificial and too sweet. The crust wasn’t that crispy or flakey either. Finally, I tasted a lotus seed preserved egg pastry which totally didn’t taste like lotus seed and had small flecks of pink unknown things…
I might come back for the breads though!

I am going to give the baked goods and cleanliness 4 stars but the ladies who work here 1 star because they can be downright nasty.
On our last visit, two of them were very rude; one of which even rolled her eyes at me in disgust. I simply asked a small question.
As a tip: When you go into any place in Chinatown, when you walk in the door, remember to be prepared to firmly tell them «I’m not ready yet» as they can be pushy as well as nasty.
When we asked one a question, the lady reluctantly answered saying: «How many you want???»
I have started to go to Thai and Malaysian places in the Chinatown /​Little Italy area because so far, these other places have been more polite and respectful to us as customers.

This is the first Fay Da I went to. I used to love this place for the ice longan drink in the summer time. Sweet and icy on hot summer days are heavenly. I stopped coming because the ladies are so rude here. The last 2 times I walked out without purchasing what I wanted because they kept over looking me and when I asked to pay they say they are busy. Busy talking and moving stuffs around? It’s okay, I’ll go elsewhere.

This is my go to bakery at Chinatown for many reasons:
1. Comfort
2. Consistency
3. Chinese atmosphere — customer service is not their concern
4. Always stocked with what I want
5. Reasonable prices
6. Doesn’t run out of the good bread
I discovered this bakery when I was searching for a specific type of scallion bread and this was the only bakery in Chinatown that had it and looked clean. I came here multiple times when I was in the neighborhood and even discovered to new breads. I tried a lot of new breads and custards to eventually settle with their wide range of filling for the pineapple buns.

Stopped by for a refreshing drink on a hot day and ordered honey green tea with tapioca. Tapioca balls had the right amount of sweetness which blended in well with the semi-​sweet flavor of the honey green tea. Every tapioca ball had the right amount of chewiness, I’m always critical of this. Found another favorite drink to substitute when I’m not in the mood for milk tea which can feel kind of heavy afterwards.

I’m almost sure this place is a chain, but it makes practically the same things as any other Chinese bakery in Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, etc. The prices are really great. I love their egg custard tart — $ 1. It’s perfect for just eating on the street.
They also have a good selection that you can pick for yourself in the back from hot dog buns, cakes, plain buns, etc. This unfortunately, is a very small bakery so you might find yourself scrambling for seats, but they have take out baggies for your pastry — which is just perfect for walking around and munching on!

I recently got a cake here — the Taro Pudding. I also tried their hot steamed buns.
It’s cheaper than Taipan. A one pound cake goes for $ 28 at Taipan and an 8″ cake goes for $ 25 at Fay Da. It’s just as good. Specifically, I thought the Taro pudding was going to be a huge domed taro pudding with an exterior casing of icing. This is not the case. It’s basically a delicious cake, with a layer of taro and a layer of pudding. It is incredible — light and airy. Serves 8 – 10.
As for the steamed buns. Note that the sausage is not diced Chinese sausage in the bun. It is literally like a 1 inch sausage they just stick in the middle. Not worth it. Also the sticky rice bun is not a bun of sticky rice. It is a bun with a maybe one inch cube in the center of sticky rice (not much meat). Really, your go-​to here should be the Cha Shao bun. The only real winner…

China-​born GF and I have been here a few times and usually get:
scallion twist — has good days and bad, some days it is soft and fresh, others a bit stale
chicken curry puff — very good, light, fluffy, a lot of flavor
beef curry puff — very good, light, fluffy, a lot of flavor
roasted pork puff — good, also light and fluffy, but flavor isn’t as good
roasted pork bun — standard bun, good flavor
japanese cheesecake — always great, so moist and soft, great alternative to normal cheesecake

Bubble tea and dessert. I have been going to this bakery for both over the past 15 years. I usually order milk tea with black tapioca. This visit the bubble tea was not that great. Too much ice and it tasted watered down. We had the tiramisu, chestnut bun and egg custard. The tiramisu needed more cake in it… it was all cream. The chestnut bun was very bready. I liked the egg custard was definitely the best out of the three. Not too sweet yet yummy.

Great place for asian baked goods. There isnt much difference in their buns in comparison to the other asian bakery just around the corner. (Well maybe one, they offer the taro puff pastry that I love.)
They do run out of the popular items earlier in the day. SO make sure you come early to get the buns. They def keep the egg tarts going throughout the day. Hopefully, you’ll be there in time for the fresh batch coming out. overall, I’d recommend this place.

They were closing so they weren’t too happy to see us but then we said we just wanted a boba and they obliged.
Mostly disappointed in the boba. Good price for $ 2.50 but no taste or sugar whatsoever.
I felt like I was drinking water with balls. Loool

Not exactly a place I would have visited based on my own curiosities. Luckily, a co-​worker told me to give the place (and a Chinese bakery) a try. To my great surprise, I was greeted with an abundance of tasty Chinese inspired baked goods. I didn’t even know wehere to start… light pastries, ham and cheese croissants, and raisin and cheese thingies.
MOST impressive is how INEXPENSIVE all the treats are. For about $ 6 – 7 dollars you can treat yourself to a nice full belly without feeling super bloated.
The location is small and has been crowded on every visit but it is Chinatown which is normally busy as usual. There was no restroom (a biggie) for me to judge but the staff was friendly and I like the whole self-​service thongs which allow you to choose your own treats and pack your own treats in little wax paper bags. I will definitely be back the next time I’m in lower Manhattan.

After walking around Mott St., my friends and I decided to get some dessert and some tea. This Fay Da Bakery is a nice little location. Plenty of freshly made breads, steam buns, cheesecakes, cupcakes, fruit cakes, whole cakes, etc. I like that it is self service. Grab a pair of tongs and grab whatever you like to get. Please don’t grab anything with your hands.
I got myself a small hot milk tea. Which was «eh» to me. There was more tea than milk. About 70% tea and 30% milk. I also got 2 egg tarts which were quite good. The crust was very soft and the egg was smooth and silky.
This place is a 3.5 stars in my opinion.
FYI. Please know what you’re going to get. Don’t get in the way of other people who know what they are getting.