Golden Gate Cake Shop

Have had multiple baked treats from here and have never been disappointed.
Although the service could be friendlier, everything tastes very fresh and still tastes great a couple of days after purchase.
My favourite items are the BBQ pork bun and the coffee flavoured swiss roll. The sponge in the swiss roll is so soft, complemented by the light, creamy filling. So yummy!
Come after 8pm and take advantage of the ‘buy 2, get 1 free’ offer on all of the buns!

Tip: after 8pm the buns are all buy 2 get one free! They are open til 9.30pm-ish.
Up until now, Kowloon has been my go-​to bakery for Chinese pastries. But last night my cousin introduced me to Golden Gate. Ohhh wow. The custard bun was soft, sweet, and had the perfect amount of custard filling. The custard had a great consistency and taste.
I also tried the super soft and light sponge cake, the crispy coconut bun, and the brown sugar coconut bun. Okay we went overboard but wouldn’t you at £1 each?!
I’m interested to go in earlier in the day when their shelves are fully stocked and see what other goodies they have!
Service was great in here. Plus the pastries and cakes are self serve. However the place is tiny so I imagine it gets super crowded in there during peak times.

Very good Char Siu Bao. Sweet port in a soft glazed bun.
Cakes are light and fluffy as usual and cheap at that!
Haven’t found anywhere else that compares… yet.

My favourite Chinese Bakery in Chinatown. This bakery is one of the oldest and has consistently provided good quality baked goods for over 20 years; I remember coming here ever since I was just tall enough to see eye-​to-​eye with the cakes on display. Being able to pick your own cakes and build up a collection on your own tray is infinitely satisfying, meanwhile the cakes have always looked good and tasted good. In recent months, since it was slightly renovated, I feel like the cakes have also increased in size ever so slightly (with a slight price increase) and the textures have become ever more light as they have been able to capture more air and achieve more rise. I am referring to ‘cakes’ for want of a better word as actually Chinese ‘cakes’ consists of a very many different varieties of buns, tarts, glutinous desserts, etc. At this bakery over the years they have added new found favourite varieties as well as kept the traditional types. Incidentally, I also had birthday cakes ordered from here (when I was young enough to celebrate birthdays) and can report that they were pleasant enough with light cream, fresh fruit and a good sponge. The only change I would wish this shop to adapt is to enlarge and expand!

My British friend of Chinese origin took me to this place. Everything here looks so nice that it will make you feel like you have to try it. They not only make items look good, but also make them taste good. I picked a few different types of sweet buns and they all are so soft and delicious.
I’d totally recommend to try every item here. This is totally on my list. I have a lot more to try out from here.
Hopefully I’ll live long enough to try them all.

Nothing like the Golden Gate Bakery in San Fransisco! Such deception. I just ordered an egg tart for 1 GBP. It was cold and nothing fancy about it. I give the egg tart 3 stars out of 5.
Perhaps I will try a different pastrie next time.

So Golden Gate cake shop has reopened following its recent closure for renovations. I did not notice any change in the shop interior but did notice that prices have increased, I suppose they need to recover renovation costs somehow.
This bakery stocks all the traditional baked Chinese sweet and savoury buns and fried snacks as well as cream/​fresh fruit cakes. I come to this bakery especially for the egg tarts with puff pastry as many of the other bakeries in Chinatown use short crust pastry.

we stumbled upon this place after eatting some amazing dim sum in chinatown. i love places that allow you to grab a try with some tongs. i just want to say everything in this tiny little joint is excellent, both savory and sweet! authentic, well priced and delicious. i got a box full of goodies here and we grazed on them the rest of the evening. if you’re looking for the real thing… chinese baked treats… come here and i guarantee you will not be disappointed!

I have been to this restaurant twice; once in the evening, and once for dim sum at lunch time. Although the food and service seemed much better at lunch than when i went in the evening, I was not convinced that it redeemed my overall opinion of it. It seems to owe its popularity more to its prominent location in the centre of Chinatown, being quite popular with tourists, than its reputation. There are much better options in Chinatown and even better ones further afield.
Evening: 1*
Lunch: 3*

This is my little piece of home in London. I am a frequent customer at their Shaftesbury Ave branch where they have seating. Their HK style milk tea is the best I can find in central London (although still can’t really compare with the real thing so visitors from HK don’t go unless really desperate). BEWARE! There may be a lot of other places selling milk tea but those are just not true authentic HK style milk tea — a lot of those are actually taiwanese or malaysian style in disguise or worst of all, just plain english tea with milk. I have had enough disappointments. Their selection of cakes and pastries are solid. Although I must say I am not a fan of the décor and the cake designs, kind of off-​putting really. But when it comes to Chinese eateries in the China Town neighborhood, one must not judge a book by its cover. I also like their puff pastry with bbq pork and coffee swiss roll. Good place to go when you are waiting around the area. It gets busy on weekends though, when it might be tricky to get a seat with the floods of students.

amazing bakery
the shaftbury evenue has a great selection and seating available
the cakes are wonderful, specially the ice cream cakes of strawberry or the mango selection is soo yummy!!!
at cheap prices of £4 is great ;P
they also have other desserts and BBQ pork buns etcetc all for around £1.20
will go again for sures.

The best bakery in Soho. It’s a nice tiny place in a prime location, on a road just intersecting the middle of chinatown. Be prepared to squeeze in and fight for your space! It can get very claustrophobic particularly during lunch hours on a weekend.
It’s not as fancy as those two other places, but it has a better hygiene record and is well priced. [The prices seem to keep rising, but inflation is only to blame here]
The cream of the crop are the kaya bun, coconut buns, tuna (if that’s your thing), ham & onion bun, egg tarts and Pandan Swiss roll.
But literally everything is good in here. And if you’re lucky, maybe somebody will buy one of those nice fruit birthday cakes you keep drooling at in the window :)
Also, goes without saying, but Cash only and pay quickly to avoid getting frowned upon

I first visited the Golden Pagoda when it first opened (for dim sum), and back then I wasn’t impressed so never returned until this weekend when some Chinese friends invited me to try again, telling me how good it is.
Well, I have to say the dim sum was really very good this time! I especially liked the duck spring-​roll and duck in sticky rice that had also been pan fried (though they could have drained the oil a bit better before serving). We shared a dozen or so dishes, and all of them were good. The steamed dough was light and fresh, the prawns tasted fresh and were well cooked, and I even liked the brass teapot that poured without spilling!
So now I have four options to choose from when in London Chinatown :-)

A great place to browse and pick up sweet Asian goodies when you are in London Chinatown! Try the BBQ pork buns for a cheap snack on the go, or buy a whole cream cake for a little more indulgence!

Tiny little shop surrounded by trays of baked Chinese goodies.
As you enter pick up some tongs & a tray, choose a selection of cakes & pay at the till.
This along with Kowloon are my fav two bakeries in Chinatown, Golden Gate is light & fluffy, Kowloon is heavier & sweeter… which one I go to depends on the mood, either way enjoy the treats & watch the waistline.

I had not yet been to a Chinese bakery in London, and this one is like how I remember them growing up. All the traditional stuff was there: puff pastries, char siu baos, red bean baos, sponge cakes, etc. I was here, however, for some moon cakes — they were so inexpensive (90p?! unheard of!) but unfortunately they were kind of disappointing — I got a lotus seed paste one and a red bean paste one. They also had some larger ones with egg yolks in them (£4.50) but they were not like the ones that I was used to — these ones had pink or green pastries to them. In any case, I will be back! Note: this place is small, but could fit around 8 or 9 people max in there at one time.

Seeing as there are all sorts of Chinese New Year celebrations going on in Chinatown this weekend, and seeing as I’m Chinese, I thought I’d be cool and join in… but then I got there and realized how much I actually hate crowds.
No worries, though, because my Golden Gate goodies were worth the hordes of tourists stopping SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET to take pictures of paper lanterns.
Due to the massive crowds and the small size of the store, the employees were selling all sorts of tasty treats on tables right outside the door, as well. I picked up an egg custard, red bean roll, coconut roll, three pieces of log cake, and BBQ pork bun all for a total of £7.
A bit greasy, but I think that’s standard of any Chinese bakery. The egg custards aren’t the best I’ve had, but then again, I’m quite picky about them anyway (I like them less crumbly and a little more caramelized). Quality is nowhere near the stuff you’ll find in Hong Kong or Taiwan, but not bad for the price, and it’s actually authentic.
Be warned, though — the space is EXTREMELY small. And a lot of the people who go to Chinatown apparently have no concept of moving around in small spaces. Also, I’m pretty sure they take cash only (not card, like it says on Unilocal)…

Lots of yum in a the tiniest store evarrr. But hey, I’ll run the gauntlet for a giant pork bun and a mooncake.
First trial, getting in the door. There were three other people in there so it was a stretch and I had to ask the boyfriend to stand outside and wait.
Second trial, manoeuvring to get the case open and snag my choice baked goods as someone on staff pushed her way through the «crowd» with another tray of buns.
The price was low and the product was good – not as cheap or as quality as some of the chinese bakeries I’ve been to in NYC, but I was satisfied.

I’ve been coming to this place, with varying degrees of regularity, since I was 14. Back then, it was well known for its roast pork buns, and, true to form, that’s what many people come for now. I’ve heard half a dozen people come in, one after another, groan, and turn on their heels if they don’t have any. However, this means they miss out on the other goodies; if you must have your roast pork fix, consider the pastries, or branch out and have a curry chicken bun instead. And then there’s the coconut tarts, bean cakes, banana cakes, etc. A good place to pick up a big lunch-​on-​the-​run for less than £5.

Irgendwo zwischen der Macclesfield Street und der Gerrard Street liegt zwischen dutzenden weiteren chinesischen Restaurants das Golden Pagoda.
Nachdem wir uns entschieden hatten, hier zu Abend zu essen wurden wir umgehend in den dritten Stock begleitet. Die Einrichtung ist wahrlich nichts Besonderes, aber zweckmäßig und gepflegt.
Wie so oft in asiatischen Restaurants war die Beleuchtung wieder einmal zu hell und zu kalt.
Ganz anders das Essen, welches man hier vorzugsweise zu Menüs kombiniert bestellt: heiss, reichlich und sehr lecker. Auch wenn man es sich selbst so wohl nicht kombinieren würde — die Zusammenstellung hatte ihren Reiz, erlaubte sie doch, wieder einmal etwas Neues zu probieren und nicht bei der knusprigen Ente hängen zu bleiben.
Die Gänge unseres Menüs wurden zügig nacheinander serviert, wie überhaupt alles in diesem Restaurant der Hektik der Großstadt angepasst zu sein scheint. Trotzdem waren die Bedienungen freundlich und Zeit zum Aufessen hatte man allemal.
Mein Tipp: das chinesische Bier passt gut zum Essen, es werden vernünftige Mengen serviert, so dass man im Falle des Falles auch mal einen etwas schärferen Bissen löschen kann.

For years, I had walked past this cake shop as I have more of a savoury tooth than a sweet tooth and the small window display only has cakes on the trays. Granted they look lovely and appetising but not enough to tempt me in.
This all changed when someone told me recently that this was probably the best shop for Chinese pastries in Chinatown. So today, I investigated and lo and behold, inside the shop and there is indeed a much greater variety than the title Cake Shop would lead you to believe.
I came away with a char siew (BBQ pork) crispy pastry, a sesame seed ball and a preserved egg in pastry. I didn’t see any egg custard tarts, which are my gold standard test for any Chinese bakery.
However, what I did buy was delicious. Not greasy and the pastry was light and flaky. I’ll have to peek in here again just to see if any egg custard tarts appear

Perfect place to pick up a snack or a bun for tomorrow’s breakfast! Its rather cramped inside, but the have a good range of different buns. Their sweet selection is a bit average, but what they excel in is their BBQ pork buns, which are massive (almost a meal) for £1.10. Their lotus buns too are pretty good too.
Probably one of the best Chinese bakeries in Chinatown!