New Town Bakery

Bakery: New Town Bakery & Restaurant
Address: 148 E Pender St, Vancouver BC (+2 locations)
Website: http://newtownbakery.ca/
Style: Chinese, Filipino 
Price: $$$ 

Somewhat in the area, I thought of popping into a few Chinese bakeries while in Vancouver's Chinatown to increase my bakery count without spending a lot of money. ^^; Chinese bakeries may not be the greatest, but they are good for cheap eats. New Town, like some bakeries, is a bakery at the front and a restaurant serving "fast food" in the back of the space. The first thing that struck me was the full-serve counter with numbers, crowds fighting for those numbers, and signs warning of pickpockets -- certainly not the best atmosphere. :/ The selection is larger than usual, though this is mostly limited to savoury goods; after all, their specialty is meat-stuffed steam buns. There was also an increased variety of coconut and pineapple buns, along with different types of fried dough, both sweet and savoury, but little in terms of more traditional, "non-bun" baked goods.

Having already bought a coconut bun elsewhere, I thought I'd try one of their "fritters"; these are generally well executed. From bakeries to supermarkets to restaurants, they're usually nice and crisp on the outside, fluffy and soft on the inside. I've tried "ox tongue" and "oil strip" varieties elsewhere, so I was intrigued by their "Chinese cinnamon fritters" or "sweet cinnamon fritter" (something along those lines) -- the tray was almost empty, so they seemed to be a popular choice.

At $1.75 + tax (plus tax... what? when was the last time that happened!?), they ended up being pricier than I expected and were definitely not worth it (I also didn't appreciate the nasty look and annoyed attitude I got for buying one item...). In short: worst bakery of my BC Cake Tour, and quite possibly the worst Chinese bakery I've ever tried. :( This fritter was dense and stale; the outside was too brown and badly fried, with all the old oil, which tasted of salt and pepper pork chops, soaked up by the dough instead of creating a nice crisp outside. And where was the cinnamon? O.O This was super salty, and just plain... gross. I don't know how I managed to eat this! Cheap treat failure. ;_____;

Rating: *