Master Fang [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Master Fang (方師傅點心坊)
Address: No. 307, Chongde Rd, Zuoying District, Kaohsiung
Website: http://www.masterfang.com.tw/
Style: Chinese
Price: $$

What appears to be one of the bakery institutions of Kaohsiung (at the very least any bakery with a retail outlet in the train station is a clear sign they've made it), Master Fang is a well-established local bakery with around eight locations scattered throughout the city, most - oddly enough - occupying coveted, nearly identical corner spots. Are they on the prowl for any real estate that pops up to suit their needs? XD

Anyways, Master Fang was certainly one of the more spacious and "fancy" bakeries I went to in Kaohsiung. The bakery is not only large, but it's fully stocked with sweet and savoury baked goods along with gift boxes, cake slices - they really had it all and they actually gave a bag too!

This is also one of the bakeries (there were several during the course of my Taiwanese bakery tour) specializing in large, eye-shaped "Russian bread". Despite not being sweet, these have been enticing me since my first bakery back in Taipei. Coming in classic butter, cheese or green onion, these differentiate themselves from all other Chinese-style buns by their crusty exterior, amazing smell and the fact they come in full-sized loaves. A bit too much for one person on a bakery tour to eat on their own. This place, therefore, is probably the only place where you could get individual slices of Russian bread. At $15 a slice, I just had to give the cheese one a try. To my surprise/disappointment, the dough was actually quite similar to Chinese buns, especially in that it was so sweet. Too sweet. The subtle, mildly salty cheese baked nicely on top was totally overpowered by the sweetness and that made it just taste weird. Are they all that sweet? Needless to say, I think that's as far as my foray into Russian bread goes.

However! - and yes, that's a huge however - my experience didn't just end there. Amid all the tasty baked and fried sweet items, the most appealing had to be this doughnut twist ($32). This was a Chinese doughnut done to near perfection: it was crispy and a bit oily - just how I like it. The dough was soft, slightly chewy with a multi-tiered flakiness that you don't often come across in these simple pieces of fried dough. Topped with just the right amount of sugar, it was...fantastic!

Rating: ***1/2

Little Vienna Bakery

Bakery: Little Vienna Bakery, Cafe and Marketplace
Address: 6726 W Coast Rd, Sooke, BC
Website: https://littleviennabakery.com
Style: Austrian
Price: $$

Don't have anything from Sooke yet, so here we go. ^^ Usually, a business' descriptor doesn't get this specific, but Little Vienna seems to have done a good job at labelling itself, though I'm not sure if I would personally put "bakery" first place. Though they do sell bread, cake and baked goods, it still feels more like a cafe than a bakery. Maybe it's the vibe or the smaller selection that coincides with something sweet to go with that coffee?

Despite the name, the baked goods and slices of cake that are available don't exactly scream Austrian and include several European and Canadian classics that range from croissants to butter tarts. I tried two items: the lemon Copenhagen and the cherry almond tart. Again, I would have liked something a bit more regional, but these goodies not only looked pretty, they tasted good too. Since I'm always a sucker for almond tarts, no matter what shape or form, I had to give this one a try. I liked the fresh fruit that was not only placed on top, but it kind of seeped in down around the chewy almond mass to the tart shell. Um, maybe that wasn't intentional and it was just an accidental side effect of packing it in a paper bag? But I liked the overall effect.

The Copenhagen was flaky and buttery with just the right amount of lemon and good icing coverage. The icing may actually have been a little too much in places, especially given the more delicate dough, but the taste was very good and I had plenty of fun uncoiling these two little spirals. ;)

Rating: ***

和樂西點麵包 [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: 和樂西點麵包 (Hele Bakery - West Point)
Address: No. 207, Qixian 3rd Road, Yancheng District, Kaohsiung
Website: facebook
Style: Chinese
Price: $-$$ 

This unpretentious corner bakery looks like it's been here for quite some time. Add to that all the clutter and junk strewn around the inside and well, it kind of feels like the bakery is operating out of their back storeroom. XD This setup could work either way. I mean, sometimes you can get unexpectedly yummy baked goods from the most unlikely, unsightly places. In this case, Hele Bakery is actually a local bakery "chain" with about half a dozen locations scattered throughout Kaohsiung. Are they all as rundown as this one? Not sure; I don't quite remember seeing any more, but with its taped up prices and mismatched labels, it feels like an independent bakery. All my jabs aside, with all individual items under $30 (some even under $20!), the bakery is cheap and well-stocked, the baked goods are uncomplicated and it appears that they're baking fresh bread throughout the day.

Not wanting to settle for the same old bun varieties I'd been having elsewhere, I gave the black sesame peanut bun ($28) a try. It kind of looked like my beloved poppy seed and I thought I could pretend for a moment that it was. .___.;; The black sesame was rich and nutty and was wound generously round the dough in several layers, creating a moist, hefty bun. In my opinion, the major downside was what I initially assumed to be crumble on top of the bun; this was actually chopped peanuts. A lot of peanuts, mind you. The black sesame is already so decadent and there is that oily element to it so the addition of the peanuts made it excessive. I also think the texture of the peanuts didn't suit the smoothness of the bun. I definitely felt like I'd overindulged after finishing this...

Rating: **1/2

鹽埕李二 [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: 鹽埕李二 現烤甜甜圈 (Yancheng Lee 2 Freshly Baked Doughnuts)
Address: No. 213-7, Xinyue Street, Yancheng District, Kaohsiung
Website: facebook
Style: Doughnuts
Price: $  

Tucked away inside a blink-and-you'll-miss-it alley, this small doughnut pumps out what was my first (and definitely not my last) taste of what I will now call the Taiwanese baked doughnut. I almost want to say Southern Taiwanese, because once I hit a certain latitude these quaint doughnut stalls, with workers rolling hot doughnuts with sugar in bamboo baskets, seemed to just disappear. Taipei was definitely a crispy milk doughnut zone, so perhaps it really is a regional thing?? Either way, baked doughnuts are made of a multi-layered, croissant-like dough that is first rolled and folded, then curled round into a doughnut mould and baked in a waffle maker-like doughnut machine. After that, they come out piping hot and are tossed in a sticky sugar that clings to the dough and creates a sort of all-around glaze. They're not too sweet, a little crispy, a little flaky... good stuff!

So how did this one fare? This stall in particular was unique in that they offered these flaky baked doughnuts in a variety of flavours that included brown sugar and chocolate. For the sake of reviewing, however, I like to keep things simple, so I went with the original ($25). The outside had a nice sweetened crust, though the crispier edges and overgrown centre got a bit too candied. Inside, the dough was soft and slightly airy; I love that texture. This doughnut in particular, though, was served at room temperature - I would have loved to have it warm like I did elsewhere. A good, very promising start in the world of these delectable doughnuts.

Rating: ***

Sweet Thea Bakery

Bakery: Sweet Thea Bakery
Address: 1 Ferry Causeway, Tsawwassen BC
Website: https://www.sweetthea.com/
Style: European, French
Price: $$$

It may come as a bit of a surprise, but amid the souvenir junk and overpriced, sub par food inside the Tsawwassen ferry terminal, there's a bakery! Yes, really. And it's not one of those airport-style "bakeries" where items come in sealed bags and arrive on plastic dollies, not baking trays; it's a real bakery selling flaky French pastries and a colourful assortment of macarons. It's a local bakery as well - operating out of Langley, their main location (rather their only location according to their website) appears to have more selection and stocks a bit more rustic breads and cookies. But the ferry terminal booth is nonetheless impressive in its own right. I mean, it's good, quality pastries in the kind of spot that's synonymous with lousy food. And the prices aren't too over-the-top; if you're a frequenter of Vancouver bakeries and already paid for your ferry ticket, you won't be shocked.

 I grabbed the rhubarb hand pie ($5.00), a sort of square-shaped turnover pastry stuffed with big chunks of rhubarb. It was pretty good: the pie shell was nice and flaky, but still hefty enough to handle the fruit filling. That filling had a good level of sweetness; I love rhubarb in baked goods and not only is it hard to find, bakeries often try to cover up that refreshing, almost vegetal tartness of the rhubarb with tons of sugar, so it was nice to get that hint of sourness.

Rating: ***