Hong Kong Bakery

Bakery: Hong Kong Bakery

Address: 5407 Gateway Blvd NW, Edmonton AB

Website: http://hong-kong-bakery-edmonton.edan.io/ 

Style: Chinese

Price: $

Someone I know once went to a classic Cantonese restaurant that used to serve a predominantly Chinese clientele and asked them about a dish that could no longer be found in the menu. The waiter replied, "We don't serve that anymore, we're not that kind of Chinese restaurant". As harsh as it sounds, the same can be applied to Hong Kong bakery: they're not that kind of Chinese bakery. 

From the outside, it looks promising, but inside was quite the disappointment, both in terms of sweet and savoury baked goods. HK bakery mainstays that you almost take for granted - standards like pineapple and coconut cream buns - were nowhere to be seen that day (maybe they bake them and I just came on a bad day??), let alone more exciting items and, to be honest, if I really wanted creamy cake slices, cupcakes and macarons, I wouldn't get them at a Chinese bakery.... At least, they had egg tarts and a couple varieties of cookies. *shrugs* 

Taking both an almond cookie and (Chinese) cupcake, I pretty much exhausted the sweet selection. Both were cheap and well, tasted a bit cheap too. The almond cookie didn't even have the obligatory sliced almonds on top, but this fine crumble of leftover nuts. The cookie itself was doughy and bland. Similarly, the cupcake also lacked that signature airy, slightly eggy taste. It didn't really have any distinct flavour. Oddly enough, the sweetest item I got was the BBQ pork bun, whose filling was so sugar-loaded it was almost candied; what a struggle it was to finish it. Maybe the competition isn't that fierce in Edmonton, but it could have at least been tastier. 

Rating: **