Original New Town Bakery

The Cantonese villagers who moved to Vancouver in the 1900s populated Chinatown and opened up Chinese businesses. One of them was the 'Hong Kong Cafe ' which apparently was located at the Chinese Theatre on Pender Street from the 1930s and then settled in the 1940s to 149 East Pender Street run by Victor Lum where it became famous for its apple tarts and oxtail soup. <br/ <br/ I have memories of when my father took me here, at an age that I can barely remember. It was a wonderful combination of a North American diner, and something Chinese, from my heritage, village Chinese and immigrant Chinese and bustling commerce. They 'd serve coffee, apparently terrible, from huge boiling vats, carboys of coffee. And would serve a delightful mix of Chinese and North American food. I remember, distinctly, my first Boston Cream Pie: a perfect tiny round of gelatinous red, that looked like a half of a maraschino cherry but was just jelly, on top of a combination of mostly cream, and a little cake, perhaps. I don 't remember the details exactly but at such a young age found it absolutely magical.<br/ <br/ Apple tarts seem to have been their most famous legacy. My brother remembers the apple tarts as being two for 35 cents. They are a kind of flaky pastry, round, with an apple filling, that tastes of real apples, perhaps like a spoonful of apple pie. The layers are light around it, almost like a donut. The flaky coating, a sugar crust, is similar to a nice French pastry. It is certainly not particularly Chinese, but probably found nowhere else in North America, so is an original Vancouver Chinese-Canadian creation.<br/ <br/ When the Hong Kong Café closed, it was known that the Lums decided that the recipe would not go to anyone else and that the apple tart would DIE with their closure. But a cook who 'd made them defected to the Newtown Bakery across the street and started making them, and now, versions of them are available at Newtown Bakery and their other locations (including a similarly named bakery, the Original New Town Bakery, which is not officially associated with the New Town chain) and apparently the Bao Bakery near the Joyce Skytrain station has started making them too.<br/ <br/ I think they 're pretty marvelous, but it 's impossible for me to separate the taste of them (pretty good) with the memories (priceless) of father bringing home a box of apple tarts to our family, presented with pride and probably some nostalgia of his own.<br/ <br/ If you 're a foodie, and so inclined, why not hunt one down?

Bottom line: Being the 'original ' New Town Bakery, I expected way more than was offered. There were only 3 options for baked buns... Is this for reals? They had tons of steamed buns but I was hoping to buy a box of baked buns. In any case, their coconut cocktail bun was probably one of the best ones I 've ever had. Soft, tender, smooth, what other words can describe this delectable bun?

Love their fresh multigrain breads; rye or flax-sesame seed, they will slice for you for free, perfect for sandwiches and toasting. Just recently tried their spicybeef siopao bun..yummy and my new favorite bun. Their veggie samosa is also tasty, they have a variety of sausage buns and their desserts nanaimo bar, baclava are yummy. Prices are good and service is personable, they are open late perfect for stopping by after a long work day for a treat. check them out, a hidden jem on cambie.

Fun buns. I live within walking distance of the New Town Bakery, but I 've never stopped in because aside from almond cookies, Chinese sweets have never appealed to me. I 'm more of a croissant and Danish European baked good fancier. But when I read other Urbanspoon reviews touting their pork buns (cha siu bao) I had to try some.<br/ <br/ I 've eaten a lot of bad pork buns in my life. At hospitals, especially the one where I worked in San Francisco, the families of Chinese patients often bring them in a treats for the nurses. They often have gummy dough and skimpy pork. I thought that New Town Bakery could show me how a proper cha siu bao should taste.<br/ <br/ Their bun dough was puffy and relatively light, both on the steamed version and especially the baked one. The baked dough had a slightly sweet taste that reminded me of the dinner rolls my mom used to make for Thanksgivings. The pork filling was generous, approximately 50% of the weight of the dough. New Town 's pork mixture is on the sweet side, but I suppose that 's traditional. The only drawback was a couple bits of inedible fat in one bun, and what felt to my teeth like a few tiny shreds of paper in the other. I 've had that happen with other pork buns I don;t know, is paper is used in the prep somehow? Overall, I liked 'em, and at less than $3 for two buns, they 're a better deal than pizza slices!

Fresh and yummy. We discovered this place when we lived around the corner seven years ago and have been going ever since. The bread tastes great and is more reasonably priced than the other bakeries we go to occasionally. My boyfriend likes the pork buns and we always end up buying some of their apple tarts when we go. On average, a loaf of bread there is around $3 a loaf and it freezes well too. The couple who own and run the bakery, Willy and Mary, are so kind and friendly and helpful. We were worried when the Canada Line was being built that they might get lost in the shuffle but it's a testament to how good their place is that they were one of the few small businesses that managed to stay afloat. We usually buy the 100% whole wheat but their sesame flax bread is good too, especially when toasted.