Top 5 Chinatown Bakery Eats for Under $1

The Cent-urion

by Isaiah Thompson

Bread Top House's Fried Taro Dumpling

Photo | Isaiah Thompson

When I asked a lady at St. Honore if the Fried Happy Ball — a sugary crust hiding a mesh of thin, moist, doughy layers — was like a doughnut, she said yes, and added that it was "very good." In fact, it is better than "very good" — and if you went to God Himself and asked how He would make a doughnut, He'd probably send you here.

How, exactly, the Hong Kong Bakery came to be selling something called a Swiss roll is a mystery to me. But they do, and it's good. The pastry is a simple, fresh, yeasty, buttery roll. It's sweet, but not too sweet. One of these and a cup of coffee makes for good times.

Of all the tasties that line the shelves of the cheery Bread Top House, the fried taro dumpling is without peer. The pork-filled dumpling is enveloped in a thin coat of taro root, which somehow, when fried, turns into a beautiful, flaky, coral reef-like crust. The dumpling has another amazing property: It fills you up in astonishing disproportion to its size.

Alternative to that greasy slice of pizza? How about a somewhat greasy — but very delicious — vegetarian egg roll at Zhong Gang? They're filled with a nice, vinegary mix of vermicelli, mushroom, celery, carrots and herbs.

Hidden away in the rear corner at KC's Pastries is the best thing in the entire shop: fresh sponge cake. Wrapped in little sheaths of paper, the waffle cone-size cakes are moist, tasty and quite portable. Get a couple, take 'em to work or something. You'll be a big hit.