Best Chinese BAKED buns in GTA?

[TOFoodie1]

Now that the Yung Sing bakery has closed, I'm looking for great baked Chinese buns (not the steamed "bao" type). I'm most fond of the cha siu (BBQ pork) and curried beef fillings.

Does anyone have any recommendations where to find these?

Thanks!

[bbbradk]

I know everyone is all authentic and stuff, but I really like the buns filled with tuna, and the ones with egg and cheese.
Used to go to the place in Agincourt Mall, but then the tuna became brown (wtf? brown tuna?) and they never have anything with egg, so I stopped buying there.

I need to find a new place along Sheppard

[smfan]

The bakery inside No Frills Steeles/Silver Star Blvd is A-OK especially 50% off after 5pm.

[helenhelen]

i loved the tofu buns at yung sing.. never seen that anywhere else. :(

also, they had my fave egg tarts. who has the best egg tarts downtown now that yung sing is gone (the flaky crust kind, not the cookie crust.. i hate those)? kim moon is pretty good. are there any places that have better ones?

[randomthoughts]

Lucullus had both kinds of crusts when I was there today. I like flaky too, and these were superb - crisp, well browned for flavor and most of all, flaky.

[smfan]

I tried Lucullus flaky egg tart last week. Would like to see more flaky layers.
The egg custard fillings at Fagrant is better when eat fresh. But it is in phyllo sheets.
Wanted to try egg tart at Aroma yesterday at 430pm but all sold out.
Rol San has Mini Egg tarts for dim sum and they are very good.

[randomthoughts]

I've had phyllo crusts before (they're more usual in the portugese custard tarts) and while they're fine, I much prefer the flaky pastry.

After trying a bunch of the rest of the buns from Lucullus, I didn't really taste anything too special about the fillings... they were good, but pretty similar to all the ones I remember. The egg tarts were the standout for me. The coconut buns were good too, containing a generous amount of stuffing.

It's probably culinary heresy, but I prefer the Hong Kong style BBQ pork filling - sticky and bright red. I don't find the pale pork filling has enough caramel notes and Maillard bits (ie browned protein).

If you think the Rol San tarts are good, try Grand Chinese... I remember them being much better than the ones at Rol San. You sure pay for it, though.

[smfan]

Thanks. But I don't like the dim sum at Grand. Too much MSG.

[helenhelen]

egg tarts don't have MSG :)

[helenhelen]

where are all these places located? are any downtown? (aside from rol san which i already know)

[randomthoughts]

Lucullus is just a bit north of Toronto, just W of Hwy 404 (it's a bakery).

Grand is in the Double Tree hotel near Pearson.

So neither is downtown... but both have free parking (Grand validates).

[dory]

There is now a bakery on Spadina, a few doors away from Kum Jug Yuen that's OK. Seems to be busy but it could be the price ie, 3 buns for a buck. I haven't tried the custard tarts yet, Has anyone else?

[helenhelen]

my fave place for egg tarts downtown was yung sing pastry shop (RIP)

[plug]

R u sure they r in phyllo sheets @ fragrant? IMO they taste like regular egg tart pastry.

[smfan]

Update on Fragrant egg tarts. They are chinese style flaky shells. Very good. The fillings not sweet at all.

[TOFoodie1]

Thanks to everyone for your responses! I've tried 3 of the places posted about here in the past couple of weeks and am reporting back my opinion about 2 of their baked buns and custard tarts.

Lucullus Bakery (Hwy. 7 and Chalmers)
328 Hwy 7, E #19, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 7P1
[phone]

The BBQ pork buns ($1.20) and curried beef buns ($1.30) are the best of these buns that I have ever had. They are more expensive than the buns at other bakeries I've tried, but they are large, have ample filling and as Charles stated, the fillings are the most delicious of any buns I've had to date (better than my memory of Yung Sing's). The custard tarts ($1.20) are a bit small and again more expensive than the other places, but the pastry is so delicate, melt in your mouth and crisp and the filling is eggy and exactly the right level of sweetness for my taste so that they are worth the extra cost.

AROMAZ (Chartwell mall, Brimley & Huntingwood)
2301 Brimley Rd
Toronto, ON M1S 5B8
[phone]

I liked these buns second to those at Lucullus, but still very good. They are $1.00 (buy 6 and no tax), are large and have a good amount of filling. The flavour of the fillings is good, but not as good as Lucullus IMO. The custard tarts have pastry that is more like the Portuguese custard tarts, many layers, a deeper custard tart, and the filling was not sweet enough for my taste.

ABC Bakery Coffee Shop (mall on the NW corner of Tempo and Victoria Park, S. of Steeles)
3618 Victoria Park Avenue
[phone]

I liked the custard tarts ($ .95) here second to Lucullus. They were large, with flaky pastry, and a nice custard that was the perfect level of sweetness for my taste. The buns ($ .95) were good, but third on my list after Lucullus and AROMAZ. I found the amounts of fillings in the buns OK, but not particularly generous. The filling of the BBQ pork bun too sweet for my taste and the curried beef bun had too many onions. Still good IMO.

Now, I'm interested in trying the Fragrant Bakery as many here have recommended.

[Charles Yu]

Bought a whole bunch of buns, pies and tarts from Aromaz whilst having Dim Sum lunch at Dragon Dynasty last weekend. My verdict: Total disappointment!! On the whole, Lucullus is better. Also, Aromaz chicken pie is plain weird and bland! The filling of minced chicken patty with Chinese mushroom is unappetizing! Richmond Court's one is 10X better!! ( both crust and filling ).

[afong56]

tried a 3 pack of bakeries last week: lucullus, aromaz, and fragrant. . .lucullus wins on fillings by contemporary standards. but just this mini-tasteoff brought back a flood of memories of baked buns from the 70s-90s. the coconut/cocktail buns of yung sing, the bbq pork buns of melewa from the 90s. . .even the best of today's buns seem a sad shadow of what once was. . .just my .02 cents

[plug]

I much prefer the baked goods @ aroma bakery and not aromaz which is a different establishment altogether.....
Aroma is @ 2101 brimley rd.
I believe it's aroma that is the rejected partner of fragrant

[Miike]

It's funny your list in reverse is like my life growing up.

I ate at ABC when i was a kid and had dim sum at New World (it's been replaced).
Family discovered Dragon Dynasty so I had Aromaz.
We move to RHill and we get our breads from Lucullus.

The tart at ABC is still good. Anybody else remember the nasty smelling meat market that used to be in that strip mall with ABC and New World?

[randomthoughts]

Went on a 'food quest' to Lucullus... the custard tarts are crazy good, among the best I've ever tasted. (If you're partial to richness, the tiny tarts at Grand Chinese Cuisine are very good, but more expensive... I wish they'd leave off the birds nest and lower the price.

I like that it's north of Toronto but I hope that the roadwork on Highway 7 finishes quickly... traffic in that area rivals downtown.

I bought a bunch of other stuff, but they'll have to wait for a bit later, when I"m not so full.

Thanks for the recommendation!

[Miss Cassandra]

I have a suggestions of where NOT to go: Queen's Patisserie (quality going downhill) and Gloucester (extremely rude service).

[junkie]

fragrant bakery at midland and mcnicoll....
hole in the wall, but worth it. specialty: peanut filled-black sesame glutinous rice balls

[plug]

and great egg tarts (fragrant bakery)

[baby_tran]

Great egg tarts and wife cookies at Fragrant!

[smfan]

The swiss roll and marble roll are also very good at Fragrant.

[jlunar]

If this is the place I'm thinking of, I also like their boh loh bbq bun.

[Chester Eleganté]

Lucullus is the best of Richmond Hill but Fragrant is the only one I go out of my way for if I'm anywhere in the area. Coconut tart is my favourite and easily the best in town - no shell, all moist, eggy, coconut goodness. Egg tarts and wife biscuits are great, and can't go wrong with the rest - bbq pork buns, green tea/red bean/cream roll, egg white sponge cake, etc. Various choices are available in half size. There's also the sister store Aroma Bakery (via breakup apparently, and not to be confused with Aromaz) at Brimley & Sheppard that makes very similar items.

[smfan]

Is Aroma as good as Fragrant?

[syoung]

Yung Sing has been on indefinite hiatus for a while but there has never been official word from the owners, Chu and Ngan Ko, that it's closed for good. Do you know something?

[TOFoodie1]

Sorry, I don't know anything. A friend of mine told me that Yung Sing had closed, and I just took her word for it. Maybe, someone will respond with a recent update.

[Charles Yu]

Lucullus on Hwy#7 and Chalmers. Hands down!! Better than Richmond Court, Gloucester, Aromaz....etc. Why? Because of the outstanding fillings!! In addition to the buns you should try the 'Chicken roll' as well!! For lunch, their Chicken a la king rice has no equal in the GTA!!! Tends to sold out early!!

[aser]

This is one of the places I miss most now that I live far from richmond hill. The bun fillings are perfection. Their egg tarts are flakey and incredibly eggy. Wifey cake is excellent too. Measures up to hk standards extremely well.

I used to go weekly, sigh. Now I don't even buy anything from the chinatown bakeries.

[dory]

Is there still more than one Lucullus location? There used to be several I believe, but for me the one at Chalmers Gate has always been the best for some reason. Could it be my imagination? And I've been eating their food for at least 15 years, probably more like 20. And I agree with Charles, go early enough for a light lunch. I'm sorry my son has outgrown his pediatrician whose office was in that plaza, I don't get there very often now.

[magic]

Thanks for the Lucullus rec! Fantastic!

The baked ones were very generously filled and exceptionally good. The steamed bao ones were also nice, with a luscious and pillowy texture - though perhaps not quite as much filling relative to the baked variety (but still generous). Still, top notch - addictive!

Cannot wait to return.

fyi, debit for 25 cent fee. No credit cards.

[TOFoodie1]

Thank you for your responses, everyone!

[piccola]

On this theme, does anyone know where to get good shaobing? Preferably a range of sweet and savoury.

[FrankD]

I like Kim Moon on Dundas St West, just east of Spadina. The bun is fine, nothing special, but I find they are much more generous with fillings than your standard "6 bun for $5" shops.

[dory]

Is Kim Moon still open? Could be that I just missed it because I was distracted by the sign at Butterfly Bakery and went in there instead. My first visit here (last month) so we picked up some buns, fairly standard, not overly sweet and dough was a little more bread like if that makes any sense. Fillings seemed average. But it was busy. They have a bubble tea area and a hot table with quite a variety of dishes, including whole fish. Some seating at front and back of bakery/cafe.

[TorontoTips]

AROMAZ is a little bakery run by the folks that own Dragon Dynasty that's in the same Chartwell mall (at Brimley & Huntingwood in Scarborough) and they have truly outstanding Char Siu buns, as well as tiny macaroon-coconut tarts, egg tarts & cream-filled coconut buns, but I've not tried the curry ones.

[baby_tran]

+1 for Aromaz for buns.