King Bakery

King Bakery is a small shop located in the bustling red plaza in Chinatown, Houston. The inside is very small and dim, and I thought it was closed for the day with the empty shelves and low lighting. However, when you walk in, there is a couple of older people ordering tons of buns! The person in front of me ordered 24 pork buns. No wonder the shelves were empty, and I can definitely see why. The buns are super delicious! I got three pork buns and two pineapple buns. The pineapple buns were still being baked, so we waited for 20 minutes. When we came back, we tried getting more, but the older people in front of us ordered the rest ;-; Their buns are so popular that the moment it comes out the oven, it is sold! The pineapple buns were warm. The inside was fluffy, and it was crispy on the top. I think it has to be one of the BEST pineapple buns I have ever had, especially when it is fresh out the oven. Please please try their pineapple buns!! The pork buns was also delicious, and the inside is perfect! The outside of the pork bun reminds me of a Texas Roadhouse roll, so think of their pork bun as a butter roll with char siu pork filling inside. Everything is also super cheap and less than $2. Overall, this place is definitely a hole in the wall with great prices and great buns!

This bakery has a vibe of traditional Hongkong neighborhood one, I mean the dull furnishing, the handwritten signs and menus, slightly dilapidated furniture and clerks communicating in Cantonese all make one wonder if it is back to a street corner bakery in MonKok. The taste of the breads are nostalgic, after first bite and one can tell the ingredients are natural and unlike most of the chain Asian bakeries in Texas using a lot of artificial flavors. I tried pineapple bread, char-sew bread, curry bread and egg tart. Everything is authentic. No wonder this place is often busy and queued up. Hence, a local Texan whose tastebuds are accustomed to heavy seasoning would probably find them too bland. This place is not for you, lol. Kudos to the owner who keeps the authentic Hongkong flavor rather than yielding to the localize the food.

Legit one of the best egg tarts I've ever had. They were coming out of the oven when we got there. The bolo bao was fresh and just the right amount of sweet. Friendly staff.

I'm only rating the items that I love here: baked bbq pork buns, chicken buns and egg custard tarts. I usually place the order an hour or two before coming in for one dozen each of freshly baked bbq pork and chicken buns. They are great for freezing, to pull out one at a time for a quick microwaved snack. They have been out of chicken buns the last three orders. 😟 The pork has a nice amount of sauce and meat. The chicken comes in a good sized minced meat ball and makes me feel I can eat a couple in one sitting because they don't taste so calorie laden! Their egg custard tarts (don tot) are not the most consistently shaped (like ECK) but have the right amount of sweetness and firmness in the custard with the best fall-apart-in-your-hand flaky crust ever! One picture has a custard missing because I couldn't wait until I came home to eat one.

Update: Looks like King Bakery is closed until July 20th y’all!!