Eastern Bakery, “The First Bakery in Chinatown.” A couple of small old Chinese ladies taking orders alongside trays of mooncakes and red bean and lotus cakes filling the tiny shop. I first ordered a steam pork bun, thinking it would be the red BBQ pork meat filling. Instead it was brown, but surprisingly just as sweet as the BBQ filling I was expecting.
Near the end of my roam around San Francisco’s Chinatown, I decided it wouldn’t be right to leave without trying a mooncake from the first bakery in C-town. So I came back. However, the mooncakes seem quite steep at $4-5. I don’t know how much mooncakes usually cost, but that seems like a lot for these things I would eat two of as a snack when I was five. Now that I think about it, these things are probably packed with sugar, fat and calories. Maybe that’s why I was fat kid. Instead, I got a Chinese lotus cake which is smaller, cheaper and with similar filling. Pavan asked what the filling was like and I couldn’t quite describe it at the time. But then he got to try a taste and equated it with the consistency of pecan pie. I’d like to now equate it to the consistency of hardened ear wax, but sweeter.
I wonder how long the buns and mooncakes have been sitting on display in the front window.
Eastern Bakery – 720 Grant Ave (btw Commercial & Sacramento St) San Francisco, CA 94108
This is the third time I’ve been to your site. Thanks for providing more information.