Phoenix Bakery
In east Chinatown, this bakery and lunch spot has become an unofficial meeting hub for locals. The bakery carries typical Chinese dessert items: egg custard tarts, Swiss rolls, red bean buns, etc, as well as more substantial sit-down/takeout offerings like congee and rice and noodle dishes well below the $10 mark. Swing by in the morning for milk tea and a pineapple bun, a cheap and cheerful breakfast on the go.
615 Gerrard East, 416-778-8888
Aromaz
Located inside the Chartwell Mall (also try Dragon Dynasty Chinese Cuisine for great dim sum), this bakery makes some of the best Chinese chicken pies – coaster-sized pies with a golden, crumbly sweet crust and a creamy chicken and crunchy wood ear mushroom filling. On the savoury side, the excellent curry beef buns are puffy and flaky pastry pockets filled with curry-spiced minced beef. And there’s a wide selection of cakes at the counter, including the fruit-topped variety that’s a staple at every Chinese celebration.
2301 Brimley, 416-321-3232
Lucullus Bakery
The suburban Hong Kong-style bakery opened its first downtown location last year, giving those in the core a taste of golden pineapple buns with a deliriously good sugar crust, warm egg custard tarts, as well as savoury, extremely cheap lunch options like hot dog buns, ham and cheese buns and roast beef, ham and egg salad sandwiches. There are a few seats for all-day breakfast or lunch – try baked rice and a cup of what they call Russian borscht, which has more vegetables than the traditional purplish beet soup.
31 Elm, 416-792-1886 328 Highway 7 East (Richmond Hill), 905-771-9709 7750 Kennedy (Markham), 905-513-1188, lucullusbakery.com
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