A bakery stereotype. As I ramble around Vancouver shooting photos of eateries that have no images on Urbanspoon, I've noticed that there is a stereotypical sort of Chinese bakery in Vancouver. They are all in smallish storefronts, have faded yellow awnings in front with Chinese letters, and are dingy-looking from the outside. Look around you in your travels -- tell me if you don't see loads of these places. Hong Hong is one.
Culturally speaking, that's off-putting to me. I expect bakeries to look fresh and clean, like a newly-cooked loaf of bread. But I wonder whether, in Chinese culture, the faded look represents something different. Like maybe "That's a down-home traditional baker there. They're not all glitzy and fake like those French places with all their polished brass." There must be SOMETHING to that yellow faded awning look, because I've seen half a dozen of these joints without even searching for them.
That said, I stopped in at Hong Hong while riding through East Van because I wanted to see what the zeitgeist was inside. Suprisingly (to me at least) it was not some fly-blown hole. It was close to closing time, so they had sold out of the 3-for-$1.50 pork buns, pinapple rolls and egg tarts I wanted. I got three "almond cakes" (more like thick crunchy but soft cookies) and they were pretty darn good! Fresh-tasting, light texture, just one is big enough to carry me through a cup of coffee. The rest of what Hong Hong had going on appeared fresh and wholesome too. I might start going to more of these Chinese bakeries with the scuzzy yellow awnings.
Can't go wrong :p. Price is right, food is right, can't go wrong!!!
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