As I was walking through Chinatown today, I must have passed by at least 3 of these mini cake stands. Why did I choose to go to this one? Because it has«Hong Kong» in its name and I am naturally drawn to any place that has«Hong Kong» or «Cantonese» in its name lmao. However, I was not impressed by the cakes here. While they are cheap, I think they are more expensive than the ones at other places since they’re $ 1.25 for 15. I remember buying 20 for $ 1 at one point but that was a while back. They didn’t taste good either. They were flavorless and tasted very rubbery. Skip this stand. For great mini cakes, get the ones from Deluxe Food Market!
Jamie C.
Place rating: 5 Boynton Beach, FL
The smell will lure you towards the cart. You get 15 pcs for $ 1 and it’s a great snack to munch on while waking around Chinatown. It’s made fresh and it’s hot when you get it. It smells and tastes like waffles. You can’t go wrong. We got some on our way to eat Dimsum and we got it again after dimsum but my son wanted to save some to eat it with the ice cream we were going to get at the Chinatown ice cream factory. He’s a funny kid. But it did taste good with the ice cream. :)
Michelle T.
Place rating: 1 New York, NY
I was tricked by the smell. I walked by, caught a whiff of the smell of hong kong cakes and got on line to buy two bags(one for me, one for the boyfriend). As I walked away with my two bags towards my destination, I began eating my bag. Worst decision ever. They tasted like a rubber/plastic mix. The outside shell wasn’t even soft and it just had this fake, plastic texture/sheen to it. Never again. I’m hiking over to Grand street for my little old man cart the next time I want Hong Kong cakes.
David L.
Place rating: 4 Rosedale, MD
There’s really nothing you can bash about spending $ 1 on a bag of hot freshly made mini cakes. It’s a great snack to be munching on as you walk around town.
Rachel R.
Place rating: 2 Vancouver, Canada
My experience at Hong Kong Cakes is right on par with what happens every time I walk into a movie theater. The smell inside is intoxicating, alluring, heavenly. In a daze, I shell out for a bag of popcorn emitting said irresistible smell, and end up throwing most of it away. The actual food is flavorless, spongey and has no appeal unless it’s hot. Similarly, I followed my nose to Hong Kong Cakes from down the street, bought a bag immediately, and ended up a paper bag of regret. Room temperature, dry, broken pieces of what should’ve been the sweet, fluffy little pancake-esque domes I know and love? Next time, I’ll try to buy love for $ 1 on a different street corner in Chinatown.
Scott l.
Place rating: 5 Irvine, CA
Ok $ 1.00 can’t beat this stuff hands down. U can smell this blocks away. I pay 3.50 at cafes back in Monterey Park. I expect egg tarts on the streets next.
Helena H.
Place rating: 5 Elmhurst, NY
I love mini cakes since i was 5 yrs old and have it in Hong Kong. Now i dont have to fly all the way on the other side of the country! Freshly made, soft and fluffy cakes and for $ 1.00 u can get about 15 mini munchkins for a snack. I usually buy $ 3.00 worth, eat about 10 pcs right away and take the rest home and dip it with nutella or ice cream. Yum Yum!
Peter L.
Place rating: 5 San Francisco, CA
For a mere $ 1, have a quick and light snack while in Chinatown! Still warm, these little«cakes» vanished within minutes after it’s purchase!
Chris R.
Place rating: 3 Orlando, FL
Tasty little mini cakes you can snack on while walking the streets of Chinatown. They go fast so you’ll probably want to get a bag all for yourself.
Stacy T.
Place rating: 3 New York, NY
These are okay. A little buttery, a little sweet. There are no nostalgics here. Just pay the $ 1 and you will get your 15 pieces. The cakes are always hot, but they are usually broken in half. I want full pieces! You can eat it in the corner along with sketchy people selling tickets to Atlantic City!
V J.
Place rating: 4 New York, NY
* The one dollar 15 puffed mini cakes is the perfect handy snack while strolling around the Chinatown
Melissa D.
Place rating: 4 Matawan, NJ
Walking around Chinatown, if you happen to be a mile within this stand(Bowery & Pell), the delicious smells of the sweet mini cakes will lure you in. They’re like teeny tiny pancakes. The outside is slightly crispy, but the inside is fluffy. They are yummy and warm! $ 1 for 15 of these mini cakes. How can you beat that? Well perhaps if there were more! Because whenever I grab one of these bags, it’s gone in less than a minute.
Stephan H.
Place rating: 3 New York, NY
Cheap and fast. Although better ones can be had, for example at the Deluxe Food Market, it’s hard to pass by and not get a bag.
Cynthia L.
Place rating: 4 Oakland Gardens, NY
These Hong Kong Bao were such a treat for me growing up in Ctown. Now when I go to Ctown and eat these baos it brings back such memories. At $ 1 for a pack of 15(it used to be 20) you can’t go wrong. Note there are a couple of these carts in Ctown. Batter is poured into the mold and cooks the dough into a sweet, eggy, crunchy crisp. Lady shoves mini cakes into a little baggie and you walk away munching on such yummy-ness. You finish your cakes within a block and you ponder if you should go back for more…
Anhella S.
Place rating: 4 New York, NY
These little things make me so happy. It smells like pancakes for breakfast, and theyre only a dollar. Theres nothing better than waiting in line for them, and getting them fresh hot off the little griddles. Perfect snack.
Tory S.
Place rating: 3 NY, NY
I’d been promised that one bite into a cookiecake from this nondescript little stand would send me hurtling into a Proustian reverie until the jolting moment when the bag was empty and cold reality slapped me anew. That wasn’t exactly my experience, but if nothing else a good American girl can appreciate the thrill of plenty. Perhaps even to the point of developing an unprecedented love of dumplings due to the fuzzy feeling of opulence when exiting with ten glorious steaming nuggets gripped in my hot little fist or guzzling cart coffee like there’s no tomorrow whilst spouting garbled sentence fragments like«so much sugar!» and«so hot! and quick!». In any case, even if these little cakes weren’t the Hong Kong equivalent of madeleines, the thrill of being handed a steaming paper bag of tiny dough balls did much to improve my opinion of their taste. Eschewing the buttery patina of madeleines, the hong kong cakes resemble a cluster of dry seed pods. Their taste is fleeting but pleasant, mildly sweet with a touch of egginess, and biting into them yields the enjoyable sensation of gumming a piece of packing foam. Strolling along with a seemingly bottomless sack of mini cakes, much like maundering through the streets while working through a heaping paper twist of candied almonds, is a cold morning ritual that is more than worth $ 1.00. I can’t give more than three stars for taste, but the unexpected joy of the experience is worth five.