Red Bean Bun Battle Cont'd #3

After visiting the bakeries around Richmond Centre and Lansdowne (posts here and here), I moved forward to Alexandra Road, of course.

The first bakery I saw is Castle Cake Shop. My impression to it was from my sister's piano teacher, who once recommended my sister to try their buns. It was still early in the morning when I still arrived, so the shelves were reasonably empty. Just when I planned to leave, the owner said all the buns were ready in the kitchen; they just didn't have enough time to pack them individually. Yum, sounds fresh to me. So there I got my red bean bun (again)! ;)

Castle Cake Shop
#175-8291 Alexandra Rd, Richmond BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: n/a
Price: 4.5
Service: 5
Ambiance: n/a
Overall: n/a

• Parking available; the same mall as Twinkle2 and McNoodle House
• Not as popular as other Chinese/Asian bakeries due to its odd location

Red Bean Bun-3.5/6

• $1.10
• Interesting look. I like how it was divided into 5 parts, so I could tear them easily when I ate.

• Again, the bun was soft. I didn't really pay much attention to the bun because I was too thrilled to see actual red beans coming out.
• This IS the red bean bun! It is the first red bean bun that actually has red beans in it! However, the red beans were too dry :( Anyway, I was already very excited at that time.

While I was walking and munching the bun, another bakery quickly appeared.

Kam Do Restaurant & Bakery
#1120-1140 - 8391 Alexandra Rd, Richmond BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 4
Price: 5.5
Service: 3.5
Ambiance: 3.5
Overall: 4

• Parking available along the road (Wish you good luck! ;))
• Popular to Chinese
• Famous in Lo Poh Beng, a Chinese pastry
• Low price, big portions
• Available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Red Bean Paste Bun-5/6

• $1
• Topped with both black and white sesame seeds

Kam Do always gives me nothing but a typical Hong Kong style restaurants. I had a lot of their Lo Poh Beng when I was a kid. But I do not have much confidence in their bakery because at the end of the day, Kam Do is still a restaurant that makes the famous Lo Poh Beng in Richmond.

After trying their Red Bean Paste Bun, I started to change my impression a bit. The bun was soft and had a thin crust. It was baked nicely; I was really impressed by this bun from Kam Do.

• On the filling, they gave me a decent amount of red bean paste, which balanced with the bun.

Afterwards, I left Alexandra Road and headed to Aberdeen Centre. But before that, I went to Parker Place and checked to make sure I did not miss any bakery. Then I saw Pine House Bakery.

Pine House Bakery
4380 No.3 Rd, Richmond BC (in Parker Place foodcourt)

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food:5
Price: 5.5
Service: 3.5
Ambiant: n/a
Overall: 4.5

• Sun-Thurs 11am-7pm Fri-Sat 11am-9pm
• Have 6 other locations, including in the Richmond Public Market and the Crystal Mall
• Popular to Chinese. (Everytime when I go to the ones in Public Market and in Parker Place, they are always packed with people.)
• Buns, bread loaves, and cookies available

Red Bean Paste Bun-2.5/6

• $0.84

The bun looked interesting, and with these little holes showing the red bean paste inside made me drooled! The bun seemed loaded with fillings, but...

I was wrong. The filling screamed "What the f"; I was very disappointed to see only the front part had the filling. The bun clearly looked better than it tasted.

Aside from the filling, the bun was actually quite good. It was soft and also had a thin crust like the one from Kam Do.

When I walked from Parker Place to Abedeen Centre, I passed by Central Square, and saw another bakbery.

Regent Bakery
#110-4231 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: n/a
Price: 4.5
Service: 3.5
Ambiant: n/a
Overall: n/a

• Parking available (or you can use Aberdeen Centre parking)
• Also have Lo Poh Beng, but is not as famous as Kam Do
• "Japanese style" wedge cakes, cookies, swiss rollss, chicken pies, and egg tarts are available as well

Mini Red Bean Paste Bun-4.5/6

• $0.74/1pcs $1.20/2pcs
• The owner did not prepack the buns when I first visited; however, they were already packed in twos when I went there again.
• The buns may look huge, but they are actually slightly smaller than the regular buns.

The bun was soft and fluffy, and it had the right amount of red bean paste that went well with the bun.

Despite its small size, the bun overall was alright and was better than some of the regular ones I had in the early morning.