A Chinese Affair @ New Town Bakery and Restaurant, Chinatown, Vancouver

Look at the big bun tray on top of the shop front!

One would not miss this bakery cum restaurant on East Pender St, Chinatown, Vancouver. Basically, its the only shop along the street that has throngs of people in and out carrying big yellow plastic bags. Having seen reviews prior to my visit, it was a must-visit place for my mum and I. First word. Impressive. From the shop exterior to interior to menu. They even have a numbering system to allow for easy ordering. We ate here a couple of times; dine-in and take-out ( because after a few tries in other shops around that area which was most disappointing, this was definitely the best we've tried!

Acclamation by CNN Travel!

Number system and the varieties of buns and biscuits !

I do agree on this !

Most popular Items : Sesame balls, coconut bun,  egg tart, apple tart, BBQ pork bun

Their dine-in menu located at front door

So, there are two ways to buy; take-out, in which you will need to take a number ( just like the bank system) and wait till they call or you can go further in and request for dine-in. Surprisingly, their shop was always quite full during the few times we visited. We dined-in and take-out twice each! Honestly, their dine-in dishes may not be the best ( I still felt Malaysia Chinese food suit my tastebud better) , they do have quite a variety of dishes from stir-fry, rice menu, noodles, appetizers and their dim sum items as well! Also, they win hands down on the variety of buns and fancy Chinese bakery items compared to the rest of the bakeries I've visited in Vancouver and Richmond. 

Pau (Chinese steamed buns) - Red bean paste and lotus paste with salted yolk

Pau were a bit of a letdown; considering they were selling like hotcakes. The pau dough was thick and not the best I've eaten ( probably less preservative ; which is a good thing ;P). Their red bean paste and lotus paste however were quite alright; not too oily nor too sweet.

Pau (chinese steamed bun) - BBQ Pork

The BBQ Pork bun was not too bad ( Mum didnt like it as she find it too porky). I on the contrary thought that its quite ok; very generous with the feeling and it has the good BBQ Pork taste...if only the pau dough was not so thick and hard. 

Yong Chow Fried Rice

We also ordered the Yong Chow Fried Rice during our dine-in. It was such a huge portion that we had difficulty trying to finish it ( are we small-eaters or what? lols ). Taste wise was quite nice ; rice consistency was good and would have been better it had more 'wok-hei' to it. One thing good is that it's not too oily (unlike the many fried rice you can find in Malaysian Chinese shops). 

Stir-fry mixed vege

Stir-fry vege was surprisingly good and also came in a huge portion. This had enough of the 'wok-hei' and taste to it.

From our table, the busy front for bakeries take-out!

Steamed shrimp dumpling (Har Kau)

Clockwise From Top Left : Coconut Bun, Har Kau, Steamed radish cake, Steamed brown sugar cake

Other items we tried were their har-kau (shrimp dumpling) which was really good especially when dipped in their bottle of chilli oil! We got so addicted to the chilli oil that we started dipping our steamed radish cake as well which was superbly delicious. The radish cake ( both steam and fried) were really good. The black sauce ( we are still not sure; probably is Kikkomon soy sauce) that came with it and when dipped with chilli oil was superbly delicious! We came back for the fried version a few days later.

Another item worth mentioning was their coconut bun which was THE BEST I've ever tasted! It apparently is quite a thing over here in Canada. Tried a few different ones before but this was definitely the best that I ended up tapao-ing as well! The freshly-baked buns were aromatic and with juicy buttery coconut fillings. Super good! 

Mum after a tiring but fun day :) Her favourite place during her stay!

This place is a definitely must-visit place if you are at Chinatown !

Address : New Town Bakery and Restaurant, 158 E Pender St, Vancouver BC

Website : New Town