Bread Top House

We were staying nearby and stopped for a quick breakfast and were pleasantly surprised. There are only two small tables inside. The women working the counter was very nice. We tried the chocolate croissant (very chocolatey but not flakey style) and the sesame bun (lovely crisp exterior and sesame paste inside, mochi style chew) but the surprise winner was the curried chicken bun. We all liked it so much we bought another

Genuine Hong Kong style bakery. We ordered the raisinn twist, egg tart, coffee and lemon honey drink for afternoon tea and was delighted. Great prices too. They are closed on Tuesdays.

Authentic Chinese bakery. 紙杯蛋糕，cup cakes, were light fluffy and bouncy. So good! Ordered 20 plus of those cup cakes to go! Owners were so friendly. We ordered a lot of their pastries too. Female owner so caring that she individually wrapped each pastry knowing that we are traveling back east on the road. Definitely will return!

Their pastries were pretty decent overall so I trusted their cakes would be on par. However I was highly disappointed when I preordered a Fresh Mango Birthday Cake. Their so called "fresh" mangoes used were neither fresh nor ripe — they were sour and fibrous which made the cake unpleasant to eat. The frosting also had a strange mouthfeel. It was clumpy and had a almost waxy-like texture instead of a light, creamy frosting you'd normally expect from a Chinese bakery. I would not recommend their birthday cakes (1/5 rating for the cake).

I wish there is a place like this near me. I love the vibe here, the taste of food, reasonable prices, friendly people…I ordered congee, coffee, and egg tart and some other pastries. The sweetness of the pastries is perfect to me. Not too sweet.

This little bakery is a hidden gem💎! Every time when we visit Philadelphia we come to Bread Top House ! All pastries are very delicious! And hot milk tea it’s a brilliant beverage! Good luck! Spasibo! Can’t wait we visit you again!

Great pastries, but make your choice fast the lady seems to be in a hurry

The buns here are super affordable and delicous! I love it! I suggest going in the morning because they make it fresh! I have been going to this spot since around 2016, and they never disappoint. The space is pretty small, and when it's busy it can get pretty uncomfortable 😂 The one working there is very nice and friendly! She treats everyone with respect and tries to be friendly with everyone she meets.

Came here on New Year's Day. Gotta love Chinatown having a lot of openings on New Year's Day. As a rule of thumb going to Chinatown with cash is a smart move. It's a small bakery and a small selection but sufficient. We got the sponge bread, the custard bread, the egg tart, the pineapple bun, and the barbecue pork bun for )10.70 cash. The sponge bread is slightly sweet and very light and really quite wonderful. The barbecue pork bun and the pineapple bun were exactly as it should taste. No wonder those two are the best sellers. The egg tart is not too sweet, none of these breads are (aka high praise for any pastries ). Would definitely return! I thought the service was nice. I think there could be some challenges with English, but you could also just point!! My personal favorites are the sponge bread and the pineapple bun. So that's what I would get again. For people who love barbecue pork bun, I think you probably would want to get this.

Brought some egg tart home as dessert and ended up eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. These egg tarts are not too soft, not too thick but very creamy! Not too sweet either. Never seen an egg tart this thick but i'm loving it! Will deff explore other options next time when I am there in the shop!

Pros: Seating. Friendly, patient business owners. Cons: Limited selection by the early evenings.

LOVED the BBQ pork buns we got from here! My friend got mooncakes back during the Mid-Autumn festival which were great as well. This place is cash preferred :) service is quick but arrive early for the best selection of baked goods! The storefront is very small with only enough room for a few customers at a time but you get service very quickly. No room to dine-in.

If you're Asian and love egg tart this place definitely worth to come especially in Pa not many have this . Egg tart is very good - Pork bun are great but not hot neither warm also have green onions in it . Place are very small don't have bathroom Not clean not organize ONLY accept CASH!!!

Fresh items throughout the day. Open early. Closes late. Great service, what more could you ask for?! For this bakery, I recommend the sesame balls, pork buns, and pineapple buns. They also offer congee and warm steamed buns so don't sleep on those!

I hear BreadTop is a classic bakery. They have two displays of bread with their prices listed, probably averaging $2. They have the basics, the go tos, nothing really out of the ordinary. It's sad that after the pandemic, you can no longer pick up a tray and tongs and grab your own bread. There is a sweet Chinese lady who helps you pick out what you want. It's better to please pay in cash (support local businesses!). There isn't much space inside the store, but there's a couple tables and chairs. It's more of a grab and go feeling.

One of my favorite spots to stop by in Chinatown for pastries. Definitely recommend the red bean bread and the custard buns. Everything is very affordable and the selection is great. Recommend going early in the morning for the most fresh / widest selection of pastries since they tend to sell out relatively quickly on weekend mornings. Reminder that this place is cash or venmo!

We tried their Lotus moon cake, Red bean moon cake, Pineapple moon cake and an Ube bun. Everything tasted fresh, balanced and not too sweet. They are very reasonably priced and available in a mini size so you can sample many different ones in one visit.

My favorite bakery in Chinatown. I have been coming here for over 10 years and continue to make a trip whenever I'm back in town. You can't go wrong with any of the pastries/buns. Go early in the morning if you want the best selection. I always end up with at least a dozen. My favorites include egg tarts, ham and egg, pineapple custard, ham and corn, bbq pork, and hot dog. I get the strawberry bubble tea too. It's like a smoothie and they use real fruit. Also, like most places in Chinatown, cash is preferred.

I really liked Bread Top's bbq roast pork bun! I was a bit surprised that pork buns run for $2 apiece here (around 50% more than other Chinatowns I've been to), but it's still a totally fair price. The bun had a nice texture and flavor, and the filling had a good classic flavor. I could've done without the red food dye, but it is pretty standard. The filling wasn't super evenly distributed throughout the bun, but that's not a huge issue either. Would come again!

I love Asian pastries and bought a couple of items from all of the highly rated traditional Asian bakeries in Chinatown and this was my favorite. Their bread tends to be more soft and less dry. They have more unique items than some of the other bakeries but also fewer in quantities since they seem to run out of items more quickly than other places. They also have a nice mix of items including moon cakes and the rolled cakes. I've also tried their drinks and they were ok and I think they also use fresh fruit. Some of my favorite items from here are the bbq pork buns, pineapple trio buns, shredded pork buns, and fried pork dumplings. One of my regular stops whenever I'm in Chinatown!

$$ Cash, Venmo, Zelle payments. No credit cards $$ Haven't been here in a while. Egg tarts still as soft and creamy as I remembered. Curry chicken pie was flakey. Good filling to pasty ratio. Good flavor Clean, friendly, affordable

We couldn't be happier with how our wedding cake turned out. We loved how it looked and how it tasted. My wife and I had placed the order a month earlier for our Chinese banquet. We gave Bread Top a picture of what we wanted, something simple and clean and they said no problem, they can do it. We told them when we needed the cake and placed the order. Their price was the best out of the asian bakeries in the area even with delivery included. On the day of, a gentleman dropped off the cake to our reception. He was very quick and I almost missed him but managed to call out to give him a red envelope tip. We received many compliments on the cake, it truly was beautiful and delicious. Our guests appreciated how fluffy the sponge cake was in addition to how light and not overly sweet the whipped cream was. They also appreciated the extra layer of jam we added. Again, we are more than pleased with the service we received from Bread Top House.

Amazing sesame balls and egg tarts! Maybe the best sesame balls I have ever had. Got a bunch of other breakfast pastries for my mother, who is very picky and thought they weren't as soft as the NYC Chinatown ones were. I thought they were still good. Highly recommend if you are looking for Chinese pastries!

My favorite sesame balls in the city. Great egg tarts. One of the top bakeries in the city. Cash only.

Best Asian bakery I've been to. They have great filled buns like barbeque pork, and red bean paste yum. Service is quick and friendly. However they only accept Vimeo and cash.

Outstanding oriental bakery and how refreshing to be able to show up at 4:00 pm and still have a vast selection. Moon cakes are a dream, sesame balls are a red-bean filled delight that aren't too sweet. The sesame balls are chewy-delicious yet light and you actually taste sesame. i've not run across anything that isn't authentic and skillfully made. Thinking of Beiler's donuts down the road in Reading Terminal? If you're concerned about their sugar overload, give this bakery a try. I like both but I prefer Bread Top for breakfast because it's not so much of a sugar bomb in the morning. Beilers is fine for evening dessert. Bread Top is Yummy, Yummy, Yummy!

So it's not the best bakery in Chinatown (2nd best), but they do have a really good selection. This makes up for raising from 4 to 5 star, a lot of special flavor pastries. Also drink selection here and assorted things. The bread is very fluffy and soft, but the inside fillings or flavor can be subtle or low amount. It is cash only, which is a pain sometimes. Overall 4 to 4.5 star depending on the day,l compared to best, so I will be favorable and raise as it is still very good. Lady at counter is nice who help us. Thanks

Nice little shop right off the main drag in Chinatown. Lots of pastries, breads and cakes to go around. I grabbed a taro bun and headed over to Franklin Square to watch the fountain. The bun was aesthetically beautiful and there was a pretty good amount of filling; however, it was kind of just one big air pocket which was a little disappointing. Good flavor though.

Great learning experience at Bread Top House!Although they are known for having the best egg tarts in town. I was more interested in trying the moon cakes that our Chinatown tour guide raved about! So on the tour, I was enlightened about the history of moon cakes. Moon cakes are traditionally eaten during the Chinese Autumn Moon Festival. After hearing some background knowledge made me excited to try one. So I tried their pineapple moon cake. The first thing I noticed was how pretty the cakes look and the top of the cake looked like Chinese artwork. When I bit into the cake it was a dense and buttery texture with a strong pineapple taste. It was rather good, it taste sort of like a fig newton. Overall the bread house sells an assortment of low price goodies. I didn't see anything over 4.00. I paid about a dollar for my moon cake and I was glad to experience a delicacy that is part of Chinese tradition.

I been coming here for years and I absolutely love it..food always good and the customer service is great

I dropped by this place earlier this morning as I was craving some carby goodness. I'm glad I did because there curry chicken bun was very tasty (I'm disappointed I didn't get more than one!). I also bought a pineapple custard bun and a taro bun. Both were sweet and lovely too. I love the softness of the pastries here. It was 3.75 for those three buns at the time of this review. I went during what we'll call the second wave of coronavirus, December 2020, and I'll say it's just like anywhere else where you should wear a mask and they've changed their operations such that the employees will get you your buns rather than yourself (it looks like it once might have been self service for the baked buns before but now that's what it is). I was lucky and the store was empty so I got served quickly by a young woman who packaged the buns well and carefully handed me back my change. They also have hot teas and bubble teas according to a menu behind the counter, straight when you walk in. I didn't order one because I felt like it was too early and I'd already been indulging but judging from previous reviews I would probably like it. There were cakes and steamed buns at that counter too, which I'll try next time along with their sliced bread (looks like milk bread so I'm excited for that).

My rating here is based on their dai bao. For $1.25 I was expecting a lot more than a dim sum-sized bun. The filling is very sweet and has red dye coloring. For comparison, the dai bao at Maxim Bakery in Flushing NY are the size of a baseball and cost $9.50 for 9.

I went here on a mission to find those sesame seed covered and bean paste filled rice (mochi?) balls that they serve for dessert at dimsum spots. No clue what they are called, but I found them and so much more! It's just a little bakery, nothing fancy super fancy here, and there's about two table tops if you were planning to rest a little bit before your next adventure. There's descriptions of everything so you have an idea of what goodness is filling the various buns, cakes, and tarts. I felt like I went a little crazy seeing the super cheap prices. They carry things like creme filled buns and pork baos and huge slices of cake (all for around ~$1 each!) so before I knew it, I had a tray full of goodies. My little guy saw my excitement and asked for a slice of vanilla cake while the mister asked for pandan. I took a bite of each and they were super moist and fluffy. I walked out of here with a stuffed plastic bag of goodies and it only cost me $10 (cash only!)

This review is for the egg tarts. It's the best in Chinatown. The crust is very flaky and the custard is very soft and jiggly wit perfect sweetness. It's very delicate. Definitely get this. The store has really good and a lot of varieties of moon cakes, the big ones or small ones.

First stop on our foodie tour. Our guide helped us in our choices, and since we had a nice, small and very friendly group, we were all good about buying different items so we could each get a bite of a variety of goods. Very cheap, all around $1 or $2. I loved the fried dough, though it was a bit greasy. My favorite was the red bean moon cake. I'm a sucker for anything with red beans in it. Nicely air conditioned for hot and sticky summer days.

As a transplant from Southern California, I'm often looking for a taste of home. I've tried multiple Chinese bakeries in the area before I settled on this one as my favorite. This shop is located on the corner of Race and 11th in Chinatown and carries a good selection of dim sum style breads and baked goods. My favorites are the egg tart, jeen dui (Sesame ball with sweet filling), hot dog bao (literally a bread baked with slices of hot dog inside), and the char siu bao (bread with Chinese bbq pork filling). If you are picking up a lot of items to go, just know that the egg tarts will not be crunchy/good after a day or so. The staff there is friendly and helpful. They speak English and Cantonese there. They also sell milk tea/boba but I have yet to try it due to the wide availability in the rest of Chinatown. They accept cash and Venmo as payment! I really appreciate the Venmo option since I rarely have cash on me. No credit/debit cards accepted here.

Really good Chinese pastry/bakery! One of our new favorites with lots of variety and selection

Best boba drinks and best bakery. Their sesame balls are the best I have had. Wish I had a bakery like this locally. Always visit this bakery when I am in town. People are very nice.

Bread Top House is the only place in Philly's Chinatown that rivals the best of NYC Chinatown's buns. This coming from a born-and-raised New Yorker. Get the roast pork bun, custard bun, and egg custard tart. You will love them. There are many others to choose from. You can make endless combinations of meals every day if you wanted to!

I love this place! The prices great and the treats are wonderful. Everything is nice and fresh. I love their sponge cakes. The lemon is my favorite. Also the young lady at the counter is always friendly. They only take cash or Venmo and since the pandemic it is take away only.

Stopped by for some moon cakes for this year's mid-autumn festival. The bakery was neat and had a great selection of moon cakes. I chose a regular red bean with one egg and a mini lotus seed. The prices were reasonable and at $1.50 for the mini one, it's definitely hard to beat!

Fellow yelpers, I will begin my review with this: Today, 3/9/19, my friends and I did "The Egg Tart Challenge". This was Bakery stop #1 of 7. This place was bustling with all different ethnicities of guests. Seating is limited and was mostly taken up by locals but they gladly skooted over so my friends and I could sit. Bakery items were displayed very nicely, and in a clean and organized case. We used tissue paper to choose the cakes that we wanted the best. Many of these bakeries make Egg Tarts, but each one we tasted on this challenge was unique. We also sampled wintermelon mooncake! This has a jellied melon center (reminiscent of a fig neuton) and a flaky savory crust. Also, Red Bean Cakes which are a delight- the SESAME seeds make the whole thing! Finally we each got Taro Pearl Hot Bubble Tea- made with fresh Taro (not powder as the employee was kind enough to point out). The bubbles are more jellied than gummy. Regarding the main event- the egg tart ($1.10) has a very flakey buttery crust that fell off when biting.The custard was good but not the most flavorful egg tart we experienced. A good start!!

We came here mainly to look at the pretty desserts in the window. We were going to get bubble tea but there was a group of five ladies in front of us. They were taking so long that we decided to leave. However, the desserts did lol nice.

This gem of a place has been around forever and everything they make is spectacular in taste and criminally underpriced. I frequently buy a breakfast spread for my staff here and it is always heartily devoured. The scallion bun is my favorite, though it has bacon in it. My sweet-toothed vegetarian staff prefer the custard buns.

I like Bread Top Bakery. Friendly staff and fresh Chinese pastries. Try their combo bun and hot dog bun! Avoid their Vietnamese hoagie ($1.75) - I tried their banh mi years ago, and now remember why I never got it again. Soft bread - really, gross - and never enough jalapenos. Well, I suppose you could get the bread toasted elsewhere.

The service of this bakery is so bad. I really don't understand why many people view it as a friendly place...Especially compared with other places in Chinatown, its service cannot be viewed as good enough. Rude lady likes to yell at people and only accepts cash. Don't recommend it.

Their mooncakes are honestly some of the best I've ever had in Philly and in New York. Seriously, the egg yolk and lotus paste mooncake was so delicious I drooled. My mouth literally filled up with saliva and it fell out.

Ahmazinggg!! I came into bread top house the other morning and was able to see all of the delicious buns and pastries lined up. I got a chicken curry bun, a bbq pork bun, a taro bun and a milk tea bubble tea. The taro bun wasn't too sweet, it was just perfect. They were all tasty!! The bubbles in the tea were really big so it was kind of hard to slurp them through the straw but it was still good! I'd come here for breakfast everyday if I could.. and it's quite affordable too!

This house is on the edge of China Town. I came with my wife as part of a food tour. We tried the pork pie. The white bread is really good. They have a huge selection of sweet and savory items for $1 - $2 so a great deal.

If you find yourself in Chinatown in The City of Brotherly Love at breakfast time, this is the spot. Iced milk tea, pastries, buns, whatever. Old school Hong Kong style. Got to love it.

I've passed this bakery many times so I was glad to finally try it while in Chinatown this weekend! My boyfriend and I each got a pineapple bun: mine the butter variety, and his the custard. The bread was SO fresh and delicious. Very soft with great flavor and topping. I had never had a butter-filled pineapple bun before, so I decided to go for something new. I did like the contrast of salty and sweet, but honestly I'd probably stick with the classic next time just because the inside was a little too gooey for me with the butter. I did enjoy my boyfriend's custard version as well. Price was great at just over $1 per bun. Store is cash only. I'll be back!

The officially unofficial best boba spot in Chinatown. Reason why? They use fresh fruit for their boba. Nice cuts of mango or tea taro. Plus their bakery items are delicious. Protip: this is one of only 3-4 of the Chinese bakeries in the area that do steamed meat buns. And in my opinion, the best tasting and bang for buck. Overall: 5/5 if you get the taro or mango bubble tea, you won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

I'm not very experienced in Asian bakeries however, this place was pretty cool. Small, little place on the SW corner of Chinatown. Lots of different types of buns both sweet and savory. It's mostly serve yourself. I grabbed three items and my bill was $3. Apparently they have excellent smoothies and tapioca teas too. I wasn't thirsty. 1. The roast pork bun. It was light, fluffy with a good amt of filling. The pork was tender, flavorful with Small amt of onions. 2. I also grabbed a fried shrimp dumpling. Small but very tasty. Not over oily. 3. Last but certainly not least, the egg tart. The crust was flaky, buttery and delicious. The filling was light, tasty and ever so slightly sweet. If I lived here I'd try everything!! With only one visit I can't give five stars but I imagine they would earn another.

So good. Best bakery in chinatown. So affordable, so delicious. I believe there's a $10 card minimum but well worth it

Pastries are okay. There are better ones out there in the city. The bread who is very bland. It's really either the filling or toppings that makes up for it here.

I was in the mood for egg tarts, so decided to try this place, based on the positive reviews. We came here and got two egg tarts, a sesame ball, a pineapple bun, and two pork buns to go. The service was really friendly, so I had high hopes. We got home and the pork buns had almost no meat in them. They were the most pathetic pork buns (baked bao) that I've ever had, and I've had these all over. The pineapple bun was the same - hardly any topping - just pathetic. The egg tarts were extremely bland, with that curdled eggy texture that I do not like. Gross. Last, but not least, was the sesame ball - this was awesome! Great size, perfect red azuki bean filling, and cooked to perfection - loved it! With all the other Chinese bakeries in town, we won't be back here - too bad, as the service was so nice!

I love Bread Top House so much. A friend in my class introduced me to it when I was going to school at TJU over a decade ago, and I've been a customer ever since. Some personal favorites are the taro bun, sticky rice, and red bean cake. Absolutely the best hidden gem lunch under 5$ in Philly!