85°C Bakery Cafe - Houston (Bellaire) — Restaurant in Houston

I was at the soft opening for this bakery and it was PACKED. I waited outside in this LONgggg line in the hot sun swearing that this had better live up to the hype and I think it does. I was impressed by the fact that they had a continuous stream of hot pastries coming out the back and they did have a unique selection of pastries unavailable at most other bakeries (trust me, I have scoured the Asian bakeries of Houston). I guess since it was their soft opening, they only had a few pastries available as some cases were empty. I am eager to see if they will place more out at their grand opening because if this is the best and most they have to offer, I'm sure most people would be less willing to stand out in the hot sun.

My favorite bread I tried was the Calamari stick, a pastry roll made with squid ink. IT was really really good. The pastry is sweet and savory with almost like a garlicky taste. The sugar cream brioche was good. It is a pastry with cream cheese filling and sugar crystals on top. I thought the mangotale was very unique and worth trying especially if you like mango filling. Definitely try their egg tart. I noticed that it was one of their more popular items and a good egg tart is so hard to find especially in Houston.

I did notice that they did have a wide variety of desserts and they do also provide drinks. They have a wide open seating area, but if you're looking for a quiet place to sip your tea or study for your exam, this is NOT the place. This bakery is busy and packed. I would get your bread and go. Highly recommend this place if you're a carbohydrate pastry fiend. IT's worth visiting and trying all the different pastries if you're tired of the same dull milk bun at your average...

I came here about 6 times already, and every time there's always a line out the door. I drove past here a few times but saw the line so I left.

I've had their lemon green tea, passion fruit green tea, peach green tea, sea salt mountain jasmine, grapefruit green tea. They were all amazing. My favorite one is the lemon green tea, the taste is fresher and the same consistency each time I ordered it. Comparing it to cafe 101 honey lemon green tea, this one is way better (also cheaper).

I've also tried plenty of breads they have. I liked each and one of them, especially the egg tart. The shell is Crisp and flaky, with just the right amount of sweetness. Another bread I've really enjoyed (forgot the name) is the one with cream stuffing inside. When it was freshly out of the oven, warm and tender. It was so delicious!

The only complaint I have is the design of the store, the bread serving area is too small, and the selection is quite small too. Most of the time that I have came, they are out and the shelves seems empty. I can kind of understand because of the high demands. Another thing I feel that is unnecessary is the long table in the middle of the store. They can easily make more money having customers coming in and out instead of that table being in the way. Most of the time I see people sitting there not eating, but waiting in line.

Another thing that holds up the line is the packaging area. I think they should pack the baked goods individually before putting it on the shelves.

Overall, a great place for bread, and all around the same price as other bakery stores around Houston. I can see that this store might make other small businesses close if they are always in...

I actually really liked the pastries the first 2 weeks they were open. It was not worth the lines to get into the shop nor the lines to pay but I was lucky enough to get in during lulls where lines were still long but not obscenely so. Now that the crowds have died down so has baking quality it seems.

The quality now: My favorite, the marble taro bread, is just okay if you can ignore the hard crusty parts tucked underneath. The egg custard tart looks gross unless you eat it right away. I took some home and the custard broke and pulled away from the pastry in the 10 minute ride home. Their mango tale is still pretty good. Other pastries with cream have tasted like margarine and sugar to me as if the cream wasn't whipped properly.

I've only orders drinks once and they tasted overly sweet.

The line to pay is still long except now it's due to a slower process and the faster, more experienced cashiers seem to be missing. It's probable that the experienced bakers from their established stores might have left post-opening week leaving mostly newly trained bakers to create pastries with inconsistent qualities. I'm hopeful their skills will improve with more time and experience, but in the meantime, I'm going back to the relying on the locally established bakeries to fulfill my...