Lily Bloom Bakery — Restaurant in New York

Apparently Lily Bloom is known for their creative twists on the original recipes of most of their baked goods. Don't let that fool you though, because this the main reason that I think their food is bland and mediocre at best. Their breads come out dry and tough half the time, they skimp on the filling and, though the food looks tasty, most of the goods taste nothing like they're advertised. Their drinks (at least the ones that I tried so far) are either watered down or disturbingly sweet. I've spent several days ordering multiple pastries just to confirm this. And with my history of bakery-hopping, both in and out of Chinatown, I'd say its pretty clear when someone messes up.

While the food alone is enough of a red flag for some, my biggest problem with this place is their customer service. Be warned, these people advertise seating and free wifi, both of which are essentially lies. The wifi's guest and personal outlets are both locked and the staff simply will not give any answers as to why. Half of the bakery's space is dedicated to a nice looking seating area in the back, but unfortunately it's "out of order". Yes, a perfectly normal looking room with equipped tables and working television somehow isn't ready for customers. But don't worry, that clearly hasn't stopped them from allowing their family and other kin from taking over the place and enjoying it like we all wish we could after spending our money. Clearly the staff haven't yet realized how frustrating it is to be told as a paying customer that you are not allowed in the back, but their family is despite whatever safety hazards they might've tried to use as a cover up. But just maybe I wouldn't have felt the need to be so disappointed about all this if it weren't for the fact that this bakery had delayed it's official opening for almost a year after it should've been, and in my opinion they have no excuse for these comings as a franchise.

In conclusion, don't plan on coming here if you want to save money on cheaper snacks or enjoy a bit of Chinese-style baked goods, because either way you are...

I visited yesterday to pickup 1 free egg tart per a promo plus to buy a bevy per my family's interest in a Chinese bakery evolving into new types of goods. Mixed results per below.

The egg tart is actually a "po-tart" (Portugese tart) in which I've immense experience after 10y of buying either almost bi-weekly sustained and nearly weekly for the last 15mos, namely from Joe's Bakery and its sibling Good Family Bakery. I ordered 4 on my own dime (actually $1.50 each) and got the 1 free aforementioned. The issues here are namely that the pastry flaky crust was soggy, pale (not golden), and very thick as to have the inside custard-facing be even noticably soggier than the outside which are big no-no's in the world of po-tarts. Big plusses are that they're huge nearing 1/3lb, there was 1 which was flaky, and the custard is spot-on. Overall, middle-of-the-range rating here, more accurate is 3.75. In my scale, 4.0 is "quite good" so it could push that, too.

I also got a roasted pumpkin bun whose outside was baked to perfection with the perfect surface, size, puffiness, and density. Generous portions of bread and filling both like with the po-tart. Small downside is the overly sweet filling, but that's my personal preference for less sugars, especially lately with stress eating, more than an absolute.

I also got a taro pastry which was a generous taro filling, very generous just like all the others, and while bit sweeter than desired, it's very good, hits the spot and is quality made.

Lastly, I also got 2 char-siu (roasted pork) buns which were generous as with all other items and perfectly presented, but a bit lacking in the near-white pale bread which was very dry and the filling too salty for personal preference.

I think I'll return but for speciality modern goods while keeping my customary aforementioned 2 places for the weekly regular baked goods.

Thank you to the bakery for hosting the promotion and may this review provide...

Whenever I go here to pick up food, it was always fresh. So I decided to place my cake order here too. Ordered the mango mousse cake a day in advance, and asked for it to be a fresh new cake on the phone. As it was earlier than the pick up time, I called and asked if the cake was ready and whether it required time to cool, as it was a mousse cake. The lady said no, I can go whenever I want. What I received was an old cake that was soggy with a dry crust. It’s also not a true mousse cake…only the second layer of was mousse (about 20%) and the rest was regular sponge cake. After cutting the cake, it was so soggy that the the center of the cake concaved in. Why would you treat your customers this way? Thinking back, I saw another mango mousse cake on display when I picked up my cake…did they give me an old cake by mistake? Worst experience ever!! And also on a birthday that was supposed to...