Pink Box Bakery Cafe — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

I could not order a cake ahead for my friend's birthday, but still wanted a custom cake (nothing fancy, just a message write-up), that was not of chocolate or vanilla flavor. I could have picked up some beautiful strawberry or coconut cake or creamy fruit-almond cake like the ones you see in Giant Eagle, or even a non-custom ice-cream cake, but I wouldn't be able to get that little Happy b'day message on it unless it's ordered ahead. Pink Box was pretty much the only bakery where I could place a same-day order. So Kudos to that!

I ordered a Mixed fruits cake, 6 inches round. It was very overpriced ($36) given that it was a just a 6 inch cake, but I believed it would at least be tall (a reasonable expectation of 2 cake layers) and worth the price, because they had some pretty good reviews online (not exactly for cake, but for buns and other desserts). The cake seemed okay at first sight, but later when we cut it, it was just a whole lot of whipped cream. Extremely excessive whipped cream. It wasn't even 2 layers of cake. A single 6 inch cake had been leveled into 3 tiny sub-layers, making each layer very, very thin, and then dollops of whipped cream was put between each, so that when you take a bite, it feels like you're biting into cream. No cake to be felt. It didn't taste horrible, but then you're just eating cream. I wished it had lived up to the price. This cake was at best worth $10 - $15, and I really wished I had gone for one of the aforementioned cakes at Giant Eagle. I would personally not recommend ordering full cakes for celebrations from Pink Box. But I believe their other stuff may be great like the other reviews say they are!

P.S.: Payment is cash only, for those who would...

Every time I go there and get something, it does taste homemade. I've probably eaten more Asian buns of different varieties than I can keep track of (numbering in the 100s now), and Pink Box's goods are unique. They don't dump a ton of sugar into everything, and the buns I buy from them are very nice and bread-y every time. I'm used to having sweet buns that have a somewhat over-salted/sugared and kind of flat bread layer, but their bread is nice and chewy every time. This lack of flavor-shortcuts means that each thing I've gotten there has its own sort of flavor complexity. My coworker who recommended this place actually makes French Toast out of their red bean bread, since it soaks up the egg and milk nicely. Also, the Taiwanese moon cakes they sell also have the indicative contrast between the outer pastry and the sweet filling. If I had to pick a downside, it's that their stuff needs to be eaten quickly after purchasing, but it goes to show that they don't load their food with preservatives like I'm used to seeing in a lot of bakeries.

The lady who runs it is very nice and helpful, as well, and took the time to explain the different taste points of their different sweet buns. I make a point of trying something new here every time I'm in...

It's a bit difficult to judge Pink Box, simply because I only tried one item. However, what I can say is that Pink Box seems to be a solid Asian bakery. In fact, it's one of the few Asian bakeries in Pittsburgh. I tried the custard bun (regular vanilla, not chocolate).

The price is alright for the bun. Portion wise, it's about the size of my hand, so quite large. The custard filling is creamy and has a slight acidic taste to it, almost like a light hint of lemon. I would have liked a bit more custard, but it's not an empty pastry either. The bread surrounding it is fluffy but relatively flavorless. I expected the pastry bread to be sweetened and it seemed not to be.

All in all, some of the items are a little expensive. But, this place is pretty authentic, offers a good variety, and the items are seemingly fairly good quality. I'm definitely glad we have an Asian bakery in Pittsburgh, and I'll...