King's Bakery — Restaurant in Portland

Years of driving down 82nd for various reasons, going someplace, coming back, I had never really thought about all the interesting little paces tucked away in plain sight as I passed through the Jade District. Places that simply never broke through my vague distaste of the traffic and lack of trees.

And then suddenly as I drove along, I noticed King's Bakery with its bright yellow and red sign, as if it had just appeared out of the east side mists like a beacon appearing to a lost sailor. I did a quick u-turn, parked next to a graffiti covered wall and ventured tentatively into a garden of earthly delights.

The young staff were very welcoming and immediately put me at ease and suddenly I was enthralled by a large selection of mysterious and interesting pastries. My first thought was, why has it taken me so many years to find this place? Everything looked amazing.

I got a Curry Bun that was fabulous, and a hilarious pastry with lots of hot dog pieces sticking out of it, I haven't seen such a thing since I last left Asia many years ago. Over the years, I lamented to myself the American lack of fun delicious eclectic pastries, thinking I would never see or taste such a thing again.

My wife simply dies for sesame balls with red bean paste and I got her two huge ones. I also got her a custard bun that she thought was amazing. She is a picky eater and when she comes to me later and says, "That was wonderful", my heart absolutely sings.

I also got her a Wife Bun, which she didn't like quite as much, but I was already way ahead on the happy wife scale, so I'm going with it. The hot dog pastry took me back 30 years to my travels abroad and the BBQ Pork Bun was spot on.

Suddenly 82nd becomes a different kind of place. Not just a busy, slightly run down area that doesn't look particularly safe, but a treasure hunt with welcoming people and truly delicious food. It was around 1:00 and the staff advised me several times that I should come early for a better selection, which honestly boggled my imagination a bit. I already thought they had a great selection, what must the early morning be like?

When you drive down that traffic laden corridor, pay attention to the offerings that pop up along the way! You'll be amazed! And absolutely drop into King's Bakery and grab a selection of interesting goodies. You might not love all of them, but you'll really love some of them. It's...

Pastries and buns were decent before New ownership. We purchased when new owners took over 2 years ago and everything tasted differently and not in a good way. We haven’t been back since until this past weekend. We had hoped that they would improved after 2 years. Things gotten worse. Long wait time. 2 ladies behind the counter with 3 customers waiting and we had to wait for almost 10 minutes to be served. Mochi with peanuts and coconut fillings was one of the signature treats under previous ownership. Mochi was noticeably firmer. The worse thing was they used stale peanuts which gave a bad distinct aroma and taste. My son loved their beef curry buns before, so we purchased one for him. When I picked it up from the box at home, the curry bun was as light as air and there was literally a small dab of curry sauce in it, as seen in attached picture.

Very sad to say, we will never go back. We love to support smaller, mom & pop businesses but with quality like these, it makes it impossible to justify any future visits. Owner, please spend time and effort to improve your craft or you’ll end up closing the...

Disappointed to see King’s Bakery marked as ‘temporarily closed’ (as of the time of this review), and I hope they’re doing well. I visited multiple times within a few weeks of finding them—the food was always delicious, especially the hot dog buns, and we were so excited to find Pasteis de Nata (Portuguese custard tart) at a local bakery. The service was always polite, and the food was satisfying, affordable, and consistently good quality.

I was surprised by the number of one-star reviews. Complaints about not being given extra boxes for free, not receiving bonus items just for buying pastries (after questioning their authenticity..), or vague accusations of “rude service” coming from reviewers who sound suspiciously entitled themselves - that all says a lot more about those customers than it does about the bakery.

King’s was a lovely local spot, and I hope to visit them...