Little Swan Bakery Cafe — Restaurant in San Francisco

We were wandering through Chinatown when we came across this bakery that we'd never seen before. It was filled with people and the buns and pastries looked incredible - it reminded me of the bakeries in Taiwan - so we had to go in.

They label the ingredients of most of their products and so you can see exactly what's in them - just basic, natural ingredients like flour, oats, sugar, salt, etc.

They have many different types of buns and pastries - in the back they have a cooler for the Cream Puffs (and maybe some other refrigerated pastries). We bought their Blueberry Sponge Cake and two Vanilla Cream Puffs for 2.70 (yes, that's 2 dollars and seventy cents). Incredible, considering that would have cost us over 7 dollars in the Marina/Union Street (for Cream Puffs anyway). The Sponge cake reminded me of a very light angel food cake and the blueberry jam was like a delicious (but not too sweet) pie filling. My wife loved her cream puff and said, "wow, this is a really good bakery".

When I came out of the bakery, I had to check my phone to see why I hadn't seen this come up on Maps before for bakeries in the area. I guess it must be new, but since it only had two reviews I decided that I must share this with the community.

It's a hidden gem nestled right in Chinatown. The staff there were really nice - some of them didn't speak English but that's totally okay (this is Chinatown after all) - since all the pastries are labeled, you don't have to ask them what's in them.

Side note: They take Credit Cards which is a nice change from some of the cash only places in the area (ie. Golden...

Ever since Wa Li Bakery & Cafe closed up. I was eyeing this place to see who's the next tenant will be. Then two months in, I made contact with owner through another source. They was supposed to open two days before lunar new year, but waited for inspection. I stop by to propose a deal just to see if he'll asked me for assistance or not. I just love these new places as they vie for competition. So, I came by again not even three minutes in the place, the owner gave me the go-ahead. He promised me that he'll only deal with me and no other agent. Woohoo!!! Thank you sir! Left with a big old box for me and my media crew and red envelope (li see) or (hoan bao). Folks this place is known for their wifey cookies, Japanese cheesecake and black sesame crepe cake. The three are no joke. Not as sweet as american cakes and buns, but enough to satisfy ones sweet tooth. What really surprised me was the latte and espresso drinks. You can get a latte or mocha for $2.29 and they use fresh grinded beans. Talk about killing your competitors, you're literally paying drip coffee price for a fancier coffee drink. I kid you not if you don't believe me. Lastly boba drinks are not available yet, but soon to come,...

I stopped by this Chinese bakery when I visited San Fran. As you probably know, there's no shortage of bakeries in the Chinatown area. Some are even right next to each other, but finding one that sells the freshest baked goods in a modern clean environment is a treat. Little Swan was just that.

When I walked in here, I was very pleased with how clean and organized it was. The display cases were labeled properly in Chinese and English. Each item was also marked with prices and most are less than $2. I love the baked buns stuffed with pork or some weird concoction so I tend to go for the unusual ones. This shop for sure had the wackiest combos like seaweed w/ pork, squid w/ ham, and bacon w/ onion, just to name a few. I got 3 buns and they were all delicious so I went back the next day to buy a couple more for the plane ride. I just wish that I tried their swiss rolls too. And I also completely missed out on the crepe cakes. The pics online looked so yummy so the next time I visit SF, I will definitely stop by Little Swan again and fill up with...