Hood Famous Bakeshop (Chinatown-ID) — Restaurant in Seattle

A coworker had me try their Ube Cookies and it was so good I have been craving for it since that day. So I googled the place and seen they also had Special Order Whole Cheesecakes but the website stated they were suspending online orders so I called 7 days in advance and spoke with a nice staff to ask if I can order a 6in Birthday Basque for my bf's dad's birthday on Sunday. The staff told me he will check with the assistant manager since they are backed up on orders. He said someone will call me back later that day.

The next day, still no call back. So I emailed them (they didnt respond) for any follow up and called again. They confirmed that they CAN take my order. I asked if she wanted me to pay over the phone and she said, she will email me the invoice. I received the emailed invoice with the total amount and the invoice stated "PAY THIS INVOICE IN PERSON OR ONLINE" with a link to pay. Since I planned to get ube cookies, I decided to just pay the cake and the cookies altogether in person when I go to their cafe on Sunday.

Sunday comes (my boyfriend's dad's birthday) and we drove 1hr to Seattle to pick up the birthday cake for our dinner celebration later that day. I called them when we were getting close, to confirm that we were on our way to pick up the cake. The same nice staff answered and was confused because he remembered we talked like 3x about this cake and yet it was not ready. THEY DID NOT MAKE MY ORDER. I can't tell you how stressed out I was but I still kept calm while talking to the staff. The assistant manager told me I did not pay for the order so they didn't make it especially because some people pre order without payment and don't pick it up. She said "they might've sent me an email reminder to pay" and told me I could still stop by and get cheesecake slice instead. I calmly explained to her that I was unaware they required advance payment and I had planned to pay in person, thanked her and ended the call. I couldn't talk further as I was about to cry in the car out of frustration.

First of all, You did not send me an email reminder. Second, I politely asked you on how the payment works (since it's my first time ordering from them) and asked if you need me to pay over the phone but you told me you'll send an email confirmation. Most importantly, your invoice clearly stated "PAY THIS INVOICE IN PERSON OR ONLINE" and no other instructions were given to me

One more thing, you guys knew how excited I was to order this cake. I had called, and emailed and put effort into communicating with you. I never forced my order, I nicely asked if you can and if not, I can order somewhere else and just get ube cookies there. We drove an hour just to pick up this cake for a birthday that same day! It's just so hurtful and upsetting. I would've paid right away if you had clear instructions. You should delete that statement in your invoice "PAY THIS INVOICE IN PERSON OR ONLINE" if you won't make the cake if not paid in advance. Also, I know you are busy but everyone is right? I'm busy but I went out of my way to call you, email you, and drive that far just to pick it up, but despite being busy, I wish someone could've cared to call or email me to follow up a couple days prior to pick up date to let me know you required payment in advance, not just disregard the order entirely without notice

I never write bad reviews or reviews in general but this was such a horrible and stressful experience that I had to share. I was very calm and polite about it over the phone but there was no effort from you guys. We drove an hour back home without a cake and I realized, this is not okay. The birthday celebrant wanted that cake but instead, we had to scramble to find something else at the last minute not to mention how tough it was to tell him we didn't have the original cake he was expecting to have on his birthday

I wish things didn't turn out this way. But, I don't think I'll ever order...

We had heard of Hood Famous Bakery and wanted to try it. Christmas was in a few days and we thought the mini cheesecakes would be the perfect dessert after Christmas dinner. My dad is getting older and he is trying to incorporate less sugar into his diet. Since Hood Famous Bakery is a Filipino bakery, I imagined that the bakery would use a bit less sugar, like many other Asian bakeries. I called a few days before we were going to the bakery to check their hours, since it would be the week of Christmas. Customer service at this location varies, depending on who is working that day. The lady I spoke to on the phone Friday morning was very friendly and helpful in answering my questions about the availability of the cheesecakes and the pricing; she also assured me that the café would be open at 8 AM and that there would be a good variety of cheesecakes available. This lady’s friendliness and enthusiasm made me excited to visit the café; a part of any eatery is the experience.

However, the lady behind on the counter the following Monday morning was less enthused. Perhaps I offended her by showing up at the door at 7:59 AM, and clearly, it was my sole decision to schedule her to work the morning shift on the Monday before the holiday. After she unlocked the doors, I approached the counter, where she couldn’t be less interested, and more inconvenienced to help me purchase $30.00 worth of cheesecake. Let’s put that into perspective-- $30.00 for five mini cheesecakes. In the big picture, the cheesecakes are not that expensive; however, her attitude displayed her lack of appreciation for our business, or future business. She most likely forgot that she works at Hood Famous Café and Bar, not Cupcake Royale.

I chose a variety: the signature Ube, Matcha Green Tea, Vietnamese Coffee, and two Calamansi Mango (my parents enjoy mango). Since it was the holidays, I inquired if there was a decorative box available, because we were bringing the cheesecakes to my parents’ house for dinner. Unenthusiastically, she said no. I was a bit surprised, and a little embarrassed that I had to take these desserts to my parents’ house in one of those rectangular take-out boxes. Once she managed to muster the energy to pack my cheesecakes, she rung me up. I had to ask her for a receipt, in which she sighed in exasperation over the trouble of printing a receipt.

Ube: I agreed with many of the other reviews—the Ube wasn’t very flavorful. I expected this cheesecake to stand out, since it is the signature cheesecake. Although it is a beautiful purple color, the Ube cheesecake is not worth another try.

Matcha Green Tea: the Matcha Green Tea was okay. I expected the cheesecake would have that earthiness from the matcha, but the matcha flavor wasn’t pronounced enough.

Vietnamese Coffee: this was a favorite among all the guests. The coffee hits your tongue instantly, as it should; the coffee flavor was smooth, and not overly bold for a dessert.

Calamansi Mango: this was another favorite among all the guests. There was a nice balance of sweetness and tartness from the mango and calamansi citrus, respectively.

Overall: what we liked was that the cheesecakes were not overly sweet. I also agreed with other reviews which said the cheesecakes were dense. I was glad that we chose to cut each cheesecake into fourths to create a “sampler” platter for everyone to try. I would find it difficult for one person to eat an entire mini cheesecake, because they are so dense. I do wish that there was a deeper flavor in some of the cheesecakes, and that they were lighter.

It is likely that we would return. Hopefully without any zombies behind...

This place is awesome. I rolled in a little after opening on a Thursday and it was pretty quiet. I ordered at the kiosk, grabbed a number, and sat at a table with a convenient outlet for my laptop charger. I easily connected to their free Wi-Fi (which is apparently not available on weekends — be warned).

I started with a chicken arroz caldo with crispy chicken skin and a poached egg plus a pandan Italian soda. The arroz caldo is fantastic! Warm, hearty, and texturally interesting, it's comfort in a bowl. The add-ons are non-negotiable, in my opinion. The pandan Italian soda is also tasty and unique, though a coffee lover would probably just prefer a pandan latte.

I enjoyed my food and sipped on my drink for a couple hours while I got some work done. The cafe picked up a little as the morning went on but it stayed relatively quiet and pleasant.

Around lunchtime, I ordered a longsilog (basically a breakfast plate with Filipino pork sausage patties). I also added a mung bean patty to give it a try. When it arrived, I topped it off with some chili crisp and went to town. Wow! Explosion of flavor. The pork sausage is unbelievably juicy and tender. It's perfect with some runny egg yolk and a bit of rice. The greens and pickled veggies add a nice crunch and kick of acidity. The mung bean patty is a little less exciting — a bit dry and without a ton of flavor. But if you're not a meat eater, it's a decent alternative!

I finished my meal and then ordered an assortment of pastries to go. They have a huge variety of unique flavor combinations! Several of them are classic Filipino sweets that you'd be hard pressed to find elsewhere in Seattle, so it was really cool to try them.

The cheesecake is one of their specialities, so I got several varieties to try. Pro tip: you should really enjoy these cold. Once they warm up to room temperature, their flavors dull significantly. My favorites are the Vietnamese coffee and white chocolate guava, but the ube is also rich and unique.

A few other standouts for me are the turon cream puff, the black sesame roll, the mango peach empanada, the bibingka corn muffin, and the beef mechado pocket. If you're a fan of less sweet desserts, you'll probably really enjoy the ube pianono cake slice, the cassava cake, and the biko.

Overall, I can't recommend this place highly enough. The hot dine-in foods, hot or iced drinks, savory pastries, and sweet desserts are all flawlessly prepared in...