Golden Manna Bakery

Got their green milk tea and lychee green tea. Both very awful. The lychee green tea just tasted like a can of lychee over ice. Very syrupy.

A solid five star. Everything I’ve tried so far are delicious: hot food items (noodles, congee), egg and spam/​ham sandwiches, traditional chinese bakeries (Mexican, pineapple with custard, sponge cake, egg tarts, you name it). On a special note, they have the biggest egg tarts I’ve ever seen! They are of the size of my palm (well, minus the fingers), with deep and generous amount of delicious filling. I thought I have seen it all, until Manna mama rocks my world. Woof!

I needed a dessert for a get together and couldn’t find a bakery to satisfy this need. I went to Confucius Florist to buy some flowers, asked them, and they pointed to this bakery that was across the street on Bowery. As I was walking across the street I stopped in my tracks because the scent of sweet baked goods hit me when I was still many feet away from the front door. I smiled. Although there was a language barrier, we figured it out, and I ordered a cake. At the get together, everyone liked how fluffy it was and how fresh the fruit was. And I paid maybe $ 15 — cheap! If I lived near I would go here often for small pastries/​buns or coffee.

Love this place. Gae mae baos, char siu baos and don tots are ridiculous. The one on Catherine St. is our favorite but they stopped making the style of gae mae baos that we like, the buttery style with less coconut. You can still get them at the one on the Bowery but they put all the buns in annoying plastic sleeves. Still delicious, though!

A franchise chain with multiple Chinatown Manhattan locations. Golden Manna Bakery carries all the staples of traditional Cantonese baked goodies. After a immediate disappoint departure from nearby Audrey Bakery, my party of two came here. Yes, they carry my childhood favorite– egg custard tart 蛋 撻 (daan6 taat3/​1). My egg custard tart instantly fallen apart as I bite into it. It did not withstand when holding up to my bite. I requested one small hot Green tea without milk but only sugar. My family member ordered one pineapple bun and one small coffee without milk but only sugar, as like most Asians, she is lactose intolerance. Two pastries, two drinks totals a reasonable $ 3.90. The server attributed at least four packets of sugar as my hot Green Tea was immeasurably too sweet, which I dislike!
Service is average and fluent in Cantonese. Seating is insufficient to fulfill this heavy populated customer traffic. Noise volume level is extremely loud, amid no background music, but the constant chatter in rapid-​fire Chinese and gossip from elderly is extremely deafening loud as a restaurant level. However, this is just a simple bakery and the noise volume from patrons’ chatter is tone deafening loud on a Friday afternoon!

Great egg tarts. Best we’ve had was in SF and this comes close. Flaky crust and soft custard filling. My godmother gets her daily coffee from them. I had the iced lemon tea. Size on the small side but it was the right balance of sweet/​tart.

Dan tat «Egg Custard Tart» Review ONLY —
Of Bread Talk, Tai Pan and Golden Manna, I think this comes in #3. Not because it was bad, it just was not better than the others. I guess that puts it at the A-​ok but would that stop me from coming again? Definitely not. If I was in the area and had cravings, I’d most likely step inside but, there’s no need to go out of your way for this place.
Upon arrival, we were told that the dan tats were just out of the oven so we were excited to bite into the good eats. We told the lady we wanted ONE dan tat and she laughed at us. For $ 1 we got ourselves a very tasty tart… Crunchy outside, soft hot custard middle. Of the dan tats I’ve had, this center is definitely more on the solid side which can be good or bad depending on your preference. The sweetness level is great and the place left me wanting to try more of their baked goods.
There’s lots of seating so we noticed that lots of locals were hanging out drinking coffee, eating pastries and reading the weekend paper. One of the locals was commenting in Chinese about how those young kids take pictures for no reason… Scowl. It’s ok, I don’t mind being the weird one!

I got the $ 8 red card that you get when you go to weddings. I came here to redeem it and I was pleasantly surprised! I went towards the end of the day when they were closing and were trying to get rid of stuff. The lady behind the counter was trying to be helpful and I appreciated that. I was really skeptical of the egg tarts since I am picky about them, but they were really good! Their custard bun was really good too. I went to Tai Pan earlier and I couldn’t find them there. I also tried their hot dog bun with the whole hot dog and the one with the four cut up pieces on the corners and they were good too. Each bun and the the egg tarts were $ 1 each. I was able to get 8 items. I was a very satisfied customer since I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went in. I will be coming back if I am in the area!

Do you always get what you pay for? I think not.
The Golden Manna Bakery charges more than the bakeries I usually go to in Chinatown and their baked goods are no better tasting. Also their coffee tasted bitter.
One nice thing, however, is that they have more tables than some of the other bakeries in the neighborhood.
The people working there were efficient but not particularly friendly.
On the other hand the bakery was clean and well lit.
So A-​OK but nothing special

I was hastily run-​walking to a hair appointment I was very late for and my tummy was throwing a hissy fit. In search of a quickie bakery that was en route, I popped into Golden Manna, paid $ 1 for a red bean pineapple topping bun and was back to run-​walking to the hair appointment.
I was really surprised at the quality of their bao (the red bean pineapple topping bun I purchased) because it was so good! The amount of red bean filling was just perfect so that it worked with the pineapple topping paste and did not overwhelm any flavors. Really good compliment — thanks to the employee behind the counter who recommended it.
$ 1 is a smidgen more expensive than the other bakeries in NYC, but the difference in quality is VERY noticeable. I’ll definitely be back again to try some of their other stuff!
Tip: Don’t try to eat this when you are run-​walking somewhere. It is very messy.

ehhh it’s kinda pricey for their location. No where near a train station. i was just by passing this bakery. it does have a «A» grading in the front door so I decided to go in. It was pretty packed when I went inside. Didn’t get a chance to taste their food. This review is for their take out drinks. it was only 3 coffee and 2 honey ginger and it took a good 10 minutes just to get out of the bakery with my order. Staff are kind of slow.

Egg Tarts are $ 1 each.
A bit pricier than some of the other Chinese bakeries around. Their tarts are also better tasting. Fresh, light, flaky and buttery crust. The custard was a bit bland and watery. The eggy flavor isn’t as noticeable but it’s light, smooth and slightly sweet.
They have a nice selection of baked goods. Seating is available, the bakery is quite spacious.
It can get packed and disorganized at times. Most baked goods are within reach. If you’re interested in a mini or regular sized cake, do your best to get someones attention. On busy days, there really isn’t an organized line. Everyone stands around the cashiers and does their best to get noticed.
Though their Egg Tarts are a bit pricey, their other baked goods are reasonably priced.

Good thing about this location on Bowery Street is that there are tables and chairs so you can hang out. You can sit there with your purchases as long as you want. Spacious enough to not feel cramped. Nothing special in here typical Chinese bakery. Same buns and cakes as anywhere else. I come here because it’s very close to me.

buns are a-​ok. i used to come here everytime for fresh pineapple buns but lately it’s been a bit of a disappointment. prices are getting high but once in awhile i’ll stop by for a bun when i’m on the go. but nothing too fancy about the buns/​drinks.

Needed a place to camp out cuz of the ridiculous rain that came pummeling down yesterday.
But just under $ 5 for 3 hot drinks and 2 little desserts. Need I say more?

If you dig egg custard tarts (dan tat) then you should give the ones here a try as they’re delicate in taste and texture. The flaky crust is buttery enough to hold itself together and the light custard within. I appreciated that the custard itself was not very ‘eggy’ or as dense as others I’ve tried. The boy didn’t enjoy them as much since he prefers the custard to have more of a bite and structure. But what does he know? I’m the Unilocaler in this relationship.

A newly opened bakery that brings another addition to the Manna House Bakery (MHB) franchise in Chinatown. While the selection is not as good as MHB on Catherine Street, all of the distinct qualities (style, taste, texture) for «Manna-​style» buns are there. A grand opening discount of 20% off baked goods is also now in full effect. Not sure how long that would last. Without the discount, a typical bun (pineapple, cocktail, roast pork) goes for 85 – 90 cents. It is quite surreal to see that baked goods in Chinatown bakeries are closing in on a dollar apiece.
This is by far the largest space for an MHB I have seen. Beyond the counter where hoards of customers are going yelling out orders for buns and cakes, a seating area with a handful of tables is available in the back. The seating area space is definitely not fully utilized, and it can easily accomodate a few more tables.
I do missed the dried pork and ham rolls that the previous bakery offered, but if there were to replace it with any other chain, such as a Golden Carriage or Tai Pan, a MHB is easily the preferred choice (in my humble opinion of course).
3,5 Stars