Lucky King Bakery

I always stop by here to get some baked goodies. What stands out in this bakery (other than their pork buns) is that it’s a pretty big space with plenty of seating. The chairs look like their made for toddlers (could be the fun colors and shape) but the seats are really comfortable! Most bakeries in Chinatown are tiny and if there’s even 1 – 2 tables to sit on, well, that’s rare.
It seems like they like to rotate some baked goods. I don’t come here that often, usually every 3 – 6 months. They always do have their ‘staple’ goods, both savory and sweet, so it’s a good thing.
I always grew up going to Chinatown with Mott St. being the end all and be all. I still believe Mott St. is the epicenter for foodies, but Grand St./Chrystie St./Elizabeth St. is worth trekking to.

Some of the best Chinese food I’ve ever had and cheaper than any lunch in the city. Be prepared to feel like you’re in another country where English is not spoken. I love their dumplings and sticky rice or noodles

This bakery offers a good variety of sweets, buns, and savory appetizers. Some items are hit and miss, but overall descent in price. However, the service is a bit lacking and at times inefficient and rude during the evening. I can converse in Cantonese, but when you ask the girl at the counter about an item, you simply get a very rude response and bad attitude service.

Horrible and no system for taking orders here. I was standing to find someone to help me get my order but the same person ignored me for two other customers. Supposed to be grab and go but I didn’t have time to wait for her to get to me. I’m disappointed… Wasnt able to get anything after waiting cause I needed to catch my early train. Not sure what’s up with this specific employee there

Lucky King Bakery is the bomb. Every Chinatown local knows the Bayard location, and Lucky King Bakery serves the older Chinese community well.
The prices are dirt cheap — the pastries run usually $ 1 — $ 2, and the drinks — milk tea, coffee, Ovaltine — are also no more than $ 2.
Yes, it’s not a fancy spot. But this is a classic neighborhood joint loved by Chinatown and Chinese people. And the bakery still has some of the best buns in Chinatown!

Bright green balls.
Those bright green peanut sesame balls, 4 for $ 2, are a delight. A deep-​fried crispy layer decorating chewy, green glutinous rice flour encasing glorious sesame paste with small chunks of sweetened peanuts. The wetness of the paste varies depending on the batch, but it’s delicious all the same.
Their supersize sesame seed balls, $ 0.50 each, are too much flour and not enough red bean filling, which is a bit watery. Their red bean filling also has a strange tang to it.
Go for the bright green balls.

Open on Thanksgiving, this place saved us from starvation for breakfast. We went in blind but they really served it up. We guessed at some items but the coffee was good and the smoothies satisfied the kids.. Lots of seating too. Some people spoke a little English so we were good to go. 4 people breakfast, 16. 50

If you want cheap eats and still want dim sum at 5pm then this is the place to go. Most bakeries at This hour tend to slow down their food production and only selling leftovers from the morning. When I came in they were still brining out food from kitchen.
Service is a meh. The young girls that work at night tend to be friendlier than the old grump ladies in the morning. Service is twice as fast compared to the day shift.
The reasons I knocked it down by 2 stars was because of their personal belongings on the display case where most unwrapped foods were and also the grumpy day shifts people.
I got the cha siu Chung fun which contained a lot of cha siu pieces. the Chung fun though was not as bouncy as usual. Maybe it’s been sitting there for a while since she did dig all the way back of the hot food to get it.

I came here for a quick bite to eat while visiting the area. Food was good, pricing was average, and service was quick. I’d return if I’m in the area, but hard to say since there are so many choices in the area.

Coconut pudding so good, will go back and try something more

I always go before getting massage nearby right before the bakery closes. It’s a great deal for the cheap buns! I can’t say it’s the best I’ve had but def worth their prices, it’s ridiculously cheap!

Not good.
–Hot Milk Tea: okay. For $ 1.00, you get a small 8 oz cup of milk tea. It may come in a larger size, but I didn’t ask. I noticed that the young lady making my tea used milk and sugar, and she did a good job adding just the right amount; not too sweet and not too bitter. I thought it was only okay and tasted typical for what you get in other Chinatown bakeries in the area. Even though the milk tea comes with its own tea bag per cup, I was surprised by how mild the tea was. Personally, I like my milk teas to have a slight bitterness to it.
–Cocktail/​milk bun: not that good. This bun is large, but the filling is not proportioned to match the size of this bun. All bread, hardly any filling. The bread was dry and bland tasting, and the filling was mildly sweet but had a slight bitter taste to it. Almost like it was going bad.
–Pineapple bun with coconut filling: okay. This bun was large in size and had a really good amount of coconut filling. The bread was nice and sweet, but I thought the crust was lacking. I wish the crust was a little sweeter, thicker, and I wish it had a cookie crust. My crust was soft. The coconut filling was okay. I thought the actual flavor of the filling was good, but I didn’t like the texture. The center was a little too sticky and gooey.
Service has been good and bad. Most recently, the service was bad. The place was pretty empty when I went in and I was the only one in line. I walked right up to the two ladies behind the counter, and instead of greeting me, they decided to carry on with their conversation instead. They didn’t even bother to acknowledge me, but instead chose to talk about the hair styles they wanted for a good couple minutes before I just interrupted them. Even when I told them the two items I wanted, they continued on with their conversation and had to ask me to repeat my order. Here’s the thing: Chinese bakeries are a dime a dozen in Chinatown. When your baked goods are below average, you should have at least basic customer service, to give people reason to come back. I’ve been here a number of times, and after this last time, no thanks. I don’t expect much when it comes to service when I buy pastries in Chinatown, but I sure don’t expect to be ignored when it’s a ghost town in your business.
This place has a ton of tables and chairs. Like everyplace in Chinatown, I imagine it gets busy in the day time. But based off how empty it was the times when we went, I would say this place can accommodate a stroller and/​or wheelchair without issue. They sell baked goods, so it’s obviously kid friendly.
Cash only.

Update: came back for a solo along with an egg tart and one of the fried taro balls.
Fried taro is delicious, nice change from the usual stuff you’d find in a bakery in the area, nice stuff. I think the egg tart was solid but there are some slightly better places. Still, excellent taro/​char siu bao.

Yes! Finally, a place that gets it right in Chinatown. Everything I’ve tired here is delicious. The staff was very friend and prices reasonable.

Was early for an event so I stopped by the bakery for a bite as I knew they had seating indoors. Folks who are familiar with the area knows there is a lack of indoor public spaces in the ‘hood to kill time. At last, I’d no choice from the cold but to rub elbows with an eclectic mix of locals and stragglers who call this place their neighborhood joint. Communal seating area is not for the shy or the faint of heart. Surrounding me are a few tables of local men, the elderly, kids from the park, a random hobo and customers for takeout. It’s not not friendly just not anywhere I’ll choose to hangout but today.

I absolutely love coming here for a late lunch after my workout. I can’t get enough of their coffee and their Cantonese steam rice selection. The staff is friendly and the customers are very old school Chinese with the exception of a few non Asian riffraff but they are harmless and they don’t really harass anyone. As per facility space, this is one of the more spacious bakery in the area. You will always find a seat, you just have to wait a few minutes. The customers are really friendly and have the common sense to share the table with other patrons. There are also a lot of customers that will being their children to eat here so if you like to be around children this is the place for you.

Stopped by after lunch and was seeking some HK Milk Tea and HK egg tarts. The tea was on the weak side and slightly sweet for my liking; but it was definitely a good/​quick warm me up in the bitter NYC cold. the tea i thought should’ve been $ 1, but i think they charged $ 1.25? Yeah, i’m cheap and poor… rather, that’s what other places charge (size small).
The egg tarts were all made consistently (well). I thought the crust was nice and flaky. The egg custard itself was pretty good and not even that sweet. I thought they would give a discount if you bought a lot, but they didn’t. (i bought 20… still charged .95 per)
Busy place, but many people working the counter.

Great bakery. Cake slices are CHEAP compared to others (less than $ 2). Love getting some cakes/​breads with a cup of hot milk tea.
My fellow Asian bakery fans, muster up your courage and fight for the attention of the staff, then vigorously point to the items you want, holding up fingers for quantity (English is a problem for some of the them).
Don’t expect smiling, happy service here, but don’t be intimidated! That’s all that stands between you and some soft, delicious carb goods.
1 star off for their «bubble tea» which ended up being two tea bags stapled to my cup with a ton of tapicoa bubbles unceremoniously dumped into the mix. But then again, I knew I was gambling ordering boba from a bakery.

TONS OF PEOPLE eating at this restaurant/​bakery early in the morning! If you’re just getting breads to go just walk up to the counter & get someone’s attention!
—taro bun: soft bun but the filling was too sweet! 90cents!
—pineapple bun: yummy really crispy crust. Soft bun but so little filling! Also 90cents!
—egg tart: 95 cents for this baby. I liked the filling but the crust wasn’t as flaky as I like, although it’s super crumbly, so I enjoyed the crust better after fridgeration
–chocolate cake roll: soft, light, moist but wish there was more cream rolled in!
wouldnt mind coming back for the other breads!

I took away two stars for service!!! They won’t help you unless you go up to them. The counter girls just stand there gossiping.
I come back anyways for one thing only, Lemon Swiss Rolls. It’s a huge Swiss Roll for $ 5.75. It is soft and super fresh with plenty of lemon curd filling. Yum! My favorite place to get it is here so I just deal with the staff that could care less.
Don’t stand on line for help. It’s just for coffee! There is NO sign! The customer on the line had to tell me! The staff won’t come over to ask you if you need help!!! OMG. I hate incompetency. at a bakery. How hard can it be to say, «How can I help you?»
FYI, no gratuity needed here because there is no table service.