Donut Time

I’m finally writing a review for Donut Time after patronizing them for over 20 years. My family and I love their fresh pastries, buns and donuts. This is our favorite bakery in San Francisco. It’s located in the Sunset District across from a Safeway Supermarket.
When you walk into the bakery, aromas of coffee and tea lingers in the air. Customers sitting and hanging out enjoying their beverage or pastries.
The breads/​buns and donuts are soft and fresh. The textures are just right. Wished that they didn’t downsized their baked goods. I’m so disappointed that they’re smaller portions now. Otherwise, I would’ve given them 5 stars. Seems like everywhere nowadays, everything is smaller portions. My photos of the baked goods are deceiving, the bakery items are not that big. I was also disappointed to know that I ordered a dozen of the ham & egg buns and four of them were the size of cocktail buns. Not righteous for the price I have to pay for the ham & egg buns.
Our favorites:
— Cocktail Bun 75 cents (oblong shape and inside the bun is a yummy butter and sugar paste filling.
— Pineapple Bun 75 cents (butter and sugar topping without filling in the middle).
— Ham & Egg Bun $ 1.25 (a thin slice of ham and tender steamed egg).
— Paper wrapped egg sponge cake $ 1.00 (soft and moist).
The service is always great here. The nice female owner always recognizes and acknowledges me. The male owner is very nice also.

This place is quite interesting, at first glance from outside you’d think This is your typical donut shop, well it isn’t! I casually stumbled upon this place while walking my dog and I’m glad I did.
Once you’ll in you notice that the lady at the counter is very friendly, the counter is divided in two sections, one of which is Chinese style baked good and the other holds American style donuts and croissants. I had the custard bun and I must say it was pretty good.
I feel that this place is a sound alternative to twisted donuts. I will definitely try to pop in more often.

Was on a search for donuts, and like others found only a small selection. But the Chinese pastries looked great, I got a BBQ pork bun and it was one of the best I’ve ever had. I’ll be back for more of those.

Stopped by for a quick pineapple bun, straight out of the warmer! If you’re nice, the owner will grab you one from the warmer instead of getting one from under the counter.
Classic, standard pineapple bun for only $ 0.65! Standard prices! Happy that I didn’t get ripped off! Also lots of tables in the store if you want to eat and hang around.

The cocktail buns have become a staple in my household. I’m from San Jose, but every time I make a trip to San Francisco, this place is a must. I usually come in the late afternoon because I hear it can get pretty busy in the mornings with all the regulars.
The lady in the front is so nice and provides great customer service whenever I pay a visit here. I have tried the egg tarts as well, and they look freshly made as compared to other
Chinese bakeries in the same area. However, the cocktail bun, which is super cheap (65 cents), is the star of Donut Time. They never fail to be so soft, so perfectly sweetened, and overall so yummy!

I love the bbq pork buns and sponge cake
I have been coming here over 10+ years
You might get cheaper bread anywhere but the quality of this bakery is very consistent they don’t skimp on their ingredients!!!

Contrary to its name, you don’t come here for donuts. This is a chinese bakery, so that’s what you should be buying. What I normally get are their cocktail buns, egg tarts, and cake rolls. Cake rolls seems to be a favorite at my office.
There’s some tables around for sitting, but most are filled with old men chatting the day away. So just quickly buy and go.

By far, the best buns/​breads around! Everything is always so, so fresh and delicious! They’re very famous for their pork buns, cocktail buns, pineapple buns and coconut buns! Love this place!

Went on a donut run for my man this morning. I usually go to twisted donuts about 8 blocks away but decided to try this place because it’s across from safeway where I also needed to go. Guess what Donut time didn’t have any donuts! Only had Chinese pastries. I did get a pork bun which was ok BUT their name should not be donut time if they don’t have donuts left at 11 am!

Sometimes you just want to sink your teeth into some nice hot buns. Pineapple buns that is! The pineapple buns here are kept warm unlike Sheng Kee. Donuts here too are cheap. I picked up a dozen donut holes for a friend, and a twisted donut for him with one of my pineapple buns was $ 3 and change.
I tried a donut hole though, while I don’t like super sweet donuts, I found that it could have used more glazing on it. The pineapple bun was a little messier (more crumbs) than Sheng Kee’s but I liked it more than SKs. 3 stars for now.

A mix of donuts and Chinese pastries… all of which are fairly cheap. But stick with the Asian stuff… they turn around way more often than the donuts. I usually come for a quickie snack… love my sponge cake wrapped in paper for $ 1 :)

Some of the reviews for this bakery crack me up!
The bakery name is just so misleading! Donut Time? Sorry, you shouldn’t come for donut, not at this time (or any other time!) LOL!
Come on, look around, you are pretty much in sunset Chinatown!
This is a place for some fresh and traditional Chinese (Cantonese) pastries and GREAT Hong Kong milk tea!
Let me give you some clues — these are great stuff to try:
— Hot dog bun (please don’t add pickle relish, ketchup or mustard)
— Pineapple bun (sorry no pineapple in it)
— Cocktail bun (don’t get too excited — it’s non-​alcoholic)
— Mexican bun (nothing mexican about it)
— BBQ pork bun (yes finally, BBQ pork in it)
— Hong Kong milk tea (ask for «more sweet» if you don’t like too much bitterness from the tea)
Don’t try to sit down, just grab (food, drink and lotto ticket) and go! That’s how you roll at Donut Time!

Fresh Asian bread early in the morning right before the bus comes!
They even offer my child-​hood favorite, Vitasoy! For only one $ 1!

Donut time only had some twists and glazes in early afternoon so passed.
mostly chinese buns and pastries available
farmers coffee: passed
eats: almond cookies:(2)
–baked semi-​cookie, semi candy,
too candy like
crumbs:
–lots of sitdown room to drink and watch lotto results.

Haven’t bought anything from this bakery in years but they’ve maintained their usual quality, though their buns have gotten a bit smaller for the price they’re charging. Nothing overly special when compared to other Chinese bakeries. I will note that their buns are flakier and lighter (less doughy/​bready) than other places. The topping on their pineapple bun needs to be crusted more, i.e. crumbles too easily. Don’t recall eating ham bits from the ham & onion bun. Their cocktail bun is filled with lots of sugary goodness.

After craving donuts for the past 24 hours, I decided to pop into this place near the office. Now, I usually avoid almost all the eating establishments on Noriega, because they tend to be pretty shitty but when you need a quick fix donut, you’re willing to take risks. Right?
BIG MISTAKE!!!
The first sign was when I saw all the Chinese contractors hanging outside. Now I’ve got nothing against those guys, but anytime I’ve eaten in a place that they frequent, it’s been absolute shit and this place was certainly no exception.
The donuts tasted like they were fried in used motor oil. FOR REAL!!! I wouldn’t be surprised if that were really the case.
I’ll never go back to this place, EVER!
Next stop… Psycho Donuts in San Jose.

Solid, but overpriced Chinese pastries. The cocktail («gai mei bao»), pineapple and sausage buns were all quite good, though ranged from $ 1.00-$ 1.10 when they’re normally $ 0.60-$ 0.80 at most bakeries. The folks do do a nice job with HK milk tea so I’d def pick up a cup of that for anyone considering a stop by here.

Was introduced to this place in ’98? It was the apple turnover. Fresh and crunchy with sugar crystals. Yum! Since then I have been a regular for the tan-​tat and HK Tea.
The place is small and most weekday mornings the place is packed inside and standing room on the sidewalk.
You will see me dropping by in the morning with my son. He likes his tan-​tat and Vitasoy drink before school.
Check it out and enjoy!
Sincerely,
The Duke!

Donut time? More like pastry time… don’t go here if you’re looking for donuts. Smallest donut selection for a «donut» place I’ve ever seen.
The donut I had was just ok.

This is such a sweet deal for a quick snack.
For $.85, you can get a small blueberry muffin and add another $ 1.00 for an 8oz cup of coffee. The muffin may not be as big as some of the other finer bakeries. But it’s damn cheap and tasty too. My treat:
The corner bakery also sells donuts and other Chinese pastries too.
For entertainment, you can purchase the California Lottery. You can also chat with the men and discuss about your family in the mainland.
These guys love me!