Marui Bakery

Honestly, other than a few select stores, most Chinese bakeries in town are relatively similar.  Sure, there are ones I would like avoid, such as T&T and possibly 1st Ave Bakery, but other than that, they all do the job.  However, Costanza had been raving about this lil' spot in the London Drugs complex on Kingsway where Chinese pastries meet Japanese-trained baker.  Apparently, the place is known for their egg tarts.  Well, I guess there is only one way to find out, buy some egg tarts and get some other items for good measure.

The first thing I bit into was the Egg Tarts since they were still warm and fresh.  Okay, I gotta give props to Costanza and Elaine (alright, also Whipping Girl too) because the tarts were money.  Light, buttery, flaky and soft, the tart pastry practically melted in my mouth after the initial crispiness.  The nuttiness of the baked shell only added another layer of flavour to the silky and semi-sweet egg custard.  These are definitely at the very top of the list for the GVRD. On the other hand, the BBQ Pork Bun was somewhat disappointing.  First of all, the amount of filling was not sufficient for the size of the bun.  Secondly, the dough was more chewy than soft.  Last, the bun was rather flat.  It wasn't terrible, but compared to the egg tart, it was just "meh".

The same could be said about both the Ham & Egg Bun and Pineapple Bun.  I wasn't a huge fan of the egg and ham being baked inside the bun as it dried out both the ingredients and the bun itself.  Equally as flat as the BBQ pork bun, the pineapple bun needed to be "poofier".  Despite not being dense, the bun ate as such since it was almost compressed.  Moreover, it was haphazardly made where it was an odd teardrop shape with the topping misaligned.  In fact, the other pineapple bun was worse, hence I didn't include it in the picture.  On the positive side, the topping was nicely crisp and aromatic. And yes, the Matcha Red Bean Bun suffered the same fate except it looked pretty.

At this point, I was wondering if the egg tarts were a one-hit wonder with this place.  However, the Mango Roll and Sponge Cake changed everything.  As average as the buns were, the sponge cake was heavenly.  Soft and airy, it had an aromatic nuttiness from the butter and the fluffiness from the eggs.  This was really good.  As for the mango roll, it was much of the same and it had a wonderful mango flavour.  Well, Marui Bakery can be considered a diamond in the rough despite the mediocre buns.  The egg tarts and cakes should be enough to keep the customers coming back.

The Good:
- Fantastic egg tarts
- Wonderful cakes

The Bad:
- Buns are mediocre
- Service was a bit indifferent