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Love the Crispy Taro cake.
The prices are decent.
I always get my cakes from here.
Crispy crunch cake! OMFG...Best discovery ever!
Cake is soft and fluffy and the cream inside and outside of the cake with layers of crunchy goodness inside, the cream is a whipped cream base and it's delicious and not too sweet!
The cake is light and moist which goes really nicely with the cream!
You can call the same day to order a cake and they will have it ready for you when you get off of work to pick it up. =) Super Fancy!!!
I adore this bakery. One, their goods are delicious. Two, it's so damn close to my house.
My mom always get me something whenever she comes here. Two of my favorite things to get here are their hot dog bread & the pork sung bun, so yummy! I always get my sliced bread here because it's so soft, especially when it comes out fresh. I bought a small strawberry mousse cake & I believe it was around $4, didn't get to try it because it was for someone else. Also, their flaky cake is delicious. Soft & moist & then crunchy layers in the middle. Didn't get to take a picture of it, but someone else uploaded some so take a look! : )
My friends bought a big strawberry mouse cake here for my boyfriend's birthday, not sure how much it costs but the last I've seen they start at $20 & up depending on the cake. The cake was delicious, it was so moist & the strawberry mousse tasted like chocolate mousse. Never knew their cakes were this good, going to buy it here for the next birthday boy/girl!
Found this place on Yelp and am so glad we did.
We were looking for an affordable bakery for our wedding, and hit the jackpot with Cathy's Bakery!
The price was much better than Diamond or JJ's Bakery and Mary was able to design a cake for us that went perfectly with our color scheme. She was friendly, helpful, energetic and really easy to work with throughout the planning process.
The cake came out awesome! It was vanilla with fresh strawberries and mango filling. When we expressed concerns that it wouldn't be enough to feed 200 guests, she gave me her number and offered to drive some sheet cakes over to the wedding banquet if we needed it-- we didn't run out of cake that night but were really touched by her customer service. Who else would do that?
Overall, we were very pleased. super moist and yummy cake and great customer service. Oh and yes, the crispy cake is really good too! :)
I first learned about this place at a relative's engagement party 15 years ago when I was a kid. Since then, each year, I asked for a birthday cake from Cathy's Bakery. The best cake they have is Taro pudding cake (pudding on top of a sponge cake with taro jam inside. Their Napoleon cake is also excellent. I know people from out of state buy cakes here to take back home before departing for airport. The boss "Cathy" is always very friendly and does not seem to age with time. I also like their sandwiches for breakfast.
LOVE this place. Mary, the owner, has been there EVERY single time I've been there since I was 6. She's extremely friendly and really understanding if you don't speak Mandarin very well (much like myself). And even better yet, she doesn't hold it against you.
Amaaaaaazing cakes.
i.e. Taro (my mom swears by these), mango (I swear by these), crispy wafer (su-pe dàn go), and Japanese Cheesecake. Only place I have seen taro cakes, and it is mighty delicious....spongey cake with a layer of taro cream center....yummm... Their mango cake is adorable, thinly cut slices of mango cover the entire cake, overlapping, and the center is filled with mango and cream. Effin' foodgasm.
Even more amaaaaazing prices. I believe the words "dirt cheap" and "free" come to mind.
i.e. I'm quite sure their cakes start at like...$8.00 or something ridiculously cheap...their breads are around a dollar. You know, like free. No matter how "high flootin' I may be or become, there are some things that are just plain delicious and let no man put a asunder.
Their fresh baked goods are frikkin' awesome, too. Their pineapple with cream inside and hot dog breads are my fave. My mom stalks them according to their baking schedule for this potato salad breads that are only made twice a day and always sold within the hour.
I always bring their mini fruit tarts to any occasion (BBQ, bday, housewarming), they are easy finger foods, delicious, visibly appealing..and THREE FOR ONE DOLLAR. Every single bakery I've ever been too charges at least $2.00 for one single tart. They are filled with delicious creamy custard and topped with either a kiwi, strawberry, or mango slice. They may have additional fruits. The catch is that you have to order at least one day before; they make a standard stock for the day....but that is usually sold out by mid day also.
The amazing thing about Cathy's is that their cakes and desserts are not overly sweet. Perfect for asians, in my opinion...since you know how much they like to "suffer" and not "overindulge" in things...and anything "too sweet" or "too salty" would be off the table. Their frosting is the frothy, airy typical asian frosting...not my cup of tea, but some is good. Their cakes are extremely moist, savory, and fluffy; the way it's supposed to be. ha.
It should say something that out of that entire strip mall, Cathy's Bakery is the ONLY business that has been resilient and not changed owners/businesses a half dozen times.
I wanted to try something new.
It was Pops and bro's birthday so we ordered two cakes here.
The Crispy taro cake. $23 for an 8 inch. Cake was light and fluffy, filled with a crispy thin layer and taro in the middle. Not bad but it didn't wow me either.
Chocolate mousse cake. (unsure of price, was picked up by bro's friend) bleh. not interested but pretty to look at. (see picture)
Overall the service was actually great. I didn't have any problems. Maybe it was a good day?
There's a possibility I might come back to try their custard cake since I'm a big fan of custard anything =).
great place to get cakes. my aunt always orders cakes from here for every family event and i've always remembered their cakes to be fresh and delicious.
My bff and I drove over an hour to get a $22 white custard fruit cake. I would have gotten more except I barely had $22 in my wallet.
Cash only place. They don't have a variety of baked goods and the individual desserts are pricey. But I come here only for the cake. Quality's good and worth the drive once every other month.
Me and my family have been coming here since we could remember... since 1987? I don't really know when it opened up... but this bakery here...
is the EPICENTER..
of all the new frou frou super asian bakeries that have now come to be stereotyped in a certain way.
5 birthdays in my family x 22 years = 110 cakes x est. $10-$15/cake*adjusted for inflation* == $1100-$1650 spent on their cakes.
I love the franchise. The owner, Cathy, has always been courteous to us... and we're not even Chinese!
The standard, starwberry/vanilla cakes have always been our favorites.
-- GO HERE. Don't go to JJ, don't go to Taipan....
COME HERE.
OK, it's in a tiny shopping plaza next to a gas station, and the inside of the bakery does not look any better, either. However, they have the best taro cake in Los Angeles! Oh, and their crispy skin cake is the best deal and always a big hit in the office. (You may need to call first to reserve your crispy skin cake since they go as fast as they come out of the oven) Very reasonable prices and the quality is consistently good - flavorful, fresh, and not too sweet! Their mango moouse cake is also very delicious. They used to have the best mochi I ever had in Los Angeles and I was sad when they stopped making them.
However, I am afraid I can't say the same for their Chinese buns. I used to love them until I discovered J.J. bakery in Arcadia.
Their crispy taro cake is one of the best in town, but call ahead to put one on hold or order one, they go fast!!
My family has always gone here for birthday/special occasion cakes since we moved to San Gabriel in 1990... they make a good classic chinese-style round cake with the fruit & jelly on top and it's the best place i know that makes crispy cake!!
For breads and pastries, they're decent... Olympic Bakery is also very good.
The birthday cakes here are sooo good. The taro cake here really beats out the ones at other bakeries. I can't wait until my birthday so that I have a reason to get another cake here. But really, you should try it.
Something else that stands out about Cathy's Bakery is their baked new year's cake, which is sold around Lunar New Year. From what I remember, I think it's $6 for one, I'm not really good at visualizing but each one has an approximate 6 inch diameter (don't quote me on this). It's really good, the crust is flaky in a good way, and the inside isn't too sweet, which is awesome, because some regular new year's cakes are too sickeningly sweet and have a weird texture.
I ordered a wedding cake here and then cancelled the order.
Since the sales people at this place barely speak English, I dragged my Dad there to help me translate and it was such a waste of time.
I placed an order and the invoice was written up and I paid the deposit. Then my dad gets a call that they have to add on $100 because of the square shape which they didn't mention when I placed the order. Then they call again and say that I need to come back and pay the deposit for the pillars, which they didn't mention at the time I ordered. If they just told me in the beginning that would have been fine. Then they call again and say they want to discuss the design with me even tho I picked it from their selection.
I think once a business gives you a quote, that should be it. They just kept adding stuff on and time was limited. I did try to book the cake with them a month before and we discussed design and pricing but they persuaded me to come back about a week before the wedding to order the cake, so that's what I did. After I placed the order they kept calling and I didn't want to keep going back and forth with them over a freaking cake so I just went back and cancelled the order.
I did speak with Mary about a month before ordering the cake. Even though she spoke decent English, I felt it was hard to communicate with her because she kept talking and talking and didn't really listen to what we wanted.
I think the cake at Cathy's taste pretty good and is not too sweet, but it was just such a pain in the ass to place an order due to communication and unprofessional business practices. Even though my Dad was there to translate, I am not sure if it really helped and my Dad was even irritated with with all the changes and add ons after we placed the order. I ended up going with Diamond Bakery and placing the order was no fuss.
I don't like Las Tunas because it was a bit unclear so it did take us a little bit to find this place. Luckily I speak Mandarin fluently so calling them and asking for better directions or clarifications worked. Even though they speak Mandarin, some of the people who work there still don't get what I am saying. Maybe they are Cantonese? Speaking either Mandarin or Cantonese might be a necessity if you want to ask for anything specific.
For the full review and pics go to http://www.kats9lives....
They have a decent selection of bread, but I think I'd still prefer to go to Kee Wah Bakery. ( http://www.kats9lives.... )
I had their Mango Mousse Cake and that was only so-so. It had too much artificial flavoring for my taste.
Their regular bread was good. I might be just personal preference so be sure to give Kee Wah, Cathy's, and Diamond Bakery a try to see which one is your favorite.
I will give them this much, they make the cutest bread and cakes! The piggy bread is so adorable, which I loaded in the photos. They also had this inventive Porcupine cake in the fridge. It looked adorable! ^_^
Don't come to Cathy's Bakery if you want your baked goods to be sweet like American pastries. This place definitely caters to the Chinese population, meaning that the cakes are not very sweet, and very light in flavor and texture. Their tiramisu cake is pretty good; it's very light and doesn't make you feel like you're eating cream and sugar and chocolate. With that said, though, don't expect it to tast just like the tiramisu you're used to.
I am a fan of Chinese bakery once in a while. My dear sister on the other hand is a dead slave to carb. She just loves Asian bread and their pastries.
I've heard of this place before from friends recommending their fine and delicious treats but have no idea it was so close by. Until my sister told me about it while we were in the neighborhood and she pointed out the location to me. OH~! No wonder I didn't know where it was, it was secretively hidden among at the corner where if you drive by, I guarantee you will 95% chance miss it.
Anyway, the service was kinda bad and when we came in the lady at the place was what seems like rushing a cake to another woman for delivery. They were speaking in loud Mandarin and would careless of us two customers. We went in late in the afternoon, according to my sis. again (since she was such a fan and expert) most of the good stuff are gone but we did manage to get the last piece of the egg salad sandwich and among other goodies.
Again, service is bad here and they just make it seems like they really don't care for your business. The attitude of buy it or leave. They were pretty friendly and chatting up nicely (in Mandarin, of course) with the Asian chatty old ladies which probably their loyal returning customers. (You know the drill) According to the other reviews here, I guess you have to speak Chinese otherwise, there might be communication problem. For me personally, we just look, pick, and grab - nothing tough about it.
The quality of the pastries here are not bad though and I am definitely a fan. Would I care to go out of my way for them? Probably not, well, okay... maybe once in a blue moon.
I went in to a get a birthday cake yesterday and they were pretty busy even at 6pm. By that time, they pretty much ran out of ore-made vanilla cakes so it was pretty hard for me to choose. Service is not that great because their English is not as clear and if you don't speak Chinese, don't even bother coming here. The girl that helped me do the writing on cake was not good and she pretty much fucked up the cake by writing letters outside of the cake design.
I probably won't come here again because of the service.
I got my delicious wedding cake here for $340 including delivery. That's a steal. It was difficult to communicate with the people you work for, but ask for mary. She is so nice.
At the wedding, the cake came out exactly like the picture and was sooo good. My friends later told me that they even had two slices.
I'm not a fan of Chinese bakeries so if I think the breads are good, then it must be fabulous to other people's tastebuds. We were hungry driving around trying to kill time until we went to lunch. Lil guy was hungry and frankly, so was I. I asked hubby to pull into this little strip mall so I could just buy something from this bakery.
I saw the curry puffs in the warming display. It says 'curry pie' and it was a buck. I thought, why not and bought it. I get back in the car and took a bite. It wasn't all that exciting. It wasn't hot and it wasn't spicy. Then lil guy said he was hungry so I go back inside and buy him a hotdog bun. I must say the bun surrounding the hotdog was seriously delicious. It was still warm and it was soft with that hint of sweetness. Together with the saltiness of the hotdog, the entire thing was so yummy we were prying it out of lil guy's hands so we could have another bite.
If the bun is anything to go by, I'd say that the rest of the bready items would definitely be a hit.
Service was aloof though like the other reviewer said, but then again, it IS a Chinese place after all and we're not known for our service with a smile.
I never go to a Chinese restaurant, market, bakery, etc., ever to expect good service. OK, so I'm Chinese too, BUT apparently, I wasn't one of the kids who was sat down as a kids and told, hey you have to avoid eye contact, be rude, and not say thank you. Cathy's isn't THAT bad, but I'm just saying that people come here for the goods, not the service.
My family has been coming here since it's opened. We get cakes from them for every birthday. I love how silky and moist the cakes are. They're never too sweet and dense like the ones you get at Ralphs. However, my boyfriend's family who are Filipino thought that the cake was too spongey. If you want something in between the Ralphs' cakes and the Chinese cakes, maybe go to Ruby's in Eagle Rock or Red Ribbon or Goldilocks.
All other pastries and bread here are just as delicious. I don't want to type anymore, so you'll have to try them for yourself.
This is a Chinese bakery, and you can get all the standard pastries here (recommendations include the pineapple bun - which you can tell by the criss-cross marks on top and the sweet buns filled with red bean paste or taro paste).
If you've never tasted baked goods from a Chinese bakery - be forewarned that the goods aren't as sweet (and definitely do not use the same amount of frosting) as American baked goods. In fact, one of the biggest compliments that one can give a Chinese desssert is that it's "not too sweet" (usually repeated twice)
(I once attended a children's birthday party where the parents bought a Chinese cake and the caucasion kids just didn't touch it because it wasn't sweet enough - and you wonder about the Type II diabetes epidemic?)
Anyway, one cake the Cathy's does quite well is a "Taro Cake with Crispy Pastry" Imagine a light cake with a taro-custard filling and covered with layers of ephemeral, golden brown crispy pastry. They do this quite well and many people order it.
They also have a pretty good mango cake that includes chunks of mango in the filling and very artfully arranged fruit on top, but I think Diamond Bakery does this particular cake better (and Kee Wah Bakery also has an excellent mango cake that is entirely covered in thin mango slices)
Call in advance to order your cake for birthdays. Don't worry, they all speak English, but you might have to repeat yourself.
I thought her prices were reasonable for my wedding cake and they seem to have a good reputation on the Chinese bridal forums so after meeting with Mary I decided to go with them. Mary told me to come back much closer to the wedding date and that they only need 2 weeks notice.
I ordered a 4 tiered cake that fed 150 people for $280 and also surprised DH with a groom's cake for about $35 I showed her a picture of a Lakers cake that Pink help me find on Flickr and they did a pretty good job of making something similar.
This is a Chinese bakery so the nice thing about that is not having to pay extra for getting different flavors of filling. I got alternating fresh strawberry and mango w/ vanilla cake. For the groom's cake I got mocha which is DH's favorite.
I got free delivery since my reception was pretty close. They will charge you a deposit for the cake stands and reimburse you when you return them. They said you don't even have to clean them Razz
They were on-time and experts at making wedding cake b/c they knew they had to coordinate having the cake arrive around the same time as the florist to get it decorated, something I didn't even think about with all the other stuff I was worrying about.
It's quite standard isn' t it?
I mean I've had hotdog bun from other Asian bakeries, they're pretty much the same. I mean if a bakery screwed up their hot dog bun maybe they should rethink their biz.
Standard it is.
Now i'm not sure if I love this bakery. I've never had a problem with their cakes. I ate a piece of leftover cake 2 days later after I bought it and it had this strange chalky taste in the frosting that made me want to gag. Normally their cakes are good, but it was as if the frosting fermented into something nasty. :(
Their birthday cake here are beautiful....and the price aren't too high either for what it is....and as far as the rest of the bakery...its pretty good. They used to have these mango thing wrapped with mochi skin...but i don't think they sell it anymore...that was so good...if they would still have it...i would definitely give them 5 stars..o yeah and their "crispy cake" is so delicious...i think i am gonna go get some tomorrow before work...yum
The best taro birthday cakes. THis is totally a Chinese style bakery in SGV. Prices are very reasonable and the service pretty good especially if you speak their language. I am always complimented when I bring these cakes to parties. Not too sweet just perfect!
The cakes are gorgeous and they taste pretty darn good, too! I love the tiramisu here and I just got the strawberry mousse. I'll update after I eat it. :)
I ordered a cake from here based on the yelp rating and was impressed. I ordered the taro crispy cake for my Mom's birthday. She and the rest of my relatives aren't into sweet sweets, being Chinese and all. They all gave the thumbs up to the cake. The taro was tasty, the crispy (wafers they use for napoleons) was a nice contrast, and the cake was spongy and moist. Also, it was reasonably priced: a little over $20 for an 8-inch cake. Curious to try the baked goods next...
After a let down at another establishment, i went to cathy's to get a mango covered cake. I called in ahead of time and asked specifically for ripe mangoes. (Who wants to eat mangoes that need a couple more days to ripen?) The mango was not as sweet as the other place, but the cake was SO MUCH better. It tasted the way chiffon cakes are supposed to taste. Not too dry, and delicate unlike the other place.
I also bought two of their breads, (pineapple,and the mini baguette). Pretty damn good, comparable to the best of the asian bakeries in taste and texture. The baguette was so good and worth every penny. It is actually a baguette and not some wannabe fake asian ripoff. (many places just shape it and call it a baguette but use the same dough as their other breads)
They are lacking in the packaging department (looks a little bit tacky) and their cashiers could use a little more grammar school or esl.
But for the price and taste, i feel that i got the most bang for the buck. (local bakeries of san gabriel).
Great cakes! I really like their mango cake and green tea red bean cake. The cake is soft and moist and not too sweet. The different types of bread there is good for breakfast or a quick lunch.
This place has one of the best cakes in the world. I love their custard/flan cake. Basically, layer of cake, then cream, then flan/custard, then cream, then cake and butter frosting all around topped with fruits. YUM. DEFINITELY my favorite. I always beg my mom to grab a whole cake for me when she goes to San Gabriel. Yes, a whole cake just for me =)
got our Wedding Cake here. They were on time and made it to order. Granted it wasn't fancy, but everyone liked it. We served about 250 people. She delivered it, and set it up without a hitch. She even threw a couple of small cakes in for free. Way better than your typical american bakery. The only thing that was a little sketchy was communication. They spoke english but barely. Just be clear and everything will go okay!
We had ordered a birthday cake from this place recommended by a friend. The price is very reasonable for a 10" strawberry cake ($15). Have difficulty communicating with the staff when ordering and confirming the order. Something came up with the birthday girl and we had to reschdule the pick-up date. Got a chinese lady who is very impatient and rude who has a tone of voice like "I don't need your business so I don't really need to answer to your call". May be that's true but still, you don't want to pay someone who does not appreciate your business. O well. There are a lot of choices in the same area and even better ones so we will definitely not go back or recommend it to anyone.
If you don't mind going a bit further to Glendale/Burbank area, Porto's Bakery (http://www.portosbaker...) will be my ultimate choice of cakes. They also have mango cake and anything you want that the Chinese bakery and more.
If you prefer something closer by, J J Bakery and the bakery department in Ranch 99 Market are comparable.
I recommend their mini chocolate chip cookies, yum!
Beautiful cake decoration. Their sponge cake is really good too.
This bakery is horrible! Not only are the cakes overpriced, but the people who work here are extremely rude. If you want to get good pastries, do not go here. Go to one of the better bakeries in the San Gabriel Valley.
The bread stuff are good, price is reasonable. However, the cakes are a bit over priced for its quality. Their service is unbelievably horrible, i.e. throw change on the table so you can feel free to pick it off the table one by one. Unless you buy a dozen of their products, they won't even bother give you a fork or tell you they don't have any, the previous day i went another lady served me and they do have forks. I suppose arrogance do get the best of people.
i love the crispy cake~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
San Gabriel, CA
Category: Bakeries
San Gabriel, CA
Category: Bakeries
Temple City, CA
Category: Bakeries
Arcadia, CA
Category: Bakeries
San Gabriel, CA
Category: Bakeries
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