Sunset Bakery
1410 9th Avenue
(between Judah St & Kirkham St)
San Francisco, CA 94122 (415) 759-6538
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
106 reviews
Neighborhood: SOMA
"It's all about convenience. The French Macaroons are amazing, no doubt. But I wanted a quick bite the other day, and I popped in for a…" read more »
72 Reviews for Sunset Bakery
I love this place. Partly because it's incredibly convenient to pop in for a quick breakfast while I'm waiting at the bus stop which is right outside, but mostly because they just have good stuff. Sunset Bakery is a no frills Chinese bakery with friendly, hard-working owners/employees who whip up some wonderful pastries. They have tasty egg tarts, some savory buns, flaky turnovers and a variety of cakes. My favorite, above anything else is the "strawberry slice" cake. I'm happy to see that it's gotten a lot of Yelp love, and deservedly so. The cake is soft, light and not too sweet, the icing tastes like real whipped cream, again not too sweet, and the strawberries are fresh, cold and delicious. Sometimes it's simple pleasures like this that make everything worthwhile. I'm a regular and a big fan of this place.
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Sometimes I don't like eating high end upscale cakes. Sometimes I don't like spending $4 on a cupcake. Sometimes I like good old spongie, cheap, Chinese cake.
We got a birthday cake from Sunset Bakery. It was round, white whipped frosting, sponge cake, and fruit filling with the words Happy Birthday on it. It was $16. Fantastic. They also have some cute pastries. Their coconut maroons are amazing. 3 for $1. What a deal! Highly recommend this place for office birthdays or simple birthdays or when you want good ol Chinese sponge cake.
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My feeling on Sunset Bakery are based on the one item I've had, the two times I've had it, and the ease of each transaction.
I was in charge of office birthday celebrations (read: I had to get cake) for a bit while my boss was on vacation. Two co-workers in a row requested a cake without super-sweet, heavy frosting and with fresh fruit. I turned to Yelp to help me out, and everyone was right - the white cake with whipped cream frosting and fresh strawberries is GOOD.
While I have an healthy sweet tooth, I don't like the typical, grocery-store-cake frosting, so this was a great change. The cake was moist, the frosting was just sweet enough, and the berries were fresh and tasty.
Both transactions were super easy and the cakes are inexpensive. $18 for a 9" inch cake that fed 15-16 people ain't bad. Cash only though, beware. I didn't have any trouble relaying my desired writing for the top either. I'd definitely like to go back sometime and try some other stuff!
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Absolutely impressed.
After reading the reviews here, I decided to get a half-sheet for a friend's birthday, and was not disappointed in the least. Lots of options, ready when you need it, and yummy!
We got a chocolate cake, banana and strawberry filling, with white cream on top. It was divine and everyone else thought so too. Nothing was left!
My review is based solely on a strawberry cake slice recently purchased at the Sunset Bakery.
I was walking in the neighborhood when I suddenly remembered that Jessica T had once written a review stating how delicious the strawberry cake was so I walked in and bought a couple of the strawberry cake slices (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). The thin layer of whipped cream was kind of light, and the cake was moist and spongey. Like many Asian bakeries the cake was not as sweet as cakes found at non-Asian bakeries. The strawberries were crisp and tart which went well with the sweet cream. At $2.00 a slice it is super affordable too.
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I love my YELP!
I checked the reviews for a bakery near Shabu House and my eyes latched on to "strawberry cake" - yes! I still remember when I was a kid, my aunt made me a strawberry-banana cake with whipped cream, and it was sooo good! I couldn't wait to try the cake here.
The cake was soft and moist, with a little hint of lemon. The strawberries inside the cake were sweet. The strawberries on top of the cake weren't fully ripe, but that's ok. Everyone seemed to enjoy my birthday cake. A quarter sheet was $29, almost everyone had a slice, and I still have 1/3 of it left over.
I would give the cake 4 stars, but I'm bumping it up to 5 because I was late in picking it up (they close at 6pm), but they still opened the door for me at quarter after. Yay for great customer service!
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One of my family friends bought some CREAM PUFFS here that taste almost exactly like the overly priced ones at Beard Papas on Mission St that so many people love....but I hate cus of the price prob for the nice packaging and hype. But the cream puffs here are CHEAPER so I'm going to go here much more often for these.
At first, I thought it was mainly an Asian cake bakery that I barely tried but I'll be going more often for the puffs.
I havent tried a cake from here yet, only from their competitor across the st (J&J Bakery) so I cant comment on those.
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Best cake ever! I have tried their cakes at various parties my friends have held and finally had an opportunity to order one for my party. I've tried both the strawberries and mixed fruit cakes but opted for a full sheet of the mixed fruit ($83) because sometimes the strawberries are sweet. A full sheet sounds like a lot but it really isn't enough because this cake is soooooooooo darn GOOD! The cake is light and fluffy and even when you're full you can eat a whole slice of it. Everyone at my party was asking where I ordered the cake from...can't wait for another party so I can eat some more cake.
I haven't tried their pastry yet, but for the cake part, i will sure give them 5 stars! Just ordered a half sheet mix fruit cake from them last week for a friend's birthday. This is not the first time I ordered from them. I got many good compliments both times about their cakes. I don't like cake that's too sweet. I used to be a Tart-To-Tart fan as well. But i have to say, sunset bakery wins at both the taste and price. Good value and great taste. Go try it yourself and see. you won't regret!
Like Hannah Lee H says, this is my "go-to" bakery for cakes. I've been getting cakes here for years and they're always moist and delicious with lots of fruit, and totally cheap. The decoration is pretty simple and you should tell them exactly what you want. They're pretty good about last minute orders as well. The pastries are also excellent. I love getting the pineapple buns when picking up an order. The only things is that parking is an issue, especially when you have to carry a sheet cake up the hill!
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Still 4 stars even tho they changed the custard filling for the cake. Many times we order mixed fruit cake with custard filling here. Well custard is better than the regular creme right. Well worth paying a few bucks extra. And their strawberry creme pies are awesome. We always get 2 for the holidays.
Wife's parent is having an 30th wedding anniversary. Therefore as the loving-daughter, she did all the necessary arrangement for a memorable anniversary gathering, including calling and picking up a cake from one of the parent's favorite Chinese bakeries in San Francisco. With many positive reviews, this bakery is also a favorite of Yelp with the sticker on the glass door.
I'm not too fond of enjoying dinner or any special gathering at their crib. Her parents obviously love her daughter and our kids, but not me.
Why?
"Matt is too condescending, arrogant and "way" too "Joe Cool" for them." You can easily tell that our wedding and my graduate from the academy was bit rough getting my family and her family to get along. "Hey, I pay most of the bills around the house and feed my kids cupcakes! Do I get any respect?"
At their crib, the whole family and relatives chatted and reminiscing the past and other BS in the living room. While me, I was in my wife's childhood and occasional bedroom to privately enjoy the slice of Sunset Bakery's Strawberry Cake by my lonesome self. The strawberry cake has chunks of fresh strawberries and a thick ass cream and frosting for design that makes Elizabeth Faulkner to be thrill. Unfortunately, my slice of cake has a heart symbol on that slice. Hopefully with that heart shape on that slice, her parents will respect me as a real gentleman and true father and loving husband and not as a "thug" or a "gangsta-asian".
For a Chinese-style dessert, that unique slice of cake was very fresh with the colorful strawberries and tasty despite enjoying the treat on enemy's turf. Wife also bought a 12 pack of egg custard tart for my family to enjoy for breakfast for the next couple of days. The $1.00 tart may be on the same page with Chinatown's Golden Gate Bakery, but still it was piping hot and fresh. Since this is a Chinese bakery, she paid her $20.00 cake and $12.00 custards in cash.
We don't come out to the Sunset often, but this Chinese bakery is one of the better ones in that area.
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I consider this my private go-to bakery for every family birthday cake. They are frosted with fresh whipped cream, and you can select fresh fruit -- I usually choose strawberry and kiwi. They'll customize the top with whatever you want to say. Hint: when you place your order, write it down exactly as you'd like it laid out.
The other pastries are always tempting me. Prices make this a no-brainer.
You know how after eating out, you're often so full you can't even consider dessert? Well these cakes are the best choice for those occasions -- they are so light and even if you have a big slice, you won't feel overstuffed!
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Loved it. You will too. Get a cake. Seriously. Today. Why not? Get a white cake with mandarin oranges in the middle and strawberries on top. You will fall in love and from then on, no other cake will be good enough. I think they put crack in it but I don't really care. The really amazing thing: These cakes are frickin cheap, dude. I got a half sheet which fed 45 people and had left overs for like $40 or something...For a high quality, tastes fresh, IS fresh, light cake with perfect fruit and real whipped cream, you can't do better. And they are beautiful. And your friends will think you are a rockstar.
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This is my favorite chinese style cake place to go to. Their cakes are moist and spongy and they're not too sweet. Their cakes are always fresh because their cakes are always in demand. I even ordered my wedding cake from this place. If you're looking for the best chinese style bday cake, this is the place to get it.
Best pork bun I have had in this city. Period.
My husband wanted a vanilla layer cake with coconut frosting for his birthday party. Simple, right? Well, no. I called many fancy bakeries, offering taste bud-numbing, over-the-top creations like triple fudge caramel cake for exorbitant prices. When I told them what I wanted, they treated my request for a simple vanilla cake with coconut frosting with disdain. So I called Sunset Bakery. The person who took my order listened to what I wanted and said, "No problem." The cake was ready at the scheduled pick-up time, and was an incredible value. Most importantly, my husband and all of our party guests raved about the cake. Moist, incredibly light vanilla cake. Perfect frosting. It wasn't too sweet, tasted like fresh cream, and had flakes of moist, chewy coconut. As a bonus, the cake was bordered with fresh strawberry and tangerine slices. I'm using Sunset Bakery from now on for all of our entertaining needs.
Best strawberry cake here! Mocha comes in 2nd and I'm not a cake person! I ordered my wedding cake (strawberry and whipped cream) here and it was really good. It was really cheap too compared to other bakeries. Other places were charging $600 for 3 tiers and Sunset charged $300 for 5 tiers. I know they can't do much in terms of decoration but I provided them with a ribbon and did a really simple but elegant design. I'd rather have my cake taste good. I've been to many weddings where the cake was gorgeous but tasted horrible. My guests were still talking about the cake months after the wedding.
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The cake is really good. Moist, and fresh. The look of the cake isn't the best, but hey as long as it tastes good.. fine with me.
BEST CHINESE BAKERY IN THE CITY PERIOD. I'm pretty sure they have the best pineapple buns in the Sunset, if not the entire SF, and I've had a good amount of pineapple buns in my life. I love their onion twists, and they also have this bread called the "Mexican bun' - it's like a less sweet version of the pineapple, and I love it. Their plain dinner buns are soo fluffy and delicious. I love going to Sunset Bakery for buns and then having them with a latte at another cafe.
The prices are extremely reasonable - it's like $0.50 for a pineapple bun, as opposed to Shengkee's $2 ones that are only HALF as food as Sunset Bakery's.
I can't exactly hang out at the bakery because it's frequented by the owner's friends, and though they're all really nice, they love laughing and talking kind of loud, so it's hard to have your own conversations when they're there with their grandchildren. All in all, I highly recommend this place!
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Their fruit custard tart is amazing! I hear everything else is good too but I get tunnel vision when I visit. And so cheap! So cheap! Sorry, well-priced baked goods make me very excited.
The most luscious Chinese strawberry/fruit sponge cakes you will find in the city, if not the entire region. Seriously, if it wasn't for the horrid parking, I'd be there every day....stuffing my face with the compendium of cakes (large and small), egg tarts, fruit tarts, and pork buns on offer. Good for my pocketbook, but kind of bad for the waistline.
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My family has been going here for as long as I can remember ever going to San Francisco to visit my relatives (practically since I was 3 or something...) We always order boxes of their baked sio pao (bbq pork). Of course, I will always get their pineapple bun for dessert. Sometimes, on rare occasions, we would get their cakes. I love their white fruit cakes! YUM! Also, we may get their eclairs. YUM!
I would give this place 5 stars, but I was traumatized a long time ago...when I saw cockroaches in their display case...EWWW! GROSS, huh? So every time I go there, I have a habit of continuously scanning their case for little creepy crawlies!
I nursed an entire breakup with their cream puffs, eclairs, fruit tarts, tiny cakes - you name it, I ate it. I did get a little fat but I didn't spend a lot of money. This place is amazing.
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Great pork bun and other Chinese bau. Great for grab and go while waiting for the bus. Also, Connie and Leena can be pretty chatty and they are so lively and energetic. Great place for bau.
We used Sunset Bakery to make our wedding cake..yes a little unexpected, but they did a great job at an amazing price.
We ordered the white cake with fresh strawberry filling. They decorated the cake for us with ribbon that matched our wedding items and delivered it to our reception location.
The cake was delicious and I will go back here to have anything in their bakery case!
My wife and I got our wedding cake at Sunset Bakery. The cake looked fabulous and was delicious. Our guests were thoroughly impressed by the appearance and taste of the cake. We chose a mocha cake with fresh strawberry filling. The cake was moist, light, and airy. The strawberries were sweet and mouth-wateringly delicious and smothered in whipped cream. The frosting was fresh and sweet but not overly sweet. We have come to know the owner and his family and have found them to be such pleasant and generous people. I highly recommend this bakery!!
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They probably have the best cakes in town! This is an Asian bakery so the cakes and baked goods are not as sweet as traditional European bakeries. They have cakes that are very hard to find like the Water Chestnut cake. They have excellent chicken pies and their mocha cake is absolutely to die for.
I come here for birthday cakes and they also make a killer chocolate cake that is perfect blend of chocolate and sweetness (not too sweet though).
It is extremely hard to find parking here so I would suggest grabbing a buddy and sending them in to pick up whatever you need. If you are ordering a cake, be sure to call in ahead so that they can make your cake.
I got my 4-tier wedding cake here for $300. It was beautiful and easily looked and tasted like it cost 3 times as much.
We got te strawberry sponge cake and it had a lightly sweet taste and nice fluffy icing.
I ended up bringing in some ribbon that they added to each tier at no extra cost. They also deliverd the cake for free on time on a Saturday afternoon!
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I love this place....
My friend Kat told me about if when i was shopping for wedding cakes . I got a beautiful 4 tier wedding cake for $300 it was simple but so very yummy. I also love the taste of their strawberry sponge cake. And now that i have my daughter I will be buying all of her birthday cakes from here. A whole sheet cake is only cost me $83 bucks.... its so worth it. The only bad part is the parking.
Really good cake. Light, and more savory than sweet. Based on YELP went there last week to get a cake for a friend's birthday. Went back this week because I want to impress visitors by having delicious cake. Staff is friendly. As far as I know they only take cash.
I have only been to Sunset Bakery once. It is definitely worth visiting. I am glad Sacramento does not have this type of bakery; otherwise, I will be ready to Sumo in Japan.
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They have the best paper wrapped sponge cake. It's always best when it is fresh and if you need it in the morning for something you have to place an order the day before. Their sponge cake is what makes their cake so great. It's not sweet at all and the texture is nice.
Strawberry Shortcake.
We bonded over red hair, freckles, and a common love of strawberries. At night, my parents had trouble prying Strawberry Shortcake from my clutch. Not the most huggable of dolls, I would snuggle up to her strawberry scented plastic hair, and drift to sleep
Speaking of strawberries...did you know that...
1.) Strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside.
2.) Strawberries are the first fruit to ripen in the spring.
3.) Ninety-four percent of U.S. households consume strawberries. (according to the Dpt of Agriculture site)
4.) Over 53 percent of seven to nine-year-olds picked strawberries as their favorite fruit. (according to the Dpt. Of Agriculture site)
Strawberries are divine. Fresh ones are mind blowing. Dipped in cream. Dipped in chocolate. Dipped in sugar. Strawberry syrup. Strawberry jello. Strawberry ice-cream...strawberry milk-shake. And of course....strawberry cake.
Sunset Bakery is THE place to get a quality,affordable, tasty, and beautiful strawberry cake.
My friends picked up a strawberry cake from Sunset, for a birthday extravaganza. The cake was delicious. It reminded me of the light and fluffy cakes I used to have in Japan. The cream frosting was light, the cake part was moist and fluffy, and the fresh cut strawberry filling was heaven..
In honor of the glorious strawberry - you owe to yourself to go "berry" and try Sunset's strawberry cake at some point.
(The rest of their pastry selection is also pretty wonderful and tasty...I enhale the wafting smell of their cream buns every morning)
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I buy all my birthday cakes here. In my opinion, the fresh cream (not that sickly, yucky, super sweet butter icing crap that every bakery slathers cakes with) and strawberry cake is the best. AND, you can call them up on the same day and put in an order and they'll have it ready.
I love it because the cake is not heavy and definitely not too sweet. Swear to God, just get a 10" and put your fork in it. They sell by the slice but I am telling you, get the whole bloody cake.
Cash only but don't worry, it's not going to break your bank. You can get a 10" round (I think that might be the smallest size) for something like $16.
Do you ever need to supply cake for a large gathering? Are you sick and tired of the generic Costco cakes? Then Sunset Bakery is your answer. The cakes are the spongy -- almost like angel food cake -- texture, very light, with a nice vanilla flavor. Frosting is (real) whipped cream, and they decorate the cakes with fresh strawberries. They'll also add any greetings you wish. You can get traditional round cakes (medium serves about 8, large serves about 12).
For large groups, I've ordered 1/2 sheets and full sheet cakes and they were eagerly gobbled by the event participants. (I also noticed that people didn't leave behind the icing, as is the case with the Costco too-sweet frosting cakes.)
In addition to the white cake, you can also request chocolate -- it's not a deep, rich chocolate like you'd get at Tartine, but rather a chocolate-flavored sponge cake. Even still, it's yummy.
Prices are very reasonable -- call them for quotes (be patient -- some of the workers here don't speak English). Bring cash -- they don't take credit cards.
When you pick up your cake, buy a pork bao for you and your driver for the trip home.
Four stars only for two reasons:
1) parking really sucks -- it's good to go with someone who will wait in the car while you block someone's driveway, otherwise, you'll be tempted to park in the bus zone, where you're guaranteed a ticket on this heavily patrolled street.
2) I wish the premises were a bit less grimy -- like so many other similar independent bakeries, it really needs a deep steam cleaning.
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i don't personally visit this bakery much, but their cakes are delicious [not too sugary, with the right amount of icing, filling, etc] and reasonably priced. other items i have no idea about except that their buns and other pastries are rather cheap.
If you like cocktail buns (squishy soft bread filled with a sweet coconut paste), then you will LOVE Sunset Bakery. In fact, they usually sell out of their cocktail buns by early to mid-afternoon so you'll need to call early to reserve some.
Their black bean buns are also excellent. Though I'm not sure why they call them black bean since they are clearly using only sweet red beans in them.
It's a small, mom-and-pop sort of shop...sort of messy and unorganized-looking but the aromas wafting all around will lull you into such a stupor that you won't even notice the clutter.
Also...parking is nonexistent. Unless you're going to walk there, you'll need a friend to drop you off and double-park as you run in to pick up the cocktail buns being reserved under your name.
Service is warm and friendly.
My friend recently recommended that I get a birthday cake from this place. Oh god.. am I glad I listened.
For $17 I got a very large strawberry shortcake with custom message on it.
Once at the birthday party, everyone ooh'd and ahhhh'd over the cake. Let me just say this. This cake was so delicious. so light and fluffy. so fresh. so insanely good I found myself uncontrollably stuffing piece after piece into my mouth muttering how good it was with a tourette induced usage of words normally not found while ingesting cake at a birthday party.
I didn't get to try anything else in the store, but if everything else they sell was only half as good as their strawberry shortcake, then holy crap I need to buy everything they make and eat it at least once.
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Sunset Bakery has one of the best Chinese cakes in the city! I usually come here to buy cakes for my friends birthdays. They also have pastries which are good on the go for a breakfast meal.
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