Food Trip Weekends: Wan Kee Bakery Inc.

My mom-in-law needed to buy some things for my brother-in-law's wedding and I ended up going with her.  We needed red boxes for the cloth and canned goods customarily gifted to the godparents before the wedding.

We went to Kanchiu Wedding Service on Benavidez Street and it is THE place to get all things related to Chinese weddings.  Your eyes will be bombarded by the color red and gold because literally 90% of the things inside are of that color scheme.  Almost all the little knick knacks tradition dictates you need for a perfect wedding and a happy married life can be found here. 

 

 Bed sheets and pillow case set for the newlyweds.

 
Tea sets in red and gold for a newlywed's entertaining needs. hahaha

Lampshades anyone??? 

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Just a couple of stores down is Wan Kee, the bakery which makes my mom's favorite bola bola roll.  This is one of those old school Chinese bakeries with homemade hopia, all irregular and imperfect looking; creamy dense bread; almond cakes which I loved as a kid; gigantic siopaos chock full of meaty goodness... a perfect cornucopia of bready, comfort food straight out of the 1950's.

I love their old school, no frills signage.

 Hopia galore!!  They look so tempting with their burned edges and golden brown flakes.

Egg pies always remind me of my dad.  It was and still is his favorite.  I sometimes eat a slice just because I know he likes them.

 I wanted to buy bola bola roll for my mom but they only had one left.  I told my mom-in-law to get it since she haven't been to Wan Kee before.  The roll is basically a siopao but with a baked crust instead of the usual steamed white bread. 

I also bought some almond cake for J to try.  I wanted him to taste my childhood favorite and I'm proud to report that he practically inhaled the cake when he tasted it!

The best thing we bought was the GIANT siopao, it costs only P75 and is humongous!  It was so big that it can cover my (big) face and it was really heavy.  You can instantly feel that the siopao's weight was worth its weight in filling.  It didn't scrimp on the yummy meaty bola bola and have just the right amount of bread to filling ratio. 

 I can't quite capture the siopao's immense size but please believe me when I say that this is the most sulit ever siopao I've ever encountered!

Anyway, if you're in the area...do try to go in and buy something from Wan Kee.  Let us try to support and keep old businesses alive, especially when they have great products that are worth preserving.


Wan Kee Bakery Inc. 
828 Benavidez St.
Binondo, Manila