Uncover Keelung’s Best Bakeries & History of wheat in Taiwan
Fluffy steamed bao buns filled with a mix of veggies, red bean paste, and taro. Loaves of fragrant milk bread as soft as clouds. Breads topped with pork floss, black sesame rolled into perfectly flaky pastry, crispy garlic baguettes topped with scallions – the cities and towns of Taiwan are teeming with bakeries and bao stands, each offering a selection more appetizing than the other. So rooted they seem in the diet of the locals, you might think that breads and other wheat products must be a long-established staple food in the country. The truth, however, is that it hasn’t even been a hundred years since wheat was first introduced into the mainstream of Taiwanese cooking.
Taiwan’s wheat story: US aid in the 1950s
In 1954, amidst the Cold War, the US initiated a food aid programme to developing countries in the form of wheat. Having too much of the grain themselves, the initiative was a perfect way to relieve the US of the surplus, while building up diplomatic influence and garnering support in the fight against communism. As a strategically important ally, Taiwan began receiving large shipments of wheat, which – with the help of extensive government marketing campaigns and the knowledge from the refugees from China’s northern region who had been brought up with the grain – was soon turned into mouth-watering displays of baked goods all around the country (Wei, Chen, Made in Taiwan, 2023).
My favourite bakeries in Keelung
And Keelung is no exception. Travelling to Asia, I thought I could finally cut down on the bordering-on-unhealthy amount of wheat in my European diet, but in Keelung I’m faced with another baked temptation at nearly every street corner. But why build self-restraint, when you could give in and enjoy life to the fullest? So with no further ado, here’s my pick of the best bakeries in Keelung for all you fellow bread lovers out there.
Fresh Bao for Every Taste: 宜蘭包子饅頭店
I visited this bao place on my first day in Keelung, jet-lagged and starving, and for a little over an euro, or NT$36, got three fluffy, warm buns. This was my welcome to Keelung and I couldn’t have asked for a better one.
This place has the most conventional selection, offering something for everyone – there are plenty of meat options; cabbage mixed with rice vermicelli, and bamboo shoot stuffing for vegetarians; taro, red bean paste, or black sesame for dessert. My favourite combination is having the mixed veggies with vermicelli as the savoury meal and golden sweet potato for dessert.
With prices ranging from NT$12 for non-meat to NT$15 for meat, it is also the cheapest option on the list. I’ve been to the shop in the morning, lunchtime, and afternoon and it’s never too busy. The most I’ve had to wait for my buns is five minutes and they are always warm and fresh. The staff are very friendly, there are usually 3-4 women working and at least one of them can speak English. But if all else fails, you can always take a photo of the menu and point at what you’d like.
Adventurous Bao Flavors: 幸福饅頭
This bao place is a little more expensive than the previous one, but boasts a more unusual selection of flavours. You can get the traditional red bean or black sesame bun, or be a bit more adventurous and go for the pineapple yogurt, orange nuts, or sesame chocolate bun. My favourites are the mixed nuts with dried cranberries bun, and a simple sweet bean bun.
It’s best to go earlier in the day when the buns are freshest, since they don’t seem to make them continuously throughout the day as they do in the previous shop. The prices range from NT$15 for the simpler flavours to NT$38 for the funkier ones. The lady that worked on the day we visited didn’t speak any English, but we communicated easily by pointing at the menu, and what she lacked in words, she made up for with her bright, warm smile.
Locals’ Favourite Bakery: 巧品蛋糕
This little bakery is definitely a locals’ favourite. Every time I go there a line of grandmas, housewives with scooter helmets, and teenagers on their way home from school wait to pay for their trays piled with a variety of breads and pastries.
Sidenote:
If you’re unfamiliar with the bakeries in Asia, you might be surprised to see a tower of trays and tongs set up by the door. Take a tray and a pair of tongs, make your selection of baked goods and put them on the tray, then go to the counter to pay. And remember to return your tongs as they get cleaned after each use. 
Afternoon seems to be the busiest time for this place, but fresh batches of bread are put out throughout the day. The options of what to choose from vary each day, which makes this a place I go back to again and again.
So far I’ve tried a black sesame roll (NT$35), a coconut tart (NT$60), and a sweet cheese loaf (NT$40), and they were all exceptional. The pastry around the black sesame roll was perfectly flaky and the filling well-balanced, making it a good option if you want to try something a little less sweet. The coconut tart was heaven for coconut lovers – filled to the brim with a tense, rich coconut filling dotted with raisins to spice up the texture. And the sweet cheese loaf was soft and buttery, and overall a wonderful treat for next day’s breakfast.
Near Keelung Train Station: 老成香金記食品店
This bakery specialises in dànhuáng sū or salted egg yolk pastry, also known as Taiwanese mooncakes. The flaky puff pastry is filled with a sweet or savoury filling – pork, sweet bean, or taro being the most common ones – and in the centre sits a perfect lightly salted egg yolk. The texture is pretty dense, which makes these cakes super filling, and the cost is only NT$10 per cake. I got the sweet bean and taro one, and also an egg tart (NT$20), which was deliciously light and creamy.
The shop is open from 11 am to late at night. I went in the afternoon and the shelves were still full with the lady baking more cakes in the back.
Downtown Bakery: 聞香亭現烤起酥蛋糕
Walking down Zhongyi Road near the Maritime Plaza, my attention was caught by these delicious-looking colourful slices. The inside texture is similar to a souffle cake surrounded by a thin layer of beautifully flaky puff pastry. The flavour selection is also impressive. I got the original (which turned out to be a slightly lemony vanilla), a chocolate, and a coffee slice. The cost was NT$15 per slice. Of course I couldn’t resist the tortoise shell patterned muffin (NT$45) that turned out to be like a lovely buttery muffin-croissant with a craquelin on top.
Western style Bakery: Bonjour Bakery
Though this place is part of a chain, it offers a wide selection of both Taiwanese and Western style baked goods. With all the information available in English, it is a lovely, comfortable option for travellers a little weary of orienting themselves in a foreign language environment. Not to mention the bread is absolutely delicious. The prices are slightly higher than other shops in this list, but it’s definitely worth it.
I got a sweet bean and green tea half loaf for NT$86 and sesame bread for NT$43. The tea loaf was beautifully soft and fragrant, and made for a perfect breakfast toast the next day. The sesame bread was generously filled with a slightly sweet black sesame mixture and almond slices on top.
It opens at nine in the morning and closes at nine in the evening, with the shelves restocked with fresh bread throughout the day. You can even see the ladies shaping and cutting the bread dough in the middle of the shop!
Conclusion
Of course, there are many more great bakeries in Keelung, some offering soft white breads that we’re used to in the West, but also those with more traditional Taiwanese sweets like chhau-a-koe, or even some that like to mix both styles! So the next time you’re in town, take some time to explore the abundance of bakeries in Keelung and treat yourself to some delicious bread.
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