Inspired by you, I just tried both curry beef and pork turnovers from May’s Cake House (a few blocks south of CtTown on Harrison and both were great. They were just out of the oven at 8:30); they would otherwise benefit from a few min in a toaster oven. They remain a deal at $1.45 each and also across the street from Chinatown Cafe for the best Roast pork in Ctown. I really like May’s but usually get the long rice noodles (cheung fun) or sesame paste ball (jin doi).
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Thanks for the tips.
I don’t think these qualify as savory, but your post jogged my memory that there is a sign up on a storefront on Washington St in Newtonville for Crystal’s Bakery:
Which seems like the same as what’s listed here (at a Boston address but maybe delivery only?):
https://www.chowbus.com/delivery/menu/Crystal%20Bakery/12171
They have two puffs listed, durian and lotus seed/egg yolk, maybe they will branch out to savory as well?
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We had a curry puff from BoonNoon Market a while ago that was quite good.
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I went back for more curry beef puff from Hing Shing. Although it was 10:30 this time, the puff was cool, so I gave the pork pie from Great Taste another shot on a leveler playing field (the first time – see above – the Hing Shing was warm, and the Great Taste cool). I also got a curry beef pie from Ho Yuen. Hing Shing was the clear winner, even in cool conditions (not ideal, I know for puff pastry – but infinitely better than an inedible, expensive sandwich from the Amtrak on-board cafe).
Why? Crisper, flakier pastry (the competition was more crumbly than flaky), more substantial filling, and – key factor – tastier.
I so wanted to try May’s as per @gourmaniac’s rec, but time was short before my train. Another time.
(I also got a small pork & salted-egg congee from Great Taste – hey, it’s Amtrak, and I’ve had 4-hour trips stretch to 8. It was sadly bland, but it set up an itch that In Manhattan later that day I explored further.)
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Hey Dabbler: Agree on the Great Taste congee (salt helps and green onion helps). I will be coming to NYC and looking forward to the pork and preserved egg congee at NY Great Noodletown. Other suggestions while there of anything nearby? Hing Shing also has a good pork bun and taro turnover (woo gok). their pork filling has a gravy that i like and is different than other places.
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I no longer drive, so it’s many years since I was last at Petsi Pies in Somerville. Renee made/makes a savory, buttery scone with caramelized onion, gorgonzola, and diced ham. Take them home, serve warm along with a hearty chowder or pea soup. There is no finer meal!
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Yes, I’ve enjoyed that scone many times, too.
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I haven’t been to Chinatown, NYC, in well over three years now, so I’m not the best person to ask for recs, but I’ve heard good things about Wu’s Wonton King. I’ve also had delivery many times from the UWS Jing Fong and its been very good (better than I remember the Chinatown branch being). I don’t know if Flushing is in your future, but I have gone to a food court there twice recently and have posted about it. Further up on that thread there are other suggestions in that area. The same group that went on the food crawl of that thread has been on others. You can look for them on the NY board. Theirs are among the most recent accounts.
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Thanks. We are getting off topic for the Boston site so ‘ll pull it back. Another spot to contemplate for Congee in Boston Ctown is Windor Dim Sum on Tyler. It is better/fresher than Great Taste but you need to wait for them to make it. I use Great Taste cuz there is always a bucket of it so it is fast (and inexpensive). RE greygarious’ comment on Petsi’s gorgonzola onion ham scone, yes indeed. It was great for pies too or course. i haven’t been in a while and maybe last at their Putnam street Cambridge location. Is either one still there?
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The only remaining location is the one in Somerville. I’ve driven past it several times, but have not stopped in since “before”.
Yes, the congee at Winsor is very good (as is most everything else), but, as you say, there’s the question of the wait. These Chinatown trips of mine are pre-Amtrak, and I’m often in a hurry.
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I thank you for this tip. I was in the area yesterday morning, and for once not pre-Amtrak, so I had a chance to wander. I got the beef, pork and roast pork curry puffs (a request for “pies” and “turnovers” elicited blank looks. They were on the bottom shelf and I did not immediately spot them, but when I did, the woman at the counter said “Ah, puffs.” All three were very tasty (the roast pork filling was sweet, reddish and pasty, the pork and curry beef more minced) but it was the crust that stole the show: very crisp and very flaky, more so even than Hing Shing. To be sure, I also picked up a couple of beef ones from HS to compare.
The price, as you say, is a deal at $1.45, but moonlighting as I do in my spare time as comparisondabbler, I weighed the $2.05 beef puff from Hing Shing against May’s. The contenders weighed in at 3.5oz and 2.3oz, respectively, so both are roughly $0.60/oz.
I also got, following your excellent suggestion, a 1/2 lb of roast pork ($9; 1 lb is $15) from Chinatown Cafe. It was very tasty and tender, but it’s of the reddish, sweet variety and I prefer versions that are not so sweet and have crisp skin. Personal preference.
I also got coconut buns from both Hing Shing and Ho Yuen. The HY remains our favorite, with its generous and moist filling. (On a previous visit the filling had been a bit dry, but they were back to form yesterday.)
I wrapped up my wanderings with dim sum taken out from Winsor, but I’ll write about it on that thread.
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Hi Dabbler: Glad you enjoyed the puffs at Make Cake House and yes they are smaller and thus better for my waistline ;-). RE roast pork at Chinatown Cafe. I think you may have ordered the Char Siu (red sweet tenderloin) and not Foh Yuk (crispy skin roast pork). Their Char Siu is OK but not as good as the Foh Yuk. Having just visited Great NY Noodletown last week, I think ours is actually better than theirs.
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That must be it. The posted English menu simply said “roast pork” and that’s what I asked for. I’ll be more careful next time. Thanks.
I agree, smaller pastries are better. On re-heating and resampling both the Hing Shing and the May’s today, May’s is better on every level.
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I’ve had tasty savory puff pastries/croissants from both MA France and Butternut Bakehouse ARL (which reminds me…I wonder if the Belmont location has opened yet?) They are my go-to bakery for celebrations.
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Not open as of a couple of weeks ago and not particularly close (I looked through the front door - actively working on the space but it looked as there was still quite a bit of construction to go before opening).
BTW, big fan of their morning buns. It’s a difficult pastry to find around Boston. RI’s Seven Seas also bakes a nice one.
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I’ve since had the crispy skin roast pork, and it’s very good. A little salty, though, and best cut with rice.
The puffs at May’s continue to delight. Also, I had their congee yesterday, and it was a delight too – much tastier than Great Taste (see above), and a nice kick added from their smoky chili oil (you have to ask for it).
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Glad you enjoyed the foh yuk at Chinatown Cafe ans the curry beef puffs at May’s. Well, I just learned something from a place I have been to a hundred times. I never had May’s congee and now I have to try it. Thanks
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I don’t want to oversell it. It was tastier than Great Taste, although thinner, and was nicely populated with chopped mushrooms, etc. I’ve had better (in NY), but congee being what it is, the race is within an only slightly differentiated field. The chili oil at May’s really was a winner, though. I wished I’d asked for two containers.
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Not a savory puff pastry, but adjacent:
With the closing of Hing Shing and with my not having time to sprint down Harrison to May’s, I returned to Great Taste. They were out of pork pies (at 9:45 a.m.!) so I made do with this and that. One intriguing item I tried was called “dry pork cake” whose wrapper looked, true to its name, exactly like cake. It turned out to, indeed, be a split open thick slice of cake with a moist pork floss along one edge and a very sweet pastry cream piped along the other.
Is this type of combo a thing, or a new thing? How do you eat it? Take bites that each have a bit of both pork and cream in them? Take turns? Eat the pork edge first, then the cream edge as dessert? I’m reminded of certain interpretations of Cornish pasties about which it was said “It was also common for the pasties to provide not only a hearty, savoury main course lunch, but also a sweet or fruity desert course. The savoury filling would be cooked at one end of the crescent and the sweet course at the other end.”
Sticking to non-puff-pastry for a bit, I also got congee and asked repeatedly for chili oil (as I had successfully done at Mays two weeks ago – see above). They nodded pleasantly, but made no moves in that direction. Finally, as if humoring a child, they asked “salt and pepper?” I said yes, and that turned out to be a good move. The congee was much tastier with the addition.
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