Sheng Kee Bakery

Just a typical chain bakery. Nothing special here.

We came to this bakery hoping to buy the egg custard around 7:30pm on a Wednesday night, but were disappointed. All the other locations of Sheng Kee Bakery that I’ve visited in the past always carried it. Perhaps this is because of its location, but they were out of most items in the bakery as well.
I will not be coming back. There are plenty of egg custards in the world.
Note: I am aware that they close at 9pm, but honestly, 7:30pm is not the time to be putting everything away and closing.

The first thing you notice about this Sheng Kee Bakery when you walk in is the gorgeous smell that hits you like a ton of bricks. I dropped by after a large dinner with my family over at Darda, but after walking in I felt hungry again. My boyfriend says my biggest problem is that my eyes are too big for my stomach…
~ Atmosphere:
Really tiny and cramped; not inviting at all to be honest aside from the lovely smell of baked goods. When there’s only a handful of customers around, you can already start to feel a bit claustrophobic given on tiny the pathways amongst the bread displays are.
~ Customer Service:
Overall I would say alright but obviously when it comes to self-​service bakeries there isn’t much customer service to your experience. Grab a tray when you walk in and pick out the different pastries you want before walking up to pay; a simple and efficient method.
~ Food:
My little cousin and I are huge custard fans so we decided to go for a Custard Brioche and we also couldn’t keep away from the cream puffs. The cream puffs were so lovely and addictive, but the brioche was something that I found inedible. The bread was baked wonderfully, but the custard was goopy, the texture of glue. In order to make bearable, we sadly decided to scrape off all the custard and eat the brioche on its own.
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I would say my experience is more accurately a 2.5 stars, but I do realise that given how delicious the cream puffs were and the fact that the brioche was really well baked, they probably would’ve had other pastries to be enjoyed. But all I can say is, if you ever drop by — avoid the Custard Brioche like the plague.

I’ve always liked Sheng Kee Bakery. It’s the «it» thing before all the 85C hype. This branch is located conveniently at Milpitas Square with all the other eateries.
To be honest, I haven’t been to a lot of bakeries in general and I haven’t been to any for quite some time. But I do see that Sheng Kee is pretty authentic after all these years. You do see quite a variety of bread, especially the ones with egg and sausages in them. They offer more of a variety in terms of native type of bread, if that makes sense. I feel like I would see these type of pastries somewhere in Asia.
I do understand the prices they have for their pastries. Some are cheap and some are more expensive. It’s probably because of their quality and most of their prices are reasonable and also comparable to other bakeries, like 85C, so no surprises there.
Overall, this is a nice alternative Asian bakery around. It really depends on the person and what and how they like their bread and pastries. But give this OG a try!

Mango mouse revisited… for Father’s day!
My mom called me early Saturday morning from her workplace to make me promise to buy the mango mousse she had from Sheng Kee. I said yes but was apprehensive since I wasn’t impressed with the cake. I originally planned to go somewhere else and try their version of mango cake– I was thinking of checking out Kee Wah after looking through their pictures. Yeah I would disobey my mom’s wishes thinking I know better. However when we came to the bakery, they were out of mango cake, and the other cakes looked more like the generic ones they sell in 99 ranch. I bought some bread (I just had to!) but was sooo disappointed so I literally ran on the other side of Barber Ct. (both bakeries were on opposite sides) praying that Sheng Kee still has the mango mousse. It is the run of shame… S.H.A.M.E…
They were open with a line on the counter. They got my cake (the last one!) and was waiting for someone to help me out, but I figured they were so busy so I decided to get inline and order it as I paid. The very nice cashier greeted me, took my order and pulled out my cake for boxing. I had to tell her that my mom loves their cake and she was very appreciative about my ramblings. I paid and left.
Taste wise, I love this cake better than the first one. This one is much more moussey (airy in texture) and the mango taste is very prominent. It is still the perfect sweetness for my mom. But the best thing about it is my dad loved it. It was the perfect ending to our family Father’s day lunch.
It was soo good that it was gone after the next day.

I think Sheng Kee is trying to step it up because of all the pastry/​bakery competition in the area. They used to just have breads/​pastries laid out but now they’re like 85 and they have plastic coverings all over the place and lifts to open similarly to them. Not to mention a good chunk of breads are the same as 85 degrees like the brioche (even in the same paper container!). The cakes though leave to be desired. They always look dry whenever we see them and a little sad/​dreary. The pricing has gone up a bit probably due to inflation.
We did get the chocolate bun with crumbled chocolate pieces on top. It was ok but I think would’ve been excellent when it first came out. It was very dry when we ate it.
We’re looking to try out other pastries and compare with the 85 equivalent. It’s going to be fun.

I usually come here to grab those yummy delicious asian fruity cakes. Most of the cakes here aren’t too sweet (which is good! Asian spongecakes aren’t suppose to be sweet). I’ve ordered the Mango Mousse Cake and the French Strawberry Cake here (all for birthdays) before. They both taste absolutely amazing.
Come near the morning/​noon, since that’s when they usually put out the cakes. So it’ll be super fresh when you get it.

When everybody was so into Sheng Kee I was looking the other way. I finally caught up to the Sheng Kee world when everybody is obsessed with that other big star!
Walked in and noticed they’re not that loaded. They’re not that confusing considering they’re not loaded with goods. Easy to make choices since there’s not much. No lines. No crazy drinks either!
We got five different kinds of goodies. Don’t remember them at all but I can tell you they’re gone! Didn’t get to day two at all! Yes it’s that good!
I’m all caught up now. Easy life with Sheng Kee!

Almond Croissant. Almond Croissant. Almond Croissant.
I come here and back up the truck and buy all they have. Sometimes it’s six pieces, other times it’s 10. These are one of my favorite almond croissants in all of California.
Almond Marzipan paste inside, flaky, crispy croissant, burnt sugar crust feet, some crusted burnt sugar on top, sliced almonds and powder sugar over that. Good as is, but lustfully better after few minutes in the toaster oven. I torture my co-​workers in the morning by making them smell it during fruition. Pop one in, go back to my desk, come back to pick it up. Stinking up the lunch room in the process. «OMG what is that? That smells so good, you are lucky we didn’t steal that!»
I don’t share. I’ve traveled too far to get this. Back to cube life.
Almond Croissants — 5 Stars.
Everything else in the store — 3.5 Stars –4 Stars.