Bakeries
A neighborhood Chinese bakery of about a decade's standing at No. 2 and Blundell, run on self-serve tongs and trays behind glass. Pizza buns, mousse cake slices and moon cakes in season; whole cakes need a day's notice. Free lot parking outside.
Take a tray at the door, pick up the tongs, walk the glass cases and pay at the till. That is the entire operating system of a Chinese bakery, and it is the only instruction anyone needs on a first visit. The Boss Bakery works that format from a strip mall unit at No. 2 Road and Blundell, on the quieter west side of the city.
Buns, sweet and savoury both, sit alongside cake slices, and moon cakes appear when the season comes round. Whole cakes generally want a day's notice in shops of this kind, so a birthday is easier if you plan one sleep ahead. Popular trays go early in the day, which is the single most useful thing to know about any bakery running this model.
No. 2 Road at Blundell is a west-side crossroads rather than a destination, and that is exactly what makes a bakery here useful. Errands on this side of Richmond are a calmer business than anything in the Golden Village, and the pattern rarely changes: you stop on the way back from somewhere else, you buy more than you meant to, and half of it is gone before you get home. The streets behind the plaza are Broadmoor and Seafair houses, schools and playing fields, which is the part of Richmond most visitors never see and most residents actually live in.
In the Blundell neighbourhood of Richmond.
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Other bakeries and nearby businesses in the Richmond directory.
Richmond's kosher bakery, family-run and Filipino-Jewish, turning out challah, cinnamon rolls, croissants, muffins and donuts. The hours are short and it closes Saturdays, so plan around them. Bread is baked fresh rather than held over.
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Family-owned Steveston patisserie open since 1996, focused on European-style cakes such as tiramisu and triple chocolate mousse, plus everyday pastries. It is where Richmond people order birthday and celebration cakes instead of buying one at the grocery store.
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A family-run Steveston fixture since 1989, doing scratch breads, pies, cookies and custom cakes including eggless versions. The attached cafe serves all-day breakfast, sandwiches and a rotating homemade soup, so locals treat it as much a diner as a bakery.
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A tiny family-run shop on Chatham Street making proper Liege waffles with pearl sugar, real butter and honey in about a dozen flavours, from vanilla through matcha and yuzu. They also take custom cake, pie and creme brulee orders for pickup.
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A Steveston Village patisserie doing classic French work: fruit tarts, chiffon slices, viennoiserie and cookies made fresh each morning. Regulars also come for the savoury quiches and the small freezer of prepared soups and meals to take home.
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A Steveston counter frying gourmet mini donuts to order, with classic cinnamon sugar alongside a rotating list of seasonal flavours and filled versions. Mixed boxes let you try several, and they are best eaten walking down toward the boardwalk.
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