Harper's Bread House Inc.

Since Kam Boat Bakery closed down, I struggled to find a new go-to place for Portuguese egg tarts in Chinatown. Don't get me wrong: there's plenty of excellent Portuguese egg tarts to be found in Chinatown. But some bakeries charge $2.25 per tart, which is kind of expensive.Enter Harper's Bread House, an unassuming bakery that has been around for decades and that flies a bit under the radar due to its location on the East side of Chinatown across from Grand Street that is less busy and also less touristic than main Chinatown.The Portuguese egg tarts at Harper's Bread House may be the best bang for your buck in Chinatown, as both egg tarts and Portuguese egg tarts are the same price, $1.50. The Portuguese egg tarts have a firmer, flakier crust and a lightly burnt yellow custard that is tasty and pilllowy soft. They also sell a Brazilian version of the egg tart that uses coconut, although I still prefer the Portuguese version.They also sell an amazing variety of onigiri or Japanese rice balls: Buffalo wings, bacon & egg, octopus salad, dry pork, Korean spicy spam, purple rice crab salad, purple rice eel, shrimp tempura salad, crawfish salad, Teryaki fried chicken, curry chicken, seaweed, tuna, spicy salmon, spicy tuna. All priced $2.50-$3.I'm a fan.

The rice balls are such a steal! They pack it not only with rice but actually fill it with sufficient toppings to make it a meal! My go to a are the octopus salad and the curry chicken! Bring cash since it's cash only!

Harper's Bread House is one of the cheap eats Chinese bakery cafés in Chinatown. They also have a juice and tea section called "Fruit Vanity," plus some seating.Decided to try some items that I haven't tried out in other similar places, i.e., their sizable Chicken Bun, sizable for $2.50, and my first ever Wife Melon Cookie. The chicken cutlet and other fillings in the bun were less interesting than they appeared and relatively dry, although the sandwich could be filling for the price. As for the Wife Melon Cookie, it may be cherished by people raised on it, but for me it was just a nondescript sweet flavor without any melon or other special taste. I'm also not especially wowed by egg tarts, which I understand is one of Harper's specialties, although I had them served often for desert when traveling in China. (Also, not a fan of red bean paste deserts.) Perhaps these items are more geared towards customers with either more muted bakery palettes and expectations or plain nostalgia for these specialties, so I admittedly may not be the best judge.Although writing both of my choices off my Harper's Bread House "bucket list," would stop by again to try out other items available. Please leave me a suggestion of what else might be worthwhile to try on my next visit.

This place is super affordable, especially being in Manhattan Chinatown. Come here with a mindset of affordable basics and you'll be happy. It recently expanded its space to hold bubble drinks so it looks bigger inside. Some seating available but it's mostly to go.Probably one of the only Chinese bakeries to sell onigiri rice balls, don't expect it to be Japanese taste. The onigiri comes with many flavors like teriyaki chicken, curry chicken, octopus salad, etc. Line up as you walk in and one of the workers will greet you. I think they speak enough English. Overall, I would come back for affordable goods.

Stopped in here at the end of an outing in Chinatown where my husband and I ate way too many dumplings and steamed buns. So the pastries were taken to go. I ordered several Portuguese egg tarts, a pineapple bun and a coconut tart. Eyes way bigger than stomach. When I got home and looked at my bag full of treats, I realized that's not what I got. But I was still far too full to eat anything, and considering I spent less than $10 on a pile of baked goods, I'm not mad. When I finally did eat an egg tart (not the Portuguese ones, sadly -- they didn't make it into my bag), it was quite good. Not too sweet. Nice flaky crust and the custard wasn't overly eggy. (I haven't eaten my other items yet. And even though all I really wanted was a Portugese egg tart and I didn't get that, I'm still giving this place 4 stars -- for price and taste and convenience of being the last place to hit up before hopping on the subway. I'll tackle that pineapple bun tomorrow.)

Visited for the first time since we parked the car nearby. Surprised to find a Chinese bakery store selling onigiri rice ball. We were not paying much attention until we saw many customers coming in to buy those rice balls. So we bought a few to try. We bought eel and spicy tuna, $2.75 each. Price is definitely reasonable. The rice was nice and moist. Still luke warm, packed with ingredients. I was told they made it on site. Because of the fast turnover, they are usually fresh. We also tried some other products: the iced milk tea is only $2.95, good tea flavor. Their infamous custard is $1.50. I find it nothing special. It's good, but I'm not sure about being the king of the egg custard tart. The hot coffee..... is in the trash right now. My kids enjoyed the paper wrapped cup shape cakes. They were moist and rich in egg flavor. Other pastry/ bakery items are very reasonably priced also. We will definitely return.

Tried the egg tarts which were perfectly custardy (but still well set) and flaky! Also $1.50 a piece and the shop had several other baked goods to sample. I will be back!

Onigiri 4/5Either still very hot or sometimes to cold but it get's a 4 because of all the variety and majority of the time, everything is perfect temperature Purple rice eel is my favorite along with crab salad purple rice Egg tart 4/5Cold. If they could put a heat lamp over them, they will jump up to a 4.25. It cannot rival New Flushing bakery, which just closed it's doors last month, but it's a close secondService 1/5See ambiance Ambiance 1/5This shop attracts extra homeless people outside asking you to buy things for them inside the shop This shop does not have system of who was first in line, so it becomes crowded in the cashier areaThe juxtaposition is in the back, which has now been rented out to sell upscale boba to the right and fried snacks on the left.

Saw a lot of good reviews on the onigiri and decided to try it out. A bakery that sells onigiri? That's not common. Purchased the spicy eel and spicy tuna and both were very disappointing. The spicy eel I was expecting like a spicy mayo type of sauce but it was wasabi! Personally I am not a fan wasabi. For the spicy tuna, the tuna was not in chunks and it wasn't spicy. Both onigiri had more rice than filling. The price range for all the onigiri is $2.50-$2.75. Definitely affordable, but the flavoring and filling was not there for me. Maybe the other fillings are better? Also, there are only a few tables with limited seating.

Portuguese egg tarts were the most affordable I've seen ($1.25), and they were both delicious and authentic. Their other pastries were also mostly below $2, and the interior was very clean and well-kept. There was some seating available as well. Pastries were well worth it and staff is quick to serve.