Alice Shin

Foodie On Duty: Broke But Not Broken

The foodie on duty is BROKE! Paying the movers whilst buying various cheap IKEA knick-knacks, installing internet and hunting for affordable kitchenware have reduced my wallet to tears. But one foodie’s misfortune can be another’s boon, as I am now motivated on searching for the best edible bargains within reach.

Due to the current financial situation, the 30-day unlimited MetroCard is a bit of a stretch. Living close to the Williamsburg Bridge alleviates most of that burden: I can trek into Manhattan for free while saving a hundred bucks a month on that gym membership I’ve been meaning to get. Of course, a half hour walk across that long, beautiful stretch of water can work up an appetite. Lucky for me, Fong Da Bakery located just off to the left of the bridge where Essex and Delancey meet. For $2.05, I can nab a coconut bun, an egg custard tart, and a beef curry pastry.

(Alice Shin)

The $0.75 coconut bun was warm and fresh in its paper packet. This glistening, golden bun is rolled much like a pudgy cinnamon roll, only instead of cinnamon, it is filled with a snowfall of coconut and melted butter. The bun itself is made up of a feathery moist, pillow-soft roll that is gently brushed with a sticky sweetness over the top. Because of its light and airy quality, it resists forming a heavy, weighted lump of I-WANT-TO-KILL-YOU-WITH-FOOD-COMA dough at the pit of your stomach afterwards.

For $0.60, the egg custard tart was fairly impressive. At first I wasn’t too excited because the crust looked as dense as an American pie crust and not delicate and flaky like the egg custard tarts that I’ve grown accustomed to. But I was so deliciously wrong. The texture of the crust is solid, yes, but it is a cross between fresh shortbread and a KFC biscuit, which allows it to defy getting too hard and heavy. And, unlike its flakier cousins at other egg custard tart bakeries, Fong Da’s tart shells do not crumble and break off into a million little pieces the moment you bite into it. This means more dessert in your belly and less of it partying all over the front of your shirt.

The egg custard filling is smooth, sweet and rich with yolk and dairy.
I had a mixed experience with the beef curry pastry. The beef curry pastries that I am used to are hefty triangles of tender, flakey puff pastry stuffed to the brim with shredded, curried beef. Granted, for $0.70, it’s a steal, but my 1st, 2nd and 3rd bites elicited one question: “Where’s the beef?”

I poked and prodded and finally managed to see a few crumbs of ground beef, but for the most part, the curry filling was made up of potatoes and onions. A potato-and-onion curry pastry would still be a deal at $0.70; to the same effect, I was disappointed in Fong Da’s false advertising. That said, the pastry itself was deliciously flaky with a touch of salted sweetness and the curry filling was satisfyingly full-flavored.

Considering that my tab cost about the same as a single MetroCard swipe, I just might anoint Fong Da as my regular stop off the Williamsburg Bridge. It isn’t just cheap, but the quality of its baked goods defies such low price points.

Fong Da Bakery
83 Essex Street
212.353-0166