Looking for an egg tart (dan tat) that rivals Golden Gate bakery without the line, easier parking, AND cheaper? Come check out Mr Bread. Located on Taraval street in the Sunset, this mom and pop shop is very small and can be missed if you're not looking carefully or are driving too fast!
Yesterday was their first day open after being shut down for COVID-19. My friend that lives across the street texted me saying that they were open. I got off of work and drove straight there! Parking was easy to find on the side streets, none on Taraval available at the time. If you do manage to find parking on Taraval, parking is metered. So make sure to bring coins because you might be in for a little bit of a wait (but nowhere near as long as Golden Gate Bakery)! Some spots on the side streets are also metered, but if you drive further away into residential, you should be able to avoid the meters.
I arrived a few minutes after 4PM, and there were only two people in front of me. Signs say that only two people should be in the bakery at a time, however their tape on the floor allows about 5 people in line in the store before the line goes out the door. I thought that it would be a quick in and out kind of thing. Nope! (Hence why you should bring coins for parking) There is only one person working. If a person in front of you orders a lot, you are stuck waiting for the server to grab buns one at a time like I was.
After 15 minutes of waiting, it was my turn to order! I wanted to order Portuguese egg tarts (po tat), regular egg darts (dan tat), and a few buns to take home to my family. The lady asked me if I had ordered ahead, and I said no. She said that the Portuguese egg tarts were available for pickup only as the ones they have out for sale were sold out. I then asked for regular egg tarts to find out they were out also! I ordered a few pork buns (cha siu bao) and a pineapple bun because those were the only things left. Then someone from the kitchen comes out and says that there are some Portuguese egg tarts that were available for sale, but still baking. Total wait time was only 12 more minutes. Lady asked if i wanted to wait. Hell to the yes! After all, these are the best in town.
12 minutes later on the dot, the Portuguese egg tarts came out of the oven and straight into a brown paper bag for me to take home. I ordered three. One rack out of the oven comes with 12. The lady behind me ordered 6, and the man behind her ordered the remaining 3. Just like that, not even out of the oven yet, and the Portuguese egg tarts were sold out.
I had a quick 5 minute drive home and was excited to eat these with my family. I took one out of the bag and it was SO hot (duh, because it just came out of the oven.. idk why I thought that the 5 minutes it took me to get home was enough for them to cool). I waited another 10 minutes to finally eat them.
Sooo good! Flaky, buttery, creamy deliciousness! Definitely worth the wait for $1.80 each. A lot cheaper than Golden Gate, and definitely more fresh for sure. The other pastries are also very reasonably priced. Nothing over 2 dollars. If you are coming here for the Portuguese egg tarts, best to call ahead to place them on hold so that when you come here, you won't be hit with slight disappointment when they tell you that they're out. If you happen to get lucky, they might be coming out of the oven in a short while when you get there like me, but don't count on it! Also CASH ONLY (even in light of the COVID-19). read more