// KEELUNG / TAIPEI // 

lee hu pastry shop
李鵠餅店

old school pastries with nostalgic loyalty

The “gift pastry” industry in Taiwan is highly competitive. Some tout premium ingredients, others go for creative fusion flavors. Many go all out with packaging. So when there’s an old school pastry shop with no frills, comfortingly random decor and a well-oiled assembly line of workers packing up gift boxes that has been around for over a hundred years, you know it’s something special. Lee Hu Pastry Shop started in Keelung in 1882. Despite the everchanging trends in the food scene, they’ve maintained a consistent consumer base among locals who crave the nostalgic tastes of old school Taiwanese pastries.

Li Hu specializes in a few classic pastries, most notably the pineapple cake, which, compared to a trendier option like Sunny Hills, is more simple, sweetened with maltose and with a softer shell that gives in to the jammy filling. Other popular offerings include egg yolk pastries, mung bean pastry and suncakes. They also have a bunch of traditional wedding pastries, in classic red and gold 囍 boxes, traditionally gifted for engagements and weddings. At 16NT a pop (~50¢), it’s well worth swinging by from the Miaokou Night Market to pick up some pineapple cakes.

the details

AddressKeelung: No. 90號, Rensan Road, Ren’ai District, Keelung City
Taipei: No. 156, Linsen N Rd, Zhongshan District, Taipei City
Websitehttps://www.lee-hu.com.tw/about-us.html
Yelphttps://www.yelp.com/biz/李鵠餅店-基隆市仁愛區
Hours09:00 – 21:30 every day in Keelung, 10:00 – 21:30 every day in Taipei
Price$ – about half the price of other popular pastry shops, and even less than that of the trendier ones
Aestheticnonexistent, but that’s kind of the point

good to know

Go here for: some traditional pastry souvenirs 

Order this: pineapple cake by the dozens

Amount of time to spend: they work fast, you’ll be in and out in minutes – perfect for a drive by stop

When to come: any time

Getting here: the Keelung location is a right off Miaokou Night Market, about a 6-8 min walk from the main train and bus station. The Taipei location is about a 6 min walk from the Zhongshan station (red, green).

Other things to note: 

  • The Taipei location only has wax paper wrapped pineapple cake, which has a shorter shelf life – something to consider if you are planning to bring home.
  • Pineapple cake has a shelf life of 20-30 days (depending on temperature and humidity – keep it in the fridge/freezer for longer).
  • Egg yolk and mung bean pastries have a shelf life of 7 days.

Last visited: October 2019

Last updated: October 2020

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