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.