Maryland food creator Kimberly Kong, better known as Nomtastic Kim, recently shared a list of “10 Asian Bakeries in Maryland Worth OBSESSING Over,” with Montgomery County well represented among her selections.
Four of the 10 bakeries highlighted by Kong are located in Montgomery County, including spots in Gaithersburg, Rockville and Silver Spring. The full list also stretches to Howard, Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties and includes everything from Hong Kong-style pastries and Filipino desserts to Korean breads and French-Asian baked goods.
Here are Kong’s 10 selections:
1. EDStudio – Gaithersburg: Located at 360 Main St in Gaithersburg, EDStudio is a Hong Kong-style dessert studio specializing in small-batch pastries and light, not-too-sweet cakes. Kong recommends the chocolate lava bun made with Valrhona chocolate, pineapple buns and cream cakes, adding that customers “literally cannot go wrong” with anything available.
2. Gwenie’s – Rockville: The family-owned Filipino bakery has been bringing traditional recipes and creative ube desserts to Maryland for 20 years. Its Rockville location is at 12113 Nebel St, with additional locations elsewhere in the area. Kong’s recommendations include the ube cheesecake, ube cheese pandesal and brioche donuts.
3. Morning My Day – Silver Spring: Morning My Day, located at 1305 Fenwick Ln in Silver Spring, is a small, family-run Japanese-style bakery making soft breads and pastries from scratch daily. Kong highlights its bestselling purple yam flower bun and chewy black sesame mochi bread, along with boba.
4. Japong Bakery – Rockville: Located at 765 Rockville Pike, Japong Bakery is a Taiwanese-Japanese bakery known for airy cream puffs, pillowy breads and Japanese soufflé cheesecake. Kong recommends the Japong Puffs, available in original, chocolate and matcha, as well as the bakery’s Japanese soufflé cheesecake.
5. La Boulangerie – Ellicott City: The old-school Korean bakery at 8815 Baltimore National Pike specializes in traditional Korean breads, pastries and cakes. Kong recommends the red bean pastries, custard cream bread and chewy Korean twisted donuts known as kkwabaegi. She also notes that her parents are fans of the bakery’s red bean buns.
6. Little Boy Bakery – Bel Air/Catonsville: Little Boy Bakery is a small-batch operation known for cream-filled croissants, creative pastries and custom celebration cakes. The bakery can be found at farmers markets in Bel Air and Catonsville, with online preorders also available. Kong recommends its signature filled croissants and almond croissant.
7. CakeOut – Columbia: CakeOut is a home-based Filipino bakery in Columbia run by two sisters and specializing in made-from-scratch cakes. Kong recommends the bestselling ube flan cake, chocolate dreamcake and caramel cake when available. Orders can be placed in advance through Bakesy.
8. Yolk Bakery – Severna Park: One of the newer businesses on the list, Yolk Bakery is located at 489 Ritchie Hwy in Severna Park and combines French pastry techniques with Filipino and Turkish flavors. Kong recommends the ube roll, tombul brioche donut and biscuit breakfast sandwich.
9. Pâte à Cake – Gaithersburg: The French-Asian pâtisserie at 112 Paramount Park Dr in Gaithersburg combines European baking techniques with Asian-inspired flavors. Kong’s recommended items include the soymilk custard cake, double cheesecake and chocolate mousse, describing the desserts as having “the perfect amount of sweet.”
10. Cafe Dear Leon – Baltimore: Rounding out the list is Cafe Dear Leon at 2929 O’Donnell St in Baltimore. The Asian-French-inspired bakery is known for creative baked goods, Japanese-style sandos and popular pastry drops. Kong recommends the viral crab dip bagel, crab tamago sando, Earl Grey pain suisse and seasonal croissants, while advising visitors to check the bakery’s bake schedule before heading over.
Five of Kong’s 10 selections, EDStudio, Gwenie’s, Morning My Day, Japong Bakery, and Pâte à Cake are located in Montgomery County giving the county a fifth selection.
