The Best Asian Bakeries in Rome: From Chinese Buns to Japanese Pastries
Red bean bun from Honey Talk
One of my favourite things to do in life is discovering new food places and of course sharing them with you. While I love savoury food, sweet treats will forever have my heart, especially baked goods and pastries. Rome is such a culturally diverse city, full of flavours and influences from all over the world, which made me curious to see what it has to offer beyond the traditional pasticceria. For this blog post, I explored some of the best Asian bakeries in Rome that brought something new and refreshing to my pastry game. I visited both Chinese and Japanese bakeries, and I must say I can’t wait to share these places with you.
Honey Talk: Bubble Tea, Dolci e Pane
Okay, when I tell you that you need to run, not walk, to this bakery, I seriously mean it. Fun fact: when I used to live in Pigneto, I was only about five minutes away from this place, and honestly, it is probably for the best I did not know about it back then because I would have gone every single day. Honey Talk is a Chinese bakery offering a variety of breads, sweets and bubble tea. I am not very familiar with Chinese baked goods, so I do not have much to compare them to, but I do know my sweets, and these are all amazing.
My absolute favourite item at Honey Talk bakery is their Polo bun, also known as Pineapple bun. A pineapple bun is a sweet bun with a topping that tastes like a butter cookie. Despite the name, a traditional pineapple bun contains no pineapple. The name comes from the fact that its sugary top crust is baked to a golden-brown colour and the checkered pattern on top resembles the skin of a pineapple. I had never tried a pineapple bun before, but it was a life-changing experience. The bun itself had the perfect amount of sweetness, and the texture was like biting into a cloud. The bread almost melts in your mouth. Combined with the slightly crunchy top, this was one of the best things I have eaten all year, which is saying a lot.
Besides the pineapple bun, I also tried their coconut bun and their red bean bun, and both were absolutely amazing as well. The texture is so soft and pillowy, and I am already scheming the next visit in my head.
If you want something more dessert-like, they also sell freshly made cakes, egg tarts, and mochi. I will write an article about the best places to find freshly made mochi in Rome in the future, and I will add the link here as soon as it is ready.
Honey Talk is open from Monday to Saturday from 8:30 to 20:00, and I wholeheartedly recommend visiting. The food is incredible, the staff is kind, and you can easily combine it with a trip to the Pigneto neighbourhood. It is definitely more oriented towards takeout, so there is no restroom or a large seating area, but for me, this does not take away from the amazing experience.
ZhiZhi Cake Studio
Next on the list is the Chinese bakery ZhiZhi Cake Studio. While Honey Talk feels more simple and authentic, ZhiZhi Cake Studio is definitely more fun.
ZhiZhi has two locations in Rome, very close to each other. The one on Via Tuscolana 936 is impossible to miss because everything is pink. When I was there, they also had adorable Halloween decorations, and the entire place just screams Instagram and TikTok opportunities. You can see that everything has been treated with love, care, and attention to detail, which I really appreciate.
When it comes to sweets and desserts, this bakery has everything you could want and more. They have freshly made mochi, cakes in interesting flavours like taro or matcha, cake rolls, and perfectly aesthetic cheesecakes. Honestly, everything looked delicious, and I cannot wait to go back and try more. I especially recommend their freshly made mochi, which comes in many different flavours.
ZhiZhi Cake Studio offers so many options that it is hard to mention them all. It is a truly wonderful place if you love Chinese bakery treats, but it is also perfect if you are curious and want to try something new.
Both locations are great, but the one on Via Tuscolana is a little bigger and has more seating options. If you are looking for a cute date spot with friends or a partner, I would suggest this one. I mean, it is pink, what more could you want? The second location on Via Rocca Priora is just a couple of metro stops away and is also great, just a little smaller. Both locations are open every day. The smaller location is open from 10:30 to 19:30, and the bigger pink location is open from 10:30 to 20:00.
Tip: If you are taking your sweet treats to go, I suggest enjoying them in Parco dell’Appia Antica. It is one of my favourite parks in Rome and really close by, a perfect combination if you ask me!
Hiromi Cake
Last but not least is the Japanese pastry shop Hiromi Cake. I already wrote about Hiromi Cake in my blog post about the best matcha in Rome, and since then I keep finding myself coming back.
Hiromi Cake is located in the beautiful Prati neighbourhood in Rome, close to the Vatican. Of all the bakeries on this list, I would say this one is definitely the most comfortable, with a bathroom and a beautiful outdoor seating area.
As you can see on their website, Hiromi sells a selection of Japanese pastries that are almost too pretty to eat. They offer cheesecakes, matcha cakes, rolls, and of course a great selection of mochi. I would say this is the most expensive bakery of the three, but it is also in a pretty fancy neighbourhood, so it makes sense when you consider the location.
The staff at Hiromi Cake is always super friendly, and they have great opening hours, open daily from 9:30 to 22:00. If you are in the area and want to try something new, I highly recommend trying one of their pastries.
Tip: Hiromi also has a Japanese restaurant in Rome called La Maison. The Google reviews are very good, and I can’t wait to go there someday!
Conclusion
Honestly, I had so much fun visiting these bakeries, and I hope I could inspire you to try them for yourself. It was such a nice experience to be surprised by new flavours, textures, and variations, and I definitely added some new favourites to my list (I am still dreaming about that pineapple bun). If I missed your favourite Asian bakery in Rome or if you have any other suggestions for me to try, please let me know in the comments!
