There’s no shortage of good Asian-style cakes in NYC. When the cravings hit, I’m usually satisfied with a traditional Chinese fruit sponge cake, typically found in those hole-in-the-wall bakeries that have been in the neighborhood for decades. Taipan Bakery and Fay Da Bakery are both solid options, well-loved by locals, with several locations scattered across the city. These spots are known as 物美价廉 (wù měi jià lián) in Chinese, meaning great quality at a reasonable price.
While these spots are great for those quick and cheap bites of sweetness, sometimes, you gotta splurge a little and eat your cake in style. Something different; something a bit more elegant. It’s not hard to find boutique pastry shops in NYC, but spots with an Asian twist are far rarer. With that said, RADII has found three standout shops that are well worth a visit.
Salswee
These have to be some of the prettiest cakes in NYC, with each sculpted edible resembling hyperrealistic fruits. Inside a brightly lit display box, tangerines, bananas, mangos, and pears sit delicately on individual coasters. Get closer, and you’ll notice the small blemishes on the bananas and the pebbled skin of the tangerines—it’s almost an Is It Cake? moment. Once you slice into them, you’ll find creamy fruit-flavored mousse, with each flavor corresponding to its fruit appearance.
Salswee is situated directly across from Manhattan’s Flatiron Building, featuring a spacious interior and an elegant black-and-white marble countertop. The shop combines the French pastry style of intricate layered fillings with the richness of Asian-inspired ingredients, creating desserts that are bold but not overly sweet. There’s a saying in Chinese, which is the highest compliment you can give to any Asian dessert: “Oh, nice, this isn’t too sweet!”
Beyond fruits, there’s also the hyperrealistic red-capped mushroom with coconut flakes on the edges, mimicking dewdrops. But fear not—it’s not a mushroom-flavored cake! It’s made with strawberry mousse and a vanilla cream cheese center. Salswee also serves a variety of Asian-inspired lattes, featuring flavors like black sesame, jasmine tea, and coconut cream. With most cakes priced at around 10 USD (on the cheaper end of boutique pastry) and the shop’s internet fame, be prepared for a long queue. But trust us, it’s worth the wait.
Bujio Cake
Bujio Cake comes from Chongqing, the mountainous Sichuan city known for its spicy hotpots, hilly terrain, and architecture where you think you’re on the ground floor, only to look over the railing to find yourself on the 16th. Fittingly, the Bujio cakes also take on the shape of rolling hills and jagged mountain ridges. It’s a topography map with different biomes that you can slice into and take a bite.
The Bujio cakes are designed through a collaborative effort between architects, fashion photographers, and pastry chefs. The mousse top layer is 3D-printed, then airbrushed with edible paint. The cake sculptures are more akin to edible luxury items, with the 4×4-inch cakes starting at 78 USD.
Their signature, the Mountain View, is a snow-capped rocky mountain, layered with chocolate crisps, blackcurrant jam, and Oreo-yogurt mousse. There’s also the jasmine tea and muscat grape-flavored Mountain Wind, taking on the shape of a serene grassy field; a berry option called Fire of Love that mimics lava; and Mountain by the Sea, a tiramisu designed to resemble a glacier and icy blue streams.
The brand’s name draws from Bujio Mountain, a mythical peak documented in The Classic of Mountains and Seas, an ancient Chinese text cataloging geographical wonders and mythical creatures. Bujio Mountain is described as the pillar connecting heaven and earth, and the only place where mortals can ascend to the skies. Bujio Cake captures the same spirit—mysterious, romantic, and otherworldly—bringing mythology to life in edible form.
Lysée
Another gem in the Flatiron District is Lysée, a Korean-French boutique pastry shop founded by chef Eunji Lee. Classically trained in French pastry arts and having worked at multiple Michelin-starred restaurants, Chef Lee opened her own space in 2022. Lysée offers a selection of viennoiseries, patisseries, cookies, and ice creams. But it’s not just a marriage of Korean elegance and French sophistication; there’s also a healthy dose of NYC chic.
The shop doubles as a two-story gallery, with cakes displayed under museum-style lighting. The interior features a soft beige palette, accented by the jagae beams made from Korean vintage nacre wood. Signature items include the Lysée, a Korean brown rice mousse shaped like a flower, and the Corn, a cute and chubby ear of corn made from corn mousse and grilled corn cream. Every bite feels like Korean afternoon tea enjoyed in a breezy French garden.
Though the prices lean “upscale,” with individual cakes starting at 16 USD, Lysée is still worth a visit. True to its name—rhyming with the French word for museum, musée—Lysée is as much an art experience as it is a pastry shop.
Cover image via Bujio Mountain.
