Tucked into a small shop on Wardour Street in the heart of London's Chinatown is Bake, an bakery selling Asian foods and cakes. Amongst their most popular items are the fish-shaped cones and cakes. Over Chinese New Year weekend, I had the opportunity to sample the ice cream and fish cakes and to get some photographs of them in front of the famous pagodas in Chinatown.
The fish-shaped cakes are known as Taiyaki, which means "baked sea bream" in Japanese. Most commonly, the filling of the cake is a red bean paste, but other sweet fillings (custard, chocolate, etc) and savoury fillings (cheese, sausage) can also be created. Teiyaki is made using pancake (American style) or waffle batter, then poured into the fish-shaped moulds and cooked. This treat originated in Tokyo but was forgotten due to World War II, but it is now popular again. Similar items are found in other Asian countries, and a similar item is the wheelcake that I had last year ("Wheelcake Island").
The miniature fish for sale cost £2.00 for four pieces, and these are filled with custard. There is also the choice to have the red bean flavour, which is the traditional flavour.
A larger variation can also be purchased, and this included a nutella-filled variety (pictured above).
Last, but not least, is the most picturesque of the treats from Bake. This is the fish-shaped ice cream cone. I had the matcha (green tea) flavour of ice cream, but they also make plain vanilla or vanilla and matcha mixed.
Have you visited Bake and had a fish-shaped ice cream cone yet? Bake are located at the Chinatown/Leicester Square end of Wardour Street, just outside the famous pagoda.
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