Move Over, Pekotan: Here Comes Gang Gang

Grain – what is it good for? Depends on who you ask. Every culture boils their staple grain into a gruel, but Westerners look askance at all the savory variations of congee whereas the Chinese wrinkle their nose at oatmeal sweetened with honey and fresh fruit. Turning grain into alcohol is another universal – but here again, Europeans and Chinese tend to find each other’s finest liquors to be an acquired taste.

Now consider baked goods. In the West, a hearty loaf of bread was traditionally the cornerstone of every meal but the bakeries of China seem to offer nothing but pillowy rolls slathered with cream and blueberry jam. Where do you go if you want that flaky or crusty hit?

You go to Gang Gang Delicatessen. The Japanese-owned bakery has long made great baked goods – they supply Pekotan, the Central Park deli that we have so often championed – but now they have their own venue.

Walking up the stairs into their sweet-and-savory showroom brings a tingle of excitement akin to entering a factory store – are you supposed to be here, in this olfactory overload, near the ovens that produced all these sandwiches (RMB 20), sour cherry Danishes (RMB 10) and cookies (RMB 10 per pack)? Yes, you are very much meant to be here – especially between 7-8pm, when all bread and pastries are discounted by 30 percent.

Looking at Gang Gang’s well-stocked bar, one is reminded of Suntory, the Japanese company that studied Scotch – the science of fermenting, distilling and aging – and made it their own. Gang Gang is the bready equivalent: Japanese entrepreneurs whose passion for baguettes and croissants resolves the East-meets-West confusion quite deliciously.

Also try: Wagas, Comptoirs de France, Pekotan

Gang Gang Delicatessen. Daily 7am-8pm. Unit 101, Bldg 8 (50m behind Pizza Hut), Park 5 Apartments, Tianshuiyuan Jie, Chaoyang District (8571 4677) 冈冈面包店, 朝阳区甜水园街公园5号8号楼101室

By subway: 200m north of Jintailu station (Line 6)

Photos: Lova