Formosa Is Foremost A Sweet Tooth's Delight

Formosa Bakery

2201 West 25th Street, Suite L

Lawrence, KS 66047

Phone number: (785) 856-6900
Website

Prices: $$$$

At the South end of the strip mall BEHIND Office Depot and Planet Fitness on Iowa (enter from 25th Street), you will find Formosa Bakery, right next to the massage parlor if you are into that kind of thing. The sign in the window is small, so keep your eyes peeled.

I think the owner's name is Chen, not sure about the spelling (sorry if I got either or both wrong), and as the Teutonic Titwillow would say: "What a nice guy!". He is a KU grad that went home to Taiwan, studied baking/pastry making, and returned to open Formosa three years ago. Some of the reviews say the pastries are French, but he denies any training in French pastry making. He told me that he borrowed techniques from the Japanese, who borrowed from the French, and so on and so on.

Anywho, the pastry and bread selection are minimal, but adequate, and fresh. He has puddings (Puppy Love - $1.59 to $1.99 for others), the Snow White (small, white cake with cream filling - $1.59), Yellow Volcano (custard tart - $1.79), Tiger Roll (yellow cake roll with cream - $2.25 for 4), Cheese Bites (little round sweet cheese morsels in pastry - $2.25 for 5), as well as Cheesecake and Black Forest Cake ($3.79/slice - $27.99 for the whole shebang), Blueberry Mousse Cake and Tiramisu ($3.99/$29.99), and more, depending on what day it is.

I got a Snow White, Yellow Volcano, and five Cheese Bites as well as a his bread with sausage and green onion ($1.50). He let me sample a Tiger Roll which was very good and "not too sweet" as promised. The bread with sausage and green onion was OK, but the bread was sweet instead of savory and not something I would buy again. If all of the breads are sweet like the one I bought, I will take a pass on bread in the future. Bread should not be sweet, especially when it is topped with sausage and green onion ... sweet rolls should be sweet, all the time.

The place is simple and clean, the service excellent and friendly, and the pastries delicious, although the cakes are a tad pricey at $3.79 to $3.99 a slice (and they are not all that big). I will return to sample the cheesecake, tiramisu, and blueberry mousse cake and will let you know in a future update if they are worth the price.

On a final note, when I showed Chen my Yelp profile, he saw my photo with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and became emotional, asking about how I met His Holiness. Because of his emotional reaction, I asked and he confirmed that he is a Buddhist, and I have never met a Buddhist that was not an excellent, compassionate person. I believe that is definitely the case here and I hope my new friend is very successful, so visit Formosa Bakery ... you will be glad you did!

CombatCritic Gives Formosa Bakery An Initial And Very Respectable 7 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Seven Bombs Equates To:

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - Elite '14/'15/'16

Tabelog - Official Judge (Bronze)

Zomato - #1 Ranked Foodie





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Read Chris S.'s review of Formosa Bakery on Yelp

Title: Lawrence, KS: Formosa Is Foremost A Sweet Tooth's Delight

Key Words: Formosa Bakery, Formosa, bakery, Lawrence, Kansas, cake, pastries, bread, 25th, street, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, review, Yelp, Zomato, Tabelog

Translation for Civilians: S&G = "Shits & Grins"