Iris Tea & Bakery
“I don't know what they put in that "trunk bread", yo, or why they call it that, but it is SO DARN GOOD.”
“The Baked pudding is okay, I still think Paris Baguette's Royal pudding are the best among the Flushing bakery.”
“The Vanilla log with chestnut filling and the green tea with red bean filling do not disappoint =)”
Iris Tea & Bakery
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range Moderate
8 reviews
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I randomly walked in to this bakeshop to get coffee. I ordered hazelnut latte. While I got my drink & started walking away, I'm surprised about how light my drink was. So I opened it & half of the cup is foam & half is coffee. Its dissapointing. But the taste is good. Next time I'm not leaving this place without checking my coffee.
Iris could make someone think of Isis which is unfortunate for this bakery's names. It's OK, though! This place isn't a terrorist hideout. I checked.
Terrorists couldn't possibly make Japanese Cream Puff's this good.
Cute place! Clean and presentable! Pricey but there are so many choices! Savory and sweet pastries. There's also coffee, tea, etc. they make cakes.
Service here was good- I asked one of the servers for advice between two taro pastries and she was very descriptive and gave good advice. I highly recommend the taro cube- it's a cube of bread with subtly sweet taro filling. It's not heavy at all and not at all too sweet. I've never seen any other pastry like it, even at similar places. It was the summer so there were quite a few flies in the cases.
Pretty does not mean delicious — upscale need not be comfortable — and crowded is not always a good sign.
Struggled to get in and out of here with some coffee/tea and a matcha/red bean/cream roll. Nowhere to sit and enjoy the pastry and drinks — the second floor is closed, limiting available seating, and the prices are high.
Seems like this bakery gets loads of foot traffic because of its trendy fit-out, corner location, pretty looking pastry and plenty of gawkers who don't care about quality.
I prefer a Fay Da style operation a la Chinatown — and would not return to squint at Iris' pricey wares.
Great place to get some pastries and some cakes. Not too sweet, and most of them are super soft and moist.
Pastries cost between $1.50 – $4 depending on size and ingredients.
It's self serve style:
Grab a tray and put some parchment paper on top
Grab a tong
Open the shelves filled with pastries, grab your pastries and put them on top of your tray
Wait in line to pay
Enjoy.
Down side is anyone can just open up the shelves and simply sneeze on it and spread some germs, other than that, it's pretty sanitary.
We were scouting around for a Green Tea birthday cake in downtown Flushing area, and we decided on Iris Tea & Bakery's Green Tea (Matcha) with Red Bean cake.
I made the call for an early cake reservation, and spoke with Sherry. She was very attentive and helpful on my request, and took the extra effort to share pictures via text message of the cake designs. Once I arrived at the store to pick up my cake, Sherry was there to help with the checkout and provided candles, cake knife, and the birthday greeting topper. I find the staff very friendly and helpful.
Upon opening up the cake box, the cake was well decorated with fresh seasonal fruits on top of the light cream frosting. The cake texture is very light, soft, and fluffy. I found the red bean paste was a bit overpowering the green tea flavor. I would love it more if the green tea flavor can be stronger to match the sweetness of the red bean paste.
Overall, I still like the cake a lot and we will definitely come back for their bread and pastries.
Pros:
1) This is the only spot I've found in NY that serves Hokkaido Milk Tea. Yes, it's from powder, but what do you expect for not being in Japan? It's still delicious as all heck.
2) The Taiwanese pineapple cakes–the litmus test of Taiwanese pastries–are big, soft and perfect. Stock up on these cubed bad boys and munch them on the go, wherever you are.
Cons:
1) They no longer make charcoal pastries. Last year, my Taiwanese family and I were floored by a series of dark, almost black pastries Iris was selling, including black pineapple cakes. We talked to the manager, who explained that this was a new invention, in which they mixed certain secret ingredients to make the black dough. Those charcoal pastries were some of the most incredible things I've ever eaten, and I've come back repeatedly hoping they will be back, but each time, the staff just shake their head and say no.
2) Seating isn't abundant, so be prepared to wait, though turnover is generally pretty fast.
3) They're not good at re-stocking, so the later in the day you come, the more likely you will find empty display cases.