About Polly Chan

British-born Chinese Pastry Chef and Baker running a micro-bakery kitchen in London, offering freshly baked East-Asian style buns and fresh cream cakes.

Established in mid-2020 during the UK’s first lockdown, the story began with the closure of Chinatown London but Polly’s family was craving for authentic Hong Kong buns. It was through many trial and errors that enabled a recipe to develop which resonated memories of eating soft, fluffy buns in Hong Kong. Not long after, it became apparent that many others in lockdown were also feeling the same or had relatives/ friends whom they could not see but missed dearly. It is common courtesy to bring gifts or food offerings round to someone’s home in Chinese culture, however, due to social distancing and complete lockdown meant that people were not able to do this; thus my postal bun service was created to send care (and cravings) in a box.

With eight years experience having worked in hotels, a Michelin-starred kitchen and independent bakeries, the culmination of knowledge and skills learnt combined with constant development and discoveries bring refreshing yet classic baked goods.
Combining nostalgic East Asian flavours with Western culinary training, the inspiration behind Polly’s baked goods derives from her Hong Kong Chinese heritage and British upbringing to create a delicious harmony between East and West.

Royal Academy of Culinary Arts: Annual Awards of Excellence Young Pastry Chef of the year 2016.

Achieving this award with the highest mark was an absolute surreal experience. Taking part in this competition whilst working in Yauatcha (previously 1* Michelin-starred kitchen) and attending Pastry school on my day off enabled me to really challenge and push my boundaries through time management, physical and mental endurance and expressing my creativity.

During the Finals, competitors had 5.5 hours to complete an innovative croquembouche showpiece no higher than 60cm containing caramel covered choux each filled with a creme patissiere (pastry cream) of their choice, a nougatine stand (candied roasted nuts), 4 fruit flavoured soufflés with decorated plating and sauce served at a designated time and two 8” decorative Linzer tortes.