Regent Bakery and Cafe

Regent Bakery and Cafe is a family-owned and operated chain of Chinese restaurants and bakeries serving the Seattle metropolitan area of Washington state. The business was established in Redmond in 2000 and initially built its reputation around cakes and other bakery products. Its early customer base included employees of Microsoft, whose headquarters are in the Redmond area, helping Regent become a familiar local destination among technology workers and software developers. The brand subsequently broadened its offering beyond cakes to include Chinese breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes. Its restaurant menu has included chow fun, fried rice, hot pots, General Tso's chicken, pan-fried dumplings, pot stickers, bok choy, calamari, prawns in lobster sauce, duck rice cake, and mapo tofu. This restaurant component sits alongside a bakery assortment that includes Chinese buns, pastries, cakes, breads, cookies, bubble tea, and European-influenced baked goods such as croissants, egg tarts, fruit Danishes, and kouign-amann. The resulting proposition combines Chinese comfort food and dim sum-style items with a broad pastry and dessert selection. Regent expanded outside its original Redmond site when it opened a Capitol Hill location in Seattle in February 2012. That restaurant occupied the ground floor of a condominium building and was designed as a more ambitious restaurant and cocktail-lounge setting, with a full bar, contemporary décor, large windows, banquettes, decorative lighting, and a spacious dining area. The Capitol Hill location later closed permanently. A Bellevue location also opened in the Factoria neighborhood and has operated primarily as a bakery rather than as a full restaurant. The brand has received generally favorable local coverage, particularly for cakes, pastries, barbecue pork buns, and selected savory dishes. Reviewers have characterized the business as an unusual combination of Asian and French-influenced bakery traditions. The Redmond shop has also been recognized for dim sum-style fare, including salt-and-pepper calamari, while its baked goods have been described as a central strength of the concept. Regent gained broader cultural visibility through an association with the video game Portal. A Regent Black Forest cake was reportedly depicted as a reward cake in the game, which was developed and published by Bellevue-based Valve Corporation. The game's recurring line “The cake is a lie” became a widely circulated internet meme, creating an unusual connection between a regional bakery and a prominent piece of video-game culture. Regent remains a local, privately operated food-service brand rather than a national chain, with its identity rooted in Chinese-American dining, specialty bakery products, and Seattle-area community recognition.

Regent Bakery and Cafe was established in Redmond, Washington, in 2000 as a family-owned business operated by members of the Loh family. The company initially focused on cakes and bakery products. Its location near the Microsoft campus helped it attract technology-sector employees and software developers, giving the shop a strong local following despite its small-chain scale. The business later expanded into Chinese restaurant cuisine. Regent's menu developed to include dishes suitable for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including chow fun, fried rice, hot pots, dumplings, pot stickers, General Tso's chicken, seafood, vegetables, duck rice cake, and mapo tofu. The bakery continued to sell cakes, Chinese buns, pastries, breads, cookies, and desserts. Its product range also incorporated French and broader Western bakery styles, including croissants, egg tarts, fruit Danishes, and kouign-amann. This dual identity became central to the brand: customers could visit for a Chinese meal, dim sum-style dishes, or specialty bakery items and celebration cakes. In February 2012, Regent opened a second location at the intersection of 14th Avenue and Pine Street in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Unlike the more modest original shop, the Capitol Hill venue was presented as an upscale restaurant and cocktail lounge. It occupied the ground floor of a condominium building and featured a full bar, contemporary furnishings, large windows, banquettes, decorative lighting, and a more elaborate interior environment. Local coverage treated the location as an unusual combination of Chinese food, bakery offerings, and modern bar culture. The Capitol Hill branch eventually closed permanently. A Bellevue location followed in the Factoria neighborhood. That site has operated solely as a bakery, illustrating the different formats used by the brand across the Seattle region. Regent's Redmond operation has remained associated with both food and bakery service, while Bellevue has emphasized baked goods, cakes, and desserts. Local critics have generally responded positively to Regent. Coverage has highlighted the quality and presentation of its cakes and pastries, its barbecue pork buns, and its combination of Asian and French bakery traditions. The brand has also been recognized for savory specialties, including salt-and-pepper calamari and garlic green beans. The Redmond restaurant has been described as a strong dim sum destination, while the bakery products have repeatedly been treated as a defining feature of the business. Regent achieved an unusual form of wider recognition through Portal, the video game associated with Bellevue-based Valve Corporation. A Regent Black Forest cake was reportedly used as the model or depiction of a reward cake in the game. Portal's repeated phrase “The cake is a lie” became an internet meme, linking the local bakery to video-game culture. This association did not transform Regent into a national brand, but it gave the business a distinctive place in Seattle's technology and popular-culture history. Regent remains a privately held local chain with operations centered on the Seattle metropolitan area. Its continuing identity is based on family ownership, Chinese-American restaurant food, specialty cakes and pastries, and a hybrid bakery-café format.

• 2025

  Former Capitol Hill site replaced

  [1]Regent Bakery and Cafeen.wikipedia.org

  The permanently closed Capitol Hill location was reported as having been replaced by Raku Shabu Shabu House.

• 2012

  Capitol Hill restaurant opens

  [1]Regent Bakery and Cafeen.wikipedia.org

  Regent opened a Seattle Capitol Hill branch in February, adding a larger restaurant and cocktail-lounge format to its bakery business.

• 2000

  Business established in Redmond

  [1]Regent Bakery and Cafeen.wikipedia.org

  The Loh family established Regent Bakery and Cafe in Redmond, Washington, initially emphasizing cakes and bakery products.

• Bellevue bakery location established

  [1]Regent Bakery and Cafeen.wikipedia.org

  The brand expanded to Bellevue's Factoria neighborhood with a location operating primarily as a bakery.

A neighborhood Chinese restaurant and bakery combining Cantonese and broader Chinese comfort foods with elaborate cakes, traditional buns, and French-influenced pastries.

• Bakery and dessert · 2000

  Cakes and cheesecakes

  Cakes were Regent's original focus and remain among its most recognizable products. The range has included Black Forest cake, green-tea mousse cake, and green-tea cheesecake. The green-tea mousse cake has been noted for decorative chocolate latticework and glossy fruit toppings. These products support both everyday dessert purchases and celebration-oriented bakery occasions.

• Bakery

  Chinese buns and pastries

  Regent's bakery selection includes Chinese-style buns and pastries such as barbecue pork buns, cocktail buns, ham-and-cheese buns, and pineapple buns. The barbecue pork bun has received particularly strong local recognition. These products connect the brand to Chinese bakery traditions while fitting the quick-service café format.

• Bakery

  French-influenced pastries

  The bakery also sells pastries associated with European and French baking, including croissants, egg tarts, fruit Danishes, and kouign-amann. Their presence gives Regent a hybrid bakery identity rather than limiting it to traditional Chinese products. Local coverage has described this combination as an Asia-meets-France selection.

• Restaurant food

  Chinese restaurant dishes

  Regent's restaurant menu has included chow fun, fried rice, hot pots, General Tso's chicken, dumplings, pot stickers, bok choy, seafood, duck rice cake, and mapo tofu. Its house-special fried rice has included chicken, barbecue pork, pork sung, and shrimp. The menu has supported breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dim sum-style dining.

• 2012

  Expansion into Capitol HillStrategy

  Background

  After building its Redmond business around cakes and bakery products and later adding Chinese food, Regent pursued a larger Seattle presence.

  Action taken

  The company opened a Capitol Hill venue with a full restaurant, cocktail lounge, and more upscale interior design.

  Aftermath

  The Capitol Hill location later closed permanently, while the brand continued operating in the Seattle-area market through other locations.

  Source

• Development of a bakery-focused Bellevue formatStrategy

  Background

  Regent expanded beyond Redmond while maintaining a differentiated bakery identity.

  Action taken

  The Bellevue Factoria location was operated solely as a bakery rather than as a full-service Chinese restaurant.

  Aftermath

  The format allowed the brand to extend its cakes, pastries, buns, and other baked goods into another Seattle-area market.

  Source

1. 1Regent Bakery and Cafeen.wikipedia.org