Safeway has these cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing on sale for $2.50 every few Fridays (regular $6), and I got them several weeks ago. They are very good – as long as you microwave them first. They are semi-freshly made, so they don’t have the annoying, metallic preservative taste of the ones that come in a can and you need to bake yourself. They are obviously not as good as home made ones, but they don’t require the work either.
I love cream cheese frosting, so I loved this, but it is ridiculously sweet, so I can’t eat more than a bite. Still, it’s a very good bite.
I first tried almond croissants at the Berkeley store of the now defunct La Petit Boulangerie chain when I was in college. As a starving student, these were a special treat which I’d allow myself once in a great while, but I absolutely loved them. Since then, almond croissants have had a special place in my heart, though I seldom get them.
I came across these Almond Croissants at Trader Joe’s during a recentish trip and picked them up without much thought. When I finally went to make them, I realized that it wasn’t a simple endeavor. I had to let them defrost overnight and only then I could bake them. I was frustrated, so I took them out from the freezer and put them in the fridge and waited a couple of days before touching them. As I looked at the instructions more carefully, I realized that I had to actually let them rise at room temperature, on a pan, separated from each other, for nine hours before this baking process – which I did swearing I’d never buy these again. Alas, after making them, I changed my mind.
These croissants tastes exactly like the real thing. Maybe not as good as my memories of the ones from La Petit Boulangerie, but similar to other almond croissants I’ve had since. The dough was very light with a bit of a bready taste, but one that grew on me. The almond filling was very tasty. I’ll definitely get them again next time I go to Trader Joe’s.
Competent pastries from this stand at the Farmer’s Market
I woke up very early Saturday morning so by the time mid-morning came about, I was actually hungry enough for a bite. So I talked my husband into going to the farmer’s market for some fresh orange juice and something to eat.
There aren’t too many food choices at the Bayfair farmer’s market – dumplings, felafel and a couple of bakery stands – so Mike went for the obvious and got me a couple of pastries from Alonso Baking and Foods, a Hayward based bakery.
Overall, I liked the blueberry strudel, once I heated it up. Even before I appreciated the crystalized sugar on the pastry, which gave it texture in addition to sweetness. But the blueberry compote/jam was just OK – too sweet and one note. I’m not sure that it could be any better in a baked good, however. I enjoyed it, but I’m not sure I’d get it again.
The cream cheese danish reminded me in taste and appearance of a cinnamon roll, though it didn’t have the heavy cinnamon flavor. The pastry has that rustic texture, somewhat on the dry side, that so many artisan bakeries seem to favor nowadays. I actually prefer them softer and chewier, but they do get better with heating. The flavor, however, was on point. The thick, dry sugar glace was delicious and the cream cheese was just heavenly. It tasted farm made. I’d definitely want it again.
Both pastries were $5 each and they were huge, large enough to share – one would be way too much for one person.
Alonso Baking and Foods San Leandro Farmers’ Market at Bayfair Center Bayfair Center Parking Lot by Khol’s San Leandro, CA Sat 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
The best place for sánguches de miga perhaps in the world.
Every visit to my family in Los Angeles ends the same way: with a stop at Mercado Buenos Aires in Granada Hills before we hit the road back home. And we always buy the same things: ‘sánguches de miga, facturas and empanadas. We have, in years past, actually stopped at the café for breakfast or lunch – but not since the pandemic and thus this is a very limited review of the place. I would like to go back for a meal, though as the last time I ate there my father was still alive and came with us, it does make me a little sad to think about it.
Mercado Buenos Aires operates a combination café, restaurant, deli and grocery store – selling Argentine food imports. They have two locations, the original one is in Van Nuys, but I’ve only been to the Granada Hills one. I think it might have started as a market – mercado -, but over the years the market area has become smaller and the restaurant area has expanded. That’s not surprising – it’s now easy to order non-refrigerated foods directly from Argentina. The Mercado remains a good place to buy frozen imports, such as La Salteña empanada shells and pie crusts, but as we never bring a cooler with us, we never actually buy them.
This trip we stopped in the early afternoon mid-week – unusual for us, as we tend to leave early in the morning. Being this late, they only had a few facturas left – and none with dulce de leche. Facturas, are the Argentine pastry per excellence. They are made from a sweetened pastry dough not too dissimilar to that of danishes, but lighter and chewier. They usually have a sugar glace on them, as well as dulce de leche, crema pastelera (pastry cream) and/or jam. My daughter only likes the dulce de leche variety, so I only got a couple for myself. Neither was that great – but as they usually are (and they were just a few months ago), I think it was due to it being so late in the day. Facturas, like doughnuts, are best when they are fresh, and degrade in quality very quickly. You can’t eat them the next day.
I did get a cañoncito de dulce de leche for my daughter. This is a horn-like pastry made from puff pastry and filled with dulce de leche. It was good, but my daughter is not as big of a fan of puff pastry as she is of factura dough.
I got my usual sánguches de miga. These are sandwiches similar to English tea sandwiches. They are made with very thin crustless sliced bread. Mercado Buenos Aires sells sánguches triples, which means they have three slides of bread – one separating the cheese lawyer from the ham layer. The key to these sandwiches is the bread – which needs to be very thin for it to work. Usually, only specialized bakeries make their own. I have no idea where Mercado Buenos Aires gets theirs – but it does taste like the real thing. Other Argentine markets seem to use regular sandwich bread, but that is too thick and has the wrong flavor. The bread is rather expensive, which makes these sandwiches expensive as well. When I grew up, we only had them for special occasions. I think it must be cheaper to make the bread now, as they seemed more affordable to me last time I travelled to Argentina – but that might have been due to the exchange rate.
The most common sánguches triples have a layer of cheese and a layer of ham – and here is where the sandwiches of Mercado Buenos Aires truly excel. Instead of using Argentine cheese they use Muenster, and it turns out that that’s a much better choice. Thus I actually prefer these sandwiches to any I’ve had in Argentina – and, believe me, I’ve had a lot.
Like with the facturas, you need to eat these fresh. They also lose their quality very quickly. Mercado Buenos Aires sell packages with 6 sandwiches.
Mike got a couple of beef empanadas for the trip back and he enjoyed them though didn’t find them remarkable. That’s because my own empanadas are so great, that it takes a lot to impress him. He had empanadas throughout Argentina and never found one as good as mine. But he keeps getting empanadas at Mercado Buenos Aires, so you know they are good enough.
I didn’t get a receipt, but all of this food together was a little over $26 after tax – the empandas are warm, so they might be taxable. I’ll go again in a couple of months and see if I can find out the prices of each item.
Mercado Buenos Aires 16137 Devonshire St Granada Hills, CA (747) 529 6380 Su - Th 7:30 am – 9pm F - Sa 7:30 am – 10pm
I’ve lived in San Leandro for decades, but it wasn’t until a week ago that I ever thought of trying Bit of Ireland Bakery. That’s mostly because I’m not in the habit of going to bakeries. I will buy the occasional pastry at the supermarket, or get a craving for donuts, and when the kids were little, we would stop at the Chinese bakery in the way from school, but otherwise it’s Mike who gets the idea of bringing pastries home.
Thus he was surprised when I suggested that he go to Bit of Ireland – or rather, “that Irish bakery on that strip mall we always drive by” – and try to get some actual Irish pastries. By the time I suggested it, it was a bit late in the morning, so I’m not sure that he succeeded. But the pastries were pretty good.
He got three pastries. One was clearly a cinnamon roll, another seemed to be a butterhorn, and the other an apple flavored sweet Danish. In reality, they all had a similar flavor profile. They were tasty when microwaved – because every pastry is better when warmed – and dipped on coffee, though that made the apple one lose its flavor. It was $8.50 for the three.
I’d like to send Mike again and try the more Irish stuff, but I guess it’ll have to be earlier in the morning.
Bit of Ireland Bakery 1268 Davis St San Leandro, CA (510) 568-7398 M - W 5:30am – 3pm Th - Sa 5:30am – 4:30 pm
My daughter picked this pancake bread at Trader Joe’s and I was intrigued enough to give it a try. It’s very much like a coffeecake, only neither the cake nor the topping are as sweet. It’s supposed to taste like buttermilk pancake with syrup, and I really don’t get that. It is pretty good, however, and if I wasn’t limiting carbs I’d buy it again. It costs $4.50 for the loaf.
Is this award-winnning San Francisco bakery worth the hype?
Juniper is a relatively new bakery and café in San Francisco which gained fame a couple of weeks ago when it won a croissant competition. It made the papers and my husband, a croissant lover, decided he had to cross the Bay and try them himself. When he first went, the day after the newspaper article came out, he had to wait 45 minutes in line before getting the goodies – he just went back yesterday, early on a Saturday morning, and the wait was gone. The stuff was just as good, however.
Order with chocolate croissants, butter croissants, Cubano croissant, chocolate brownie and black sesame kouign amann
Butter croissant.
These are large, airy but still very buttery croissants. The outside is flaky – too flaky, really, they’re a mess to eat – and the inside soft and buttery, and rather insubstantial. It didn’t need any extra butter. We enjoyed the croissants very much.
Butter Croissant Loaf
We got this our first time. It’s basically a loaf of very airy/light croissant dough topped with either crystalized sugar butter or black sesame. We got the former and I also enjoyed it a lot – I loved the sugar. I prefer it to the croissants themselves.
Chocolate croissant.
These were also great, made with high quality dark chocolate and not too much of it. Specially after reheating it, it just melts in your mouth. And a little croissant goes a long way.
Black Sesame Kouign Amann
This is similar to a cinnamon roll but with a black sesame paste instead of cinnamon (or in addition to?). I loved the butteriness and caramelized sugar, both in flavor and texture, and the black sesame paste was pretty good too. The pastry wasn’t as sweet as I feared. I’d definitely get it again.
Chocolate Brownie
In my old age, I’ve lost much of my taste for chocolate so I no longer gravitates to brownies. Still, this one was pretty good. It was lighter/airier than ordinary brownies without sacrificing the chocolate flavor. For that reason, it was also less sweet. I would have preferred some nuts or something else to add to the smooth texture, however. I probably wouldn’t get it again for myself, but that’s just because I’m no longer a chocolate fiend.
Hazelnut Florentine Choux
This was basically a cream puff with a crust atop the cream. This one had “rum diplomat creme, hazelnut toffee crisp” and it was good but not great. The flavor was more sweet than anything else and I didn’t like the crust. We wouldn’t get it again.
Juniper Lemon Choux
This one had “lemon curd, juniper berry, meringue, mint”. It was better than the hazelnut, as you could actually taste the lemon flavor, but also not compelling. It really felt like a generic dessert. I also wouldn’t order it again.
Cubano Croissant
One of the awards Juniper won was for their Cubano croissant, which comes with “mojo pork, ham, pickle, whole grain mustard.” We enjoyed this very much. The light, airy croissant worked well as a base for the fillings. The mojo pork in itself was very tasty and had a melt-in-your-mouth texture I enjoyed. However, I actually preferred the croissant without it. The flavor and mouthfeel of the ham and cheese was too perfect and did not need the pork. The mustard could be a little overwhelming in some bites, they should use less. Still, I’d definitely order this again.
Juniper 1401 Polk St, San Francisco, CA Daily 7:30am to 3pm
This Cuban Bakery is All the Rage in Southern California
Updated in September, 2024
Judge by the hype Porto’s has been getting in recent years, you would never guess that Porto’s Bakery has been around at its original location in Echo Park since 1976. Perhaps its expansion into six locations hit the Southern California zeitgeist at just the right time. Affordable prices at a time of high food inflation is certainly a draw. All I can say, is that when the co-founder died a couple of weeks ago this was news worthy of a “have you heard?”.
This was my second time at Porto’s. The first time I was less than impressed. Don’t get me wrong, I loved their prices but the baked goods? Not so much. Camila got a cinnamon coffee cake ($10.25 a small ring cake) that was quite good, mostly because of its cinnamon pecan streusel, and I’d had high hopes for the guava strudel ($1.25), but it turned out to be no better than what I could make myself with some puff pastry and guava jam. Later, my sister got the refugiados ($1.35) for her baby shower, which are guava strudels with the addition of cream cheese, and these were marginally better. Still, this is the one place my mother will go out for breakfast to, and I was happy to oblige her.
We hit the Porto’s in Northridge mid-morning on a Tuesday. I thought this would allowed us to beat both the breakfast and lunch crowds, but apparently everyone else thought the same, as the place was packed – just as packed as when I went for the first time earlier in a weekend morning a couple of months before. It is, fortunately, quite a large locale, so we were able to find a table to accommodate the four of us (+ newborn baby) fairly easily. This was also my opportunity to learn how Porto’s actually works.
You see, Porto’s has four different counters, and you have to go to the correct one to order what you want. At the Cafecito counter, which is located to the far left of the entrance, just next to the dining room, you can order coffee drinks, smoothies and juices – they do have fresh orange juice. They also have a small selection of baked goods. After you order, you need to hang around as they will call your name when your drink is ready.
I ordered a dulce de leche latte ($5 for a small), and I liked it quite a bit. For me, it had the perfect amount of sweetness and coffee flavor. It tasted as caramel rather than dulce de leche, however. My daughter also had one and she didn’t like at all – she thought it was too strong and not sweet enough; adding more sugar didn’t help. She is not a coffee drinker, however. My sister had the passion colada smoothie ($5.5), “mango and passion fruit ice-blended with a touch of coconut cream” and it was quite good, it did taste strongly of passion fruit.
At the Café counter, along the main wall facing the front door, you can order food, pastries and drinks. They have a breakfast menu, salads, sandwiches and main dishes as well as cold drinks. If you order a food dish you can also order any drink from the Cafecito offerings. If you just order a pastry, you’ll have to go to the Cafecito for your drinks (except for the beverages in the Cafe’s menu). The line here was quite longer than at the other counters, but they will bring your food to your table (as well as any Cafecito drink you order here). They give you an electronic device which allows them to locate you.
If you are only interested in getting pastries, then just head to the Bakery counter. The lines are shorter here and they go faster. You will be able to eat your goodies in the dining room, or any of the tables along the wall or in the patio outside.
Finally, at the end of that counter, you’ll find the Cakes counter, where you can pick up their cakes. They have some coffee cakes, loaf cakes and portioned caked desserts at the other counters, but round, decorated cakes are the Cake counter.
I wasn’t extremely hopeful about Porto’s, after my experience last time we visited, but I was willing to give it another college try. As it was mid-morning, neither breakfast nor lunch time, I decided to hit both at the same and get a little from each menu. Thus I ordered a croissant chocolate twist ($2.75) as it sort of reminded me of the wonderful torsades-aux-pepites-de-chocolat we used to breakfast with in Paris a whole lifetime ago. I won’t say it was that good, it lacked the wonderful pastry cream for one, but they were better than I expected. I appreciated the small chocolate pepites, much smaller than chocolate chips, and the dark chocolate flavor – which contrasted nicely with the mildly sweet pastry. It’s served cold, so it was better when I microwaved it later. I’ll definitely get this again.
I also got a baked ham & cheese croissant ($3.25), which I left for breakfast the next day as I wasn’t hungry enough for that and the rest. It’s also served cold so it does need to be microwaved, but it stood very nicely to the microwave and the pastry didn’t get too chewy, as often happens. I liked it even more than the ham & cheese croissant I get at my local bagel shop, and those are $6. This illustrates why Porto’s is so popular.
Finally, I got a ropa vieja sandwich ($8.7), which comes with crispy fried plantain slices. I was a little afraid when I ordered it. Ropa vieja – shredded beef cooked in a tomato sauce flavored with onions and bell peppers -, is one of my all-time favorite dishes. It’s a pain to make (well, to shred the beef), but it’s absolutely delicious. I got my recipe from a Frugal Gourmet cookbook ions ago, and I was a bit afraid about just how it would compare to the “real thing” – assuming that the ropa vieja at Porto’s would be that. And I was also afraid that Porto’s ropa vieja would just not be that good. I needn’t had worried. Porto’s ropa vieja was almost exactly like mine. It had a subtly bitter element – perhaps a different choice of wine? -, but it could have fooled me. So the ropa vieja sandwich was absolutely delicious. The soft bun had the right amount of filling and was a bit hard to maneuver, but I managed not to spill any on myself (a huge accomplishment). For less than $9, this was also wonderfully priced and oh, so delicious. I had the other half the next day for lunch, and it held up very well to the microwave. I’ll certainly be ordering this again. They also serve it as a plate, and I might do that instead.
Camila, had a chicken milanesa sandwich ($9.6), which comes with mozzarella cheese, tomato, smashed avocado, and spicy jalapeño spread, all in a Medianoche roll. She was quite happy with it, strange given everything the sandwich had inside it. But then again, this girl just loves milanesas.
My mother tried the Napoleon slice ($4.45), a cake consisting of layers of puff pastry covered with vanilla pudding and topped with puff pastry crumbs and powdered sugar. This is a pretty mild tasting dessert, which somehow manages to be more than the sum of its two parts. I think it’s because it’s comparably light and not too sweet, thus appealing to both the very young and the middle aged or older. Now, it won’t win any bakery awards, but it was pleasant enough.
My sister ordered the fresh fruit tartlet ($4.45), which was a little unwieldy and broke when she tried to take it out of the box, but she otherwise liked. It has a lot of fresh fruit, including apple slices. This is a good bet for people who are pretending to be healthier.
Given that Porto’s is the one place my mom will go ut to for breakfast, I will no doubt be returning. But I would return anyway after this experience.
And return I did. I visited my family again in September, and once again we went to Porto’s – this time for breakfast.
I wanted to get a breakfast dish both to try one but also to be able to place our whole order at the Café counter. I thus got the torrejas. This is the Porto’s version of French toast.
I’m not sure what bread they used – their website described it as their “signature croissant loaf,” but they don’t list that as available, and the bread seemed to have more flavor and ingredient on it. In any case, it was very good – the slices were thick and substantive, but still light and fluffy. The torrejas came with a guava sauce, mango cubes, strawberry slices and blueberries and is served with whipped cream cheese. I like to add mascarpone cheese to my French toast, but these had already been cooled down by the fruit, so they didn’t really melt it. Still I liked the dish overall – and it was definitely large enough to share.
I also tried the flan, which was pretty average for a flan. That’s a good thing, as flan is delicious.
Others in our party were happy enough with their orders, but I didn’t get details.
We did bring my sister back a fresh fruit tart ($33). I had a slice later and enjoyed it very much. It has a tasty shortbread crust and a not-too-sweet pudding base, in addition to lots of fresh fruit.
Porto's Bakery & Café 19467 Nordhoff St Northridge, (818) 534-5210 Daily 6:30 AM - 8 PM Part of a Southern California chain
I’ll be honest, before planning this trip to New York City, I had never heard of knishes, and had no idea how to pronounce them (the K is not silent). But while researching the neighborhood around Katz’s Deli, I came across Yonah Schimmel’s Knish Bakery and I knew we had to stop and try a knish.
Yonah Schimmel’s has been on this tiny store on Houston St. (pronounced “HOW-ston”) for over a hundred years. Schimmel, a Romanian rabbi, started selling knishes from a cart in Coney Island back in the 1890’s, and eventually was able to open a brick and mortar store in Manhattan. The shop is now owned by his grand-nephew.
Knishes are baked dumplings, consisting of a thin flour dough enveloping a filling, often mashed potatoes with onions, but it may also include ground meats. They seem similar to pierogis, but as the latter are usually boiled or fried, the texture is different. There are also sweet, fruit knishes. As we had just had lunch at Katz’s, and as we had no method to reheat a savory knish back at our hotel, we got two sweet ones to eat as dessert later.
I got the blueberry cream cheese knish ($8.50). It was exactly what it sounded like: a thin pastry surrounding slightly sweetened cream cheese and cooked blueberries. It was very rich, not very sweet and very tasty. A very grown up dessert – and one knish is certainly enough for two people. Mike got the apple strudel knish ($8.50) and that was less successful. It was basically apple pie filling in that same, thin dough, but it wasn’t sweet enough for his liking. He was terribly disappointed.
If we went back to NYC, I’d be curious to try to savory knishes, and I’d get a blueberry one again. Yonah Schimmel’s Knish Bakery does ship nationwide through Gold Belly. A 6-pack of knishes will cost you $80, shipping included.
We had a lot of great food in our trip to New York City, but I wasn’t expecting having so much great French food. Then again, why not? The enormous day population in Manhattan means there is market for all sorts of food, and enough competition so that not-so-great-restaurants probably don’t survive for long.
L’Amie Pierre, a casual eatery serving French pastries for breakfast and salad, soups, sandwiches and quiches for lunch, was located very near our hotel. I’d scoped it out online before the trip, but Mike saw it on the taxi ride from the train station. He was excited to hit it our second morning in NYC, and it proved to be just as good as its reviews.
In all, we ate breakfast there once, and got take out twice more. I didn’t take any photos of the fare, but you know what a croissant looks like. My description will have to suffice my memories.
We can’t say the plain croissants ($4.2) were as good as any we had in Paris – because it’s been too long since our Paris days to actually remember them – but they were the best croissants we’ve had in the US. They were flaky, buttery and soft and everything you want in a croissant. The flavor was on point, and they were delicious with the butter and jam available at the store.
The ham and cheese croissants ($7) were even better – but only when warm. They have a good ratio of ham to cheese, they are not overwhelmingly salty and they were just very tasty when warm. Cold, however, they were just OK.
Perhaps my favorite treat, however, was the baguette with butter and jam ($3.50). The mini baguette also had great flavor and crunch, and the butter was very high quality. The jam is Bonne Maman strawberry preserves, if I recall correctly. They give you a little jar of it. I’m not sure if there was a choice, as Mike was the one who ordered.
The restaurant itself is very casual, with some regular tables, counter space facing the window and other tall tables, that I think are meant to be shared. Their coffee and cappuccinos were good, but not particularly remarkable. You really come here for the pastries – and bread.
L'Amie Pierre
149 West 51st Street
New York City
917-639-3991
Monday - Friday: 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
Saturday: 09:00 am - 5:00 pm
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