Often when we mention anything about Bo Laksa King, we get emails and comments suggesting that we should check out the Latina bakery next door. We did and we were quite pleased that we did.
The Panaderia Latina Bakery is located just next door Bo Laksa King. If you go to Bo’s the next time, I would suggest you also drop by next door to check it out. You will not be disappointed.
Actually, I think you will be awed. The above is just a small section of what Panaderia has to offer. We were totally overwhelmed with all that they have. Pastries we had never seen before and every single one of them looked so delicious.
For a moment, we were quite uncertain how to go about it without asking stupid questions like “what is this?”. It is perhaps the same feeling like my Mexican friends asking the dim sum lady the same question.
The Panaderia is very South American. They are actually Chilean. And they are very friendly Chilean too. So we were glad they entertained our questions although most of the answers were totally lost in translations.
The young lady who attended to us told us that they had been running the bakery for the past 5 years having taken over from the previous owner.
One surprising thing I learned is that in the Chilean culture, these pastries are taken during our dinner time at about 6PM! This reminds us of how it was in Spain when we vacationed there last year. For the Chileans, their meal times are as follows:
- Breakfast: very light consisting of toast and coffee
- Lunch: Main meal of the day from 1PM to 3PM
- Afternoon Tea: Pastries and sandwiches from 6PM to 7PM
- Dinner: After 9PM
They make very elaborate cakes too. If you can ignore the reflection on the glass display above, you will find that the cakes are beautifully made.
With the help of the young girl, we had bought some to go. She was so sweet to even write down the names of each and every items we had when she saw that we were struggling with trying to remember them. We could get some of the names wrong below because we relied on our own assumptions when matching the written list with the pictures.
Each of them is very cheap too. The prices ranges from $1.75 to $3.00.
We couldn’t resist going home to eat them. So we stayed and ate a piece.
The above is called Cone Dulce de Leche (milk caramel) and custard. It is unbelievably … flaky, creamy and of course very sweet.
The mess was half the fun eating this. We got pastry flakes all over the table. The milk caramel was smeared on the side of the box. That was not to be wasted.
The only way to salvage that is to scrape it off with the fingers … yum, finger licking good.
Panaderia has a small eating area. They also sell food stuff from South America.
A small can of La Lechera costs $10. Suanne said it was expensive and she can get it much cheaper in the SuperStore. Maybe they are different. Maybe the ones here are the real deal imported from Chile. I don’t know.
What are these? These are tamale leaf wrappers aren’t they?
We know very little about South American food but we heard that the culinary of the continent is rich. They are not as well known as the more established cuisines but I heard that it can stand up to any cuisines in the world given it’s vast array of ingredients, seafood and meat.
I suggest you get this one above. It has a nice name … thousand layer with caramel!
This is another messy-to-eat pastry. We were debating how to eat this given that it is so tall. So we decided to squish it to a height that we can bite into it.
The other good one is the Dulche de Leche with Custard.
Flaky, flaky, flaky. Sweet, sweet, sweet. Rich, rich, rich, Nice, nice, nice.
You know, I was so impressed with Chilean (or South American?) pastries. Everyone of them can easily stand up to what the rest of the world makes.
The Shortbread Cookie with milk caramel and coated with shredded coconut was also amazingly good. Suanne said this is almost similar to the Alfajor recipe she posted on chowtimes before.
The Hojaldra is a crunchy pastry with caramel. They are cut like pizza slices.
Last but not least, the Empanada Dulce with pineapple jam. This one I did not eat.
So what do you think? Is this something you will like? For sure, they are really really sweet. It is something we will go back again and try whatever else they have to offer.
We like the prices a lot. We also like the fact that the young lady at the counter helping us understand more about their pastries. Pretty awesome.
Dulce de leche is actually called manjar in chile!
Hi Angela:
I looked this up on wikipedia and found that it is saying the following:
It is known as Dulche de leche in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile
In Peru, Ecuador and Colombia it is known either as Manjar Blanco or arequipe depending on regional variations
In Mexico it is known as Cajeta; and
In Brazil it is known by its Portuguese name Doce de Leite.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulce_de_leche …
Whatever it is called, it sure is good!
Ben
Highly recommend their tres leches (3 milk) cake and their sandwiches and empanadas.
Yay, you finally tried it!
Yes, the tres leches cake is very moist and the empanadas are delicious. You should also try the sandwiches next time too as they are unique as well.
The only downside to the desserts is that they are too sweet and rich to have more than 1 piece at a time.
A coworker told me that she boils cans of condensed milk to make banoffee pie. I wonder if it’s the same as dulce de leches?
The tres leches cake at Dona Cata (Victoria Dr) is quite good 😀
yup, boiling condensed milk makes dulce de leche. Not sure if Ben mentioned it but the place is also good to stock up on things like queso fresco, chorizos, special teas like maté, and fresh tortillas.
Here in Tucson, we have a lot of Mexican bakeries that have the sweet empanadas, but none of the flaky caramel pastries. Those look so good, and I’ll be getting some the next time we’re in Vancouver. If Panaderia has empanadas filled with pumpkin or sweet potato, I suggest you try one of those. It’s like a year around Thanksgiving dessert. Our Mexican bakeries also have Cochinitos which are gingerbread/molasses cookies shaped like little pigs.
oh my goodness those look delicious. i want one of everything! i love flaky pastries, especially made with phylo
ugh, why do these places have to be so far away ( as the world’s smallest violin plays to my complaints!). I am in high favor of Siestas or the ethnic equivlant, and pair that with anything dipped in the dulche de leche, and i’m more than good. That “Little Mermaid” cake rocks although I always envisioned a pikachu cake for my wedding (should that ever happen). What a good find!! But this plus Bo Laksa feels like a special occasion or a few friends type of place, and not so solo for this lone wolf! Nice pics, I buy my dulce de leche from the loblaws group (no frills, superstore, extra foods, super valu) and it goes well with cheesecake, cookies, lays potato chips (just try it), toast with butter, with a fork, or some fruit! yum yum, another solid post my friends!!
I have not stepped into a bakery like that before!
Thanks guys… way to ruin my “clean” eating for the last couple of weeks. 😉 I NEED to go there this weekend!
OH MY!!! This post definitely made me drool! Look at all those pastries! Next time I’m stopping by Bo’s I’m gonna get some dessert. HAHA!
This place is aces! The only problem is that whenever I go I am too full from eating at Bo’s :-).
FWIW all my Chilean friends do call that glorious substance manjar…
Thanks for the heads up about the Chorizo el_lobo_solo. It is not easy to find an authentic Chorizo here in Vancouver. I will stop by for the Chorizo and I am sure I will leave full of pastry.
Another place nearby-ish is Killarney Market as they sell “Argentinian chorizo”, although it’s pricey. I got excited to make my own choripan with chimichurri.
Is there an address for this place? I’m probably not looking in the right place for it.
Hi JellyBelly:
The Panaderia Latina Bakery is located here: http://bit.ly/92FmbI
Ben
Thanks Ben.
The chef actually has professional pastry training which is why these pastries do compare with the best that french pastry for example offers. The pastries are quite sweet and rich yet nicely crisp and fresh as well. This is a high quality bakery with some unique sweet treats. The flavours do tend to be quite similar though lots of dulce de leche and custard. I second the fresh tortillas they sell the kind that are made without preservatives and they freeze well!
I can’t believe I’ve never been to that bakery before!!! It’s like 3 blocks away from my parents house!!
I always boil my own canned condense milk for hours to suffice my dulce de leche craving, I think it taste way better than those no name jarred ones from a regular grocery store.
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After a failed attempt to lunch at Joyce Jiaozi up the road, I ended up noshing on a beef empanada and a huge slice of tre leches cake at Panaderia. Beef in the empanada lacked flavor and punch. But the TL cake was impeccable. I shall be back ……
Does anyone know the opening hours? Thanks