The staff and security guard were friendly, however, the store only had this small window in which…read moreto order and buy from. It would have been nice to actually get in and browse and pick from the other product offerings that were available at arms length. Tsk tsk! Bad marketing support.

I have a thing for breads. I love a good crusty bread, and I also love flavorful rolls that I could…read moreenjoy by themselves. Those, or the ones that I could sprinkle with herbs and cheese and pop in the oven for a few minutes. Pan de Manila has become such an ubiquitous neighborhood place that is a reliable source of good hot pan de sal, but the bakery's breads are underrated. I just love the cheese rolls, which come plain and also flavored with pesto. I can't open one and not finish it in one sitting - it is that good. I also love their packaged spreads and smears, including the herb cream cheese, their yema/dulce de leche spread and the coconut jam that they also have on offer. My sister loves the hot chocolate that comes in packets, though I strongly believe that it's just local cocoa mixed with powdered milk. The branch in Maginhawa closes at around 11, which sucks because I would always crave a Spanish sardine and cream cheese pan de sal sandwich at odd hours of the night. However, when they are open, I would come by for their dense and heavy pan de sal (unlike other bakeries with airy breads). Pan de Manila never gets old.

This kiosk in the Mall of Asia is a great place to get a snack while shopping or after…read morelunch/dinner. Service is fast and there are 3 flavors to choose from with multiple version (plain, honey butter, etc.) 5/5 - Cookies and Cream - Definitely try the honey butter cream puff! It was crunchy on the outside and complemented well with the cookies and cream filling on the inside. Quite sweet so you may not want to eat two of them right away (unless you have a sweet tooth!)

Think a mini SnR without the whole membership hassle and you have Spice Island Trader. I was just…read morein the area waiting for a table at the restaurant I was going to eat in when I bumped into this store. I haven't seen it so I entered and ended up staying just enough to kill the time. They're one of those mini groceries with imported items, much like an SnR without the bulk. They had all sorts of Kellog's cereal brands, Japanese items, frozen fruits, and even toiletries! They carried a lot of things local groceries like Rustan's doesn't (like 20 flavors of Pringles!!). The place is pretty small and they don't carry everything, but it's a good quick stop if you're looking for harder to find imported items!

Spice Island Trader is a small and well-curated japanese/american grocery tucked into Wilson…read morestreet. While it has fine meats in its frozen goods section and a humble selection of toiletries, what you'd really go after in Spice Island Trader are their snacks and desserts. They offer rare and awesome treats like limited edition Jif peanut butter with pumpkin spice in it, japanese chocolates and cookies, Klondike Bars, and to my utter delight, Haagen Dazs ice cream bars! You'll also find yourself scoring a good deal with their chips bags in front of the counter. Think fiiiiine quality chips, a refresher from the usual big brands here, in big bags for just P150. When you make a purchase, they hand you a nice brochure and pricelist of what's available in the store, too, in case you wanted to think about what glorious gourmet junk to indulge in next!

Purple Oven brings out the cookie and cake monster in me. I can't believe I spent all those years…read morebuying mini banoffee pie at Starbucks for my birthday cake, when all along, Purple Oven had a whole banoffee pie stored in their refrigerator, ready to order and be devoured by a pie-hungry customer at any given moment. Others might not be surprised to see familiar goods filling up the refrigerators and tables of Purple Oven, but for those who still don't know (like me, because I live under a rock), Purple Oven has been the supplier of Starbucks' cakes and pastries until recently. Now that the branch at Temple Drive has opened--ironically, right next to Starbucks too--people from Quezon City don't have to travel all the way to Makati just to get a taste of their signature cakes. Right when I entered, the staff greeted me with bright smiles and they were beyond friendly, even if I was acting like a small kid at Willy Wonka's candy shop. (I can't help it! My quest for party-size banoffee pie is finally over!) Since I already know what the banoffee pie tastes like, I ended up ordering an entire box of apple pie with walnuts and a dozen of chocolate crinkles. I have to say, their chocolate crinkles can give Becky's Kitchen a run for their money. I look very forward to coming back!

A bakery that started in Pasig and has branched out into a number of cities. I won't be surprised…read more to see more of it in and out of the Metro in the near future. Stepping into the bakery is a treat to your senses. First you'll see the wide array of baked goodness they have on display, the smell of the pastries is enough to make your mouth water and if you can't wait anymore you can always try one there, they have a small table and chair set up now. While the pastries are easier to try because you can buy one of each, the cakes are a different story, you need to buy one whole but sometimes they do have personal cakes on hand which would be more convenient for those of us who just wants to try and see if it's to our liking. What to get: Lemon Squares, Choco Banana Bread, Chili Con Carne, Ham and Cheese, Ensaymada and Cheese Roll. For the cakes you can try their Mango Walnut, Choco Lava Cake and White Sansrival.

This store awakened the baker in me…read more In baking, there is little room for improvisation. Usually, you have to be by the book, follow the measurements to a T and substituting ingredients most of the time changes the outcome of the cake. Well, at least for a novice baker like me. So what I like about Wonderbake is they have just about everything that a home baker and dessert enthusiast would need. Baking tools, ingredients, frostings, decorations, they have it. Some of my baking friends they are a tad more expensive than other baking stores, but it's cheaper than supermarket prices and I love that it's so accessible to me. I have no problem getting those baking ingredients because I can always make a stop at their store in SM Southmall. In fact, no SM trip is complete without me passing by Wonderbake. I'm practically in their top 20 suki. Their staff are so accommodating too.

This bakery became my go to place for sweets. The ensaymada and cheese rolls were my late mom's…read morefavorite and mine as well. i recently tried cinnamon rolls it was good as well. The sourdough bread was light and great for sandwiches. I have yet to try the brownies and lemon bars. I will though the next time i am home. i highly recommend.

Love this bakery and for the quality you get, it's completely worth the price. Nothing tastes like…read morethey skimped on ingredients or used any substitutes for the real thing. This branch is in a really convenient location and is maintained well. The people who work here are also super nice! I bought my birthday cake (the Purple Carousel chocolate cake) here, and they gave me an extra bag of sweets! My favorites are their: *Lemon bars - really great lemon flavor and have a tart, refreshing sweetness *Chocolate revel bars - probably the best I've had *Chocolate Campfire cake - very rich, but in this amazing way where you don't get tired of eating it! I've also had their: *Purple Carousel chocolate cake - classic chocolate cake with these chocolate wafers on top *Mini Pecan Pie - not the consistency I prefer in a pecan pie but the flavor was still very good *Mini Chocnut Pie - light, could use a stronger chocnut flavor, I really liked the crust though *Cookies - I love cookies so I usually get 1 or 2 with whatever else I'm buying that day, theirs are crispy on the edges and chewy on the inside *Quiche Tinapa - Liked this a lot and just ate mine chilled, but I think it would be better to warm it a little at home

Chocolate Lover's is a literal castle of sweets, not just because of its mystical fantasy castle…read morefaçade. It's also filled with everything you need to solve your sugar cravings. This is a one of a kind store in the metro that is a must-visit for any baking and desserts enthusiast. You have a cupcake business? Look no more for hard-to-find baking tools. You wanna learn how to make desserts or are you planning on making them for fun? All the more reason to go here! More than that though, this place holds a lot of memories for me and my high school friends. We were just adolescent students wanting to form an all-girl band to take over the school's very own "music scene" back then, and we didn't have any money to buy new instruments and amplifiers. So what did we do? Make our very profitable business of selling chocolates to our classmates. Yep, it worked. After a year of melting, molding, and packing chocolates with all the stuff we purchased from this place, we were able to buy an electric guitar and amplifier, 1 bass and amplifier and a full set of drums. It has been an amazing ride after that, all because of a one-stop shop. It was one high school memory I will always cherish.

Chocolate Lover is one of the largest baking supply stores that I know of in Metro Manila. It's an…read moreimposing structure which you can't miss - it's basically a giant castle on the outside. CASTLE. It made such an impression on my when I was younger that over the years, I never forgot where it was or how to get there. Chocolate Lover has everything you need for baking. They have packaging like cupcake molds and cups, sticks, plastic wrapping and boxes of different sizes and shapes. They have ingredients you can't find in your usual grocery store such as different brands of whipping cream, artificial flavoring, different kinds of yeast, sprinkles, marshmallows, just everything you can think of basically. Of course they have a selection of baking chocolates and cheaper chocolate compounds - dark, milk and white chocolate compounds made locally or in Indonesia (Tulip brand). Aside from ingredients and supplies, they also offer baking lessons from beginner to intermediate. Watch out for this especially during the summer. I've personally never tried their lessons but I've generally heard good things.

I am utterly in love with Purple Oven. No, seriously! They're my favorite bakery as of the moment,…read moreand for good reason! I don't really like sweet stuff, honestly. But Purple Oven's decadent revel bars changed that opinion pretty quickly! When I moved to the area, I was happy to find out that it's just one tricycle ride away from my condo (and I've abused that ever since). It's always been my go-to bakery for special occasions. Of course, the revel bars are always a party hit, as well as their cakes. But I think their cookies are one of the best I've tasted! (And i've tried alot, mind you.) The chocolate macademia cookies don't scrimp on either, and is absolutely mouthwatering, especially when they're just fresh out of the oven! (You can cheat this by putting it in the oven really quickly, at the lowest setting so you won't burn anything.) Purple Oven doesn't just do desserts either! They've got a pretty good selection of bread and quiches! Perfect for a lazy brunch at home. Just pop em in the oven the next day, and they go so perfectly with some coffee or tea.

Being a cake-lover, my husband once gave me 3 cakes from Purple Oven as a birthday gift. Yes, they…read moreare that good. When they opened a branch in Makati, I just had to go. I love everything about that place, I could really spend hours just smelling their food and staring at their desserts. And it doesn't help that they actual load a new batch of goodies in the oven every hour (with a schedule posted on the chalkboard of what's cooking by what time), I think I sat there for half a day and didn't even notice I've been there that long. Whether you're in for a savory treat or a sweet-tooth satisfier, they have so much to choose from. My top picks are still Grandma's Chocolate Cake which has layers of caramel between moist, rich chocolate cake topped with chocolate ribbons and the Banoffee Pie which has a pie crust filled with banana, cream and butterscotch. If you want just a quick bite, then try their cookie selection. I love the chocolate macadamia, very chocolatey and chunky and not too sweet.