I guess K Bakery did open on August 10th as their sign said. That weekend, the Missus and I had finished shopping at Nijiya and walked by. We saw the “Open” sign and the door was open so we decided to check the place out.
A full array of cakes….
Though the pastry side seemed a bit empty.
That’s when a gentleman, who I believe is the baker/owner walked out and said they weren’t open yet! I mentioned the seeing the Open sign and he told us “no, you have to see the other open sign….that’s when we open.” Huh? And then he told us that they open at 10am. Ohhh-kay…..
Anyway, about a week later, after having lunch, the Missus and I headed over to see if they were open. And then it became clearer….the “other sign” is the LED Open sign. So note to self’ even though the cardboard sign say “Open….dey no stay open, okay?”
We took note that most of the whole cake are priced at $30 and up…..
Some of the prices gave me pause…..
A tiny “boule” for like seven bucks……
And then I took a closer look and found that prices for many items weren’t that bad. Though six bucks for some manju seemed a bit high….
I really prefer more savory pastries and didn’t see anything that fit my tastes….so I asked the really nice woman working. She told me that the only thing they had other than croquettes was the spinach pastry, so I bought one of those ($3.50). The Missus chose the Manju ($6) and the Castella Cake ($3).
The Missus thought the Castella Cake was fine…not overly sweet, slightly buttery, but one the dry side. She did not care for the manju as the exterior was hard and chewy and the filling too hard and sweet. Even for Korean style manju.
The Spinach Pastry wasn’t too bad, perhaps a bit more doughy than I prefer, but it had some light butteriness to it.
After this visit….I went to check prices at Tours de Jours and Paris Baguette….both chains originating in South Korea. It seems that comparable items at K were about 40 – 75 cents cheaper. Though the chains tend to have more crisp and lighter pastries.
After getting lunch at Spicy House, I decided to head on over for one more visit to K Bakery. I sent the Missus a text asking Her if She wanted anything…….I guess She’s not into K and told me “nope”. So, I went in looking for something savory.
I saw that they had Sausage Pastry ($3.50)…more like sausage rolls.
And then, on the rack I saw another Sausage Pastry….the woman working laughed as I asked her if it was “Soseji-Ppang”…she asked me if I was Korean….in Korean, which of course I could not answer. I did get one of those sausage bread ($3.50), which turned out to be the best item I’ve tried at K.
The sausage was adequately salty-savory…..I would have enjoyed the cheese more spread out over the bread and I missed pungent-vegetal components. The bread was again on the dough side, I prefer a more fluffy bread. The ketchup was applied with more of a heavy hand than I prefer as well.
The Sausage Bread was a non-started for me.
Being too sweet. The dough was a bit wet and didn’t break up the way I prefer.
Anyway, I think I’m done with K Bakery for now. I appreciate the fact that it is a locally owned mom-and-pop business and really want to support them. So, perhaps I’ll return in the future. The prices for many items are lower than the chains; though I find the stuff at the chains to be lighter and more to my taste.
K Bakery
3860 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 10am – 8pm