Porto's Bakery & Cafe

Porto's Bakery & Cafe in Burbank, California

Between every two or so hours of driving from Fresno to Los Angeles, my dad would need to take a break. We happened to be in Burbank at the end of our second last leg (before we got stuck in the horrendous Los Angeles rush hour traffic for two hours). Porto's is very highly ranked on Urbanspoon under the 'cheap eats' category as most of their pastries cost anywhere between $0.50 to $5. My mom was attracted my the mass amount of people hustling in and out of the bakery and my praise of how cheap it was.

I was astonished at the large display of desserts and the array of bread loaves for sale. My eyes shone while my the nerves in my brain zipped back and forth trying to make decisions. A dozen or so employees went to and fro from the cashier and filling customer's boxes with sweets. This large bakery is a busy and evidently popular place, but service is quick and friendly. Got time to kill? Grab a drink to pair with your meal or afternoon snack and enjoy some chatting time at one of the tables inside or do some people watching outdoors (if it isn't blazing hot).

Desserts from Porto's Bakery & Cafe

It would be unlike myself if I didn't leave the bakery with a box of sweets. This time, it was also because we were getting hungry and our eyes began to get bigger than our stomachs. My mom allowed me to pick four things, one dessert per person. We actually took like three days to finish these because we kept over stuffing ourselves during meals and had no appetite for dessert when returning to the hotel. Due to my lack of research and reading of reviews on this particular bakery, I wasn't sure what to purchase. My mom and I chose according to what looked appealing and what sounded special. Here is what we tried and our thoughts:

Pina Colada Mousse ($2.95) - The mousse had bits of crushed pineapple and was topped with shredded coconut, which delivered the a heavy pina colada flavour. It was one of the less-sweet desserts of the bunch and Dad liked this best out of the four we bought. The fresh orchid flower was a pretty decoration.

Parisian ($2.75) - This was a very dark chocolate cake. I, like Peanut Crumpet, prefer dark chocolate and really liked this dense and mildly sweet devil's food chocolate cake. The chocolate whipped cream was a lighter option than using buttercream icing (which I don't really like anyways). My only suggestion is that this cake could be more moist.
 
Cappuccino Mousse ($3.50) - Compared to the Pina Colada mousse, this mousse was much thicker and very sweet. The texture was almost cake-like. Due to the sugary-ness of the dessert, this individual cup could be easily shared between three people. Although it was just decoration, the chocolate coffee bean was the highlight for me.

Mango Cheesecake ($2.95) - Cheap cheesecakes usually don't do justice to the cheese part of the name but this one was pretty well made and a good amount of cream cheese could be tasted. The mango flavour is also strong enough, though a bit artificial.

Our total came to roughly $12 for four items, which is a good value in my opinion. My mom expected it to be cheaper, but since I'm used to paying almost $10 for a single serving cake at some fancy patisserie in Downtown Vancouver, Porto's is very cheap. There is such a vast variety of pastries and goods to choose from; everyone will be able to find something that is of interest. The serving sizes are generous for the prices and quality is acceptable. According to what I tried, many of the desserts are too sweet for my Asian family's sweet tooth, although some better than others. Porto's Bakery is not a must-do in greater Los Angeles but it's definitely a popular spot amongst locals and is worth dropping by if in the vicinity. 

Reviews on Yelp



Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡