Manilabake Brings Back The Pride In Making Bread

We have been eating breads for thousands of years and making bread has continually been evolving.  Shortcuts were made, bleaching and other chemical infused ingredients were introduced. It has come to a point that eating bread is no longer healthy.

If your looking for breads made from pure ingredients all you need to have is a time machine and go back to where it all started. A time when baking requires a lot of patience and the usual TLC (tender love and care).

If you don’t have a time machine yet just head on to Manilabake by Serye Cafe Filipino.

It opened in Katipunan only this July. It is the closest to”homemade” that one can get -if one defines “homemade” as being “well-made” or created with tender loving care, using a combination of traditional and innovative methods, and only the very best local ingredients. Some of the local ingredients they use are from different parts of the country like the wild honey from Palawan, muscovado from Sultan Kudarat, tablea chocolate from Malagos, cashews from Bataan, longganisa from Vigan, buffalo mozzarella from Nueva Ecija, and coffee from Benguet and South Cotabato, Pangasinan sea salt and others.

It’s not hard to find it’s along side other restaurants in Katipunan Ave. Time machine is no longer required but patience is because of traffic.

The concept of the store is park-and-go. Given the size of the store people would just normally drop by and buy stuff to bring home, to carry with them to an occasion or even to bring to the office as their baon.

It has a few tables for dine in perfect for those intimate gathering of friends, relatives or office buddies. If you chose to dine in here are some I recommend you order.

Made with Tapol rice and chocolates from Mindanao and Visayas – chewy and highly nutritious served with coconut milk. The healthiest and tastiest champorado I’ve ever tasted. I can’t get enough of it.

They also serve pastas also with a Pinoy twist.

Also one of my favorite is the Shepherd’s Pie a la Cubana. It is topped with mashed camote and mashed potato with a la Cubana meat filling.

This is just a tip of what they offer wait till you see/taste their breads.  Let me now show what Manilabake is all about – making the finest breads.

The Empanada comes in Chicken Curry, Tuna Provencale and Ala Cubana which are perfectly baked as it has this flaky texture plus the surprise you’ll get when you get to bite the meat fillings.

Both the Chocolate Swirl and Cinnamon Raisin are crowd favorites. Here’s a tip,  toasting them actually makes gives it a better taste especially when you toast the chocolate.

The Honey Cake is made with Palawan wild honey while the Calamansi cupcake is made with, of course, calamansi.

The Pineapple Pie has a perfectly baked top, just like the empanada.  It ‘s flaky, not overcooked or stiff. Cooked well to enjoy every bite. It’s the most difficult part in making a pie, the cover because if not people will just ignored that top and head on to the filling.

I’ll have this graded A, for effort. Imagine the time spent in perfecting the floral look in this Mango Cream Pie.

I haven’t seen a banana in a pie so this will count as my first. It also has some peanut butter with it which complements the natural sweetness that the banana gives.  I suggest yo order one for your self.

The Macapuno Pandan Cake is made from fresh pandan leaves and macapuno. The green color you see on the is from the the pandan itself, no artificial coloring added.

All this will be perfect with their Tanglad Tea P80.00, whether cold or hot, sweetened with mascobado sugar. I love them both.

These are just some of what’s in store for you when you visit Manilabake.

MANILABAKE by Serye Café Filipino is located at 206-A Katipunan Avenue, Blue Ridge A, Quezon City. Operating hours are 6 a.m.–9p.m. from Monday to Sunday. Deliveries are free within a five-kilometer radius. For orders, call (02) 509 1973 or (0916) 4984547.

Visit them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Manilabake/