Bakery Adventure: Porto's Bakery

Porto's Bakery
3614 W Magnolia Blvd
Burbank, CA 91504

A place that's been on my "To Try" list for the longest time, Porto's Bakery is one of those bakeries that everyone and their mothers (including my own mother!) have tried, but has somehow slipped through my fingers. I've heard my friends rave about it, but I never got the chance to try it until I found myself in the Burbank area for a Conan taping. It's located a little less than a mile away from the studio so it finally all worked out for me. Yay!

We got there around 6pm-ish and the lines on both the cafe side and bakery side were massive. I have a feeling it was all people who just got off work or finished a TV taping (like myself! :P). I could've sworn some of the guys in the line were in the audience with me!

Porto's selection of baked goods is so large, I honestly wasn't sure where to begin. I knew I had to try their potato balls, cheese rolls, and guava and cheese rolls, but there was so much more to choose from, I was a bit overwhelmed!

Just look how yummy their cakes look!

Here's a recap of all the things I tried:

Potato Ball ($0.90 each)

POTATO BALL: I bought 5 potato balls so I could eat one fresh and take the rest home for my family. These are fried mashed potato balls with a chili-like meat filling. The filling had a slight, but distinct bell pepper flavor. I'm personally not a big fan of bell peppers (I have to be in the mood to eat them) so I didn't really like the filling too much, but it was tasty overall. My bro engulfed his and when he finished he said, "I think I ate mine too fast. I want another." Haha! Too bad I only had one for each of us, but next time I'll know to buy more.

Opera Cake ($2.95)

OPERA CAKE SLICE: Has anyone seen the anime "Yumeiro Patissiere"? This is the cake that Kashino makes for his sister to convince her to allow him to become a pastry chef. Haha, because of that, I wanted to try it for myself. This cake tasted just like tiramisu, but with chocolate ganache. The official description stated that it was "Almond sponge cake soaked in coffee, layer of chocolate ganache, layer of mocha butter cream. Topped with chocolate." The slice itself isn't too big, but it's very rich. I cut pieces off to share with my friends, which left a little more than half the slice for myself and even that was a little too much for me. I love tiramisu and chocolate so this was really good, but I can only have it in small doses. 

Top: Cheese Rolls ($0.70 each), Guava and Cheese Roll ($0.75 each)
Bottom: Dulce de Leche Kiss ($0.50 each), Raspberry Kiss ($0.50 each), Blueberry Muffin ($1.15)

CHEESE ROLL: One of my friends loves these and almost bought 2 dozen, but he settled of just one dozen. These were very similar to a cheese danish but with a sugar coating instead of icing. The outside is like a flaky, buttery croissant with a outer sugar crust and slightly sweetened cream cheese filling. I thought they were pretty good, but didn't particularly like the sugar crust. I'd still buy these again though.

REFUGIADO (GUAVA AND CHEESE PASTRY): This was made of flaky puff pastry with a guava and cream cheese filling. I'm normally okay with guava, but I didn't really like this. It has a distinct guava flavor and when my mom bit into it, she knew instantly that she had had this pastry before. My bro doesn't like guava so he didn't like this at all. I won't be buying this pastry again.

DULCE DE LECHE KISS: This cookie has a buttery, shortbread-like outside with a dulce de leche filling. I really liked these. The center was chewy and not overly sweet even though they were dusted with powdered sugar. While I was in line, a few of the people ahead of me each bought a dozen of these so I thought I'd give them a try. I'm very glad I did and will be buying these again next time.

RASPBERRY KISS: These reminded me of the Knott's Berry Farm cookies. They had the same cookie outside as the Dulce de Leche Kiss, but with a raspberry filling. They actually reminded my brother of a Nutrigrain bar or a Fig Newton. Although they were tasty, I would pass on these the next time I go to Porto's.

BLUEBERRY MUFFIN: I thought this was a solid blueberry muffin with a lot of blueberries. I bought this because my friend's cousin recommended it, but I still like the fresh mini muffins from Souplantation the most. I wouldn't buy this muffin again in future visits, but I might try one of their other muffins.

Materva ($1.40)

MATERVA: And lastly, the Materva. According to the menu, this was an international soda that's only available at the Glendale and Burbank bakeries. I wasn't sure if I should choose the Materva, Malta, or Inca Cola (which are all only available at the Glendale or Burbank locations), but the saleslady suggested the Materva so I got that. (Haha, I bet I could've gotten this cheaper at a Hispanic supermarket! xP) Anyways, Materva is a yerba mate soda that tastes like red licorice in soda form. I'm not a big soda person so I only finished half the can, but it was interesting to try. Needless to say, I won't be getting this again.

Alritey, that concludes my adventure to Porto's. I wouldn't mind going back if I'm ever in the neighborhood again. There are also locations in Glendale and Downey so if those are closer to you, don't be afraid to check them out if you haven't already! (Haha, though I bet you already have since EVERYONE has tried Porto's! Now, including myself! :) ) 

Until the next adventure...