Kapé Kaya: Orlando’s Saturday-Only Filipino Bakery Worth the Wait

This one is just okay. It’s probably better if you take it home and heat it up in an air fryer or toaster oven for a few minutes so the brisket on the inside is warm. It oddly reminded me of the Chinese hot dog buns I’d get at Chinese bakeries, even though it’s nothing like it. The meat was salty and savory, but I expected the brisket to be sliced and instead it had more of a pulled pork consistency, which I wasn’t a fan of. The pickles help cut the richness, but this hefty puff pastry was too decadent for me overall.

To my limited home baker background, this is a croissant dough molded into a muffin shape and filled with buttercream frosting with shredded cheese on top. This was pretty good, definitely heavy, but the croissant was flaky and still fluffy. The buttercream was sweet but not overpowering, and the cheese on top adds a salty note that helps balance everything out.

This is an item that cannot sit for a long time. I came early in the morning and the croissant was still crisp and flaky, but with all that whipped cream I can tell this would get soggy after a few hours. The blueberry whipped cream is light and airy, the croissant has a rich almond filling, and the little blueberry jelly cubes on top were a pretty garnish. Eat this fresh since it isn’t something you can bring back to life in the oven unless you want it swimming in melted heavy cream.

This was a unique combination and I had my reservations going in, assuming it would be a carb overload, but it was pleasantly surprising. It reminded me of the crab rangoons from Chinese takeout restaurants. Crunchy outer shell with a creamy, sweet mayo heavy mix of pasta and imitation crab. I liked this one, but I don’t think it would be the most appealing to everyone.

This is a real creative pastry item. At first glance it looks like a sunny side up egg on a thick piece of toast. It’s like a very dense, coconutty cake with a tart mango puree garnish on top, and you don’t taste much of the croissant layers underneath. This is definitely the sweetest item I tried, and I would say it was a bit too much for me.

The cheesecake caught my eye even though I’m not a huge fan of cheesecake in general, but the colors had me sold on a slice. It’s a pandan cheesecake with a soft raspberry cream layer on top. Since it’s a Basque cheesecake there’s no crust, which is a plus for people like my wife who prefer a crustless cheesecake, though I’m more indifferent to that detail personally. The sour raspberry cream is light and helps contrast the rich creaminess of the cheesecake. I don’t think the pandan flavor really comes through all that much since cream cheese is such an overwhelming flavor, but it’s definitely a very visually appealing slice.