What’s For Lunch: Sweet and Savory Breads
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Monday, June 6th, 2011
I was running a bit late for work this morning, so I didn’t have the time to pack lunch. Instead, I stopped by Breeze, a local Korean bakery and café, to pick something up. Breeze carries a large selection of savory and sweet baked goods and also sells homemade gelato as well as various beverages. It’s one of my favorite places to hang out and chat or do homework since they offer free Wi-Fi. Since I was in a rush today, I just grabbed a few things to go.
Starting from the top left going clockwise: Curry bread, bread with blueberry cream filling, white bean manju, and bread with green tea filling. (Image: Mai Nguyen/Northern Virginia Magazine)
There’s this saying in Vietnamese that directly translates to, “Your eyes are hungrier than your stomach,” which means that you end up getting more food than you could possibly ever eat because everything looks extra good when you’re hungry. In this case, I had that dilemma and bought way more than I generally eat. But for the sake of reviewing these items, I slowly forced myself to eat them (not that I’m complaining).
Curry Bread (Image: Mai Nguyen/Northern Virginia Magazine)
The curry bread was the only savory bread I bought and even though it sounds strange, it did not disappoint. The bread itself is drizzled with a bit of ketchup and the filling is curry-flavored with small chunks of beef and green peppers.
Green Tea Bread (Image: Mai Nguyen/Northern Virginia Magazine)
I thought this bread was adorable since it’s shaped like a leaf (at least it looks like a leaf to me). The filling is more like a bean paste that tastes like green tea and is a tad sweet but not overbearingly so.
Blueberry Cream Bread (Image: Mai Nguyen/Northern Virginia Magazine)
It looks like normal bread on the outside, but has an extremely smooth blueberry cream filling on the inside. The bread itself is really soft and somewhat chewy.
White Bean Manju (Image: Mai Nguyen/Northern Virginia Magazine)
The filling for this is a white bean paste, and is a little harder than the green tea filling from the other pastry. The texture, shape, and filling all remind me of a Chinese moon cake. The white bean paste isn’t too sweet, but sweet enough for my tastes.
Since it’s a bakery, their selection changes daily which keeps the items fresh. I’ve also been there at night and before they close they will generally have 30% off on certain items to get rid of their stock. In general, I find Breeze relatively cheap since most of their breads average around $2 to $4 a piece depending on what it is. I haven’t had the chance to try their coffee yet, but I do like their ginger tea (granted it’s just ginger, sugar, and hot water).
There are a lot more things I didn’t get to cover such as their chic interior and the cakes that they offer. So if you have the time, I definitely recommend paying them a visit yourself.
Breeze Bakery Cafe
4125 Hummer Road
Annandale, VA 22003
703-462-9093
- Mai Nguyen
Tags: baked goods, Bakery, Gut Check, Korean, Mai Nguyen