Another Look at Sweet and Savory Breads
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, June 8th, 2011
After reviewing a few of the breads from Breeze Bakery Cafe, I thought it would only be fair if I reviewed of some of the breads that Shilla Bakery offered as well.
Shilla has been around a lot longer than Breeze, so the Annandale location is comparably smaller than Breeze, but Shilla must be doing something right if their business is still booming and have locations in both Centreville and Fairfax.
Breads from Shilla (Image: Mai Nguyen/Northern Virginia Magazine)
1) “Pizza Sausage” – This savory bread is topped with hot dog slices, chunks of pear, pineapple, corn, green peas, ketchup, and mayonnaise. The ingredient list had my taste buds and I confused. The hot dogs make it taste savory but the fruits make it sweet (is it just me or did they try to fit whatever they could on here?). I wouldn’t really call it a pizza since it isn’t on pizza dough and ketchup can’t substitute for tomato sauce, but it is a pretty interesting.
2) Banana bread – It is adorable since it comes in two banana-shaped breads. I’m a huge banana bread lover, but this left me severely disappointed. It was extremely dry, had very few walnuts (which it forgot to mention on the ingredient label), and barely tasted like banana. I was surprised at how dry it was seeing how bananas normally make the bread really moist.
3) Ham Roll – This is a mini ham sandwich on a dinner roll. The sandwich includes ham, a slice of tomato, cheddar cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise. It was a pretty good sandwich, albeit a bit soggy from the tomato. The dinner roll is also a little bit sweet, but not too sweet.
4) Sausage Roll – This is essentially a larger version of “pigs in a blanket” except fried. The bread has been fried, but I guess since it has been sitting out, it was soft and chewy.
5) Corn Crown – Along with banana bread, I also adore corn bread, but this too was a disappointment for me. The bread was really dry, dense, and lacked that corn bread flavor I was expecting.
6) Almond Cream Bun – This is a bun filled with a smooth almond flavored cream and the bun itself is topped with slices of almond.
7) Croquette – This too was fried, but was soft, chewy, and oozing with grease when I bought it. The inside is filled with mashed potatoes, and tiny chunks of pork, carrots, and onions. It is a savory bread, but was way too greasy for me.
Mixed Berry Boba from Shilla Bakery (Image: Mai Nguyen/Northern Virginia Magazine)
While I was there, I noticed flyers for a new flavor of bubble tea that they had, the mixed berry boba. It is a frozen smoothie of blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. It was relatively sweet and I enjoyed it, except for the small blackberry seeds that got annoying to chew or spit out.
For anyone who is allergic to nuts, they have a few lists around the bakery that states which breads have nuts and which don’t. While you’re at Shilla don’t forget to try their bing soo!
Shilla Bakery in Annandale
7039 Little River Tpke
Annandale, VA 22003
(703) 333-2001
Shilla Bakery in Fairfax
3250 Old Lee Hwy
Fairfax, VA 22030
(703) 352-1446
Shilla Bakery in Centreville
6015 Centreville Crest Ln
Centreville, VA 20121
(703) 266-6001
- Mai Nguyen
Tags: Bakery, Gut Check, Korean, Mai Nguyen