Philippine Bread House
“Only thing is that you need to go early in the day because they do tend to run out of the fresh Pan De Sal.”
“All baking is done on the premises and nothing says "home" like their fresh ensaymada and other Philippine pastries to boot.”
“Although I don't like most pastries, I can't say no to the flaky brioche-like dough, stuffed sometimes with purple yam or coconut.”
Philippine Bread House
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Under $10
8 reviews
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I've been to the Filipino bakeries along the 600 block of Newark Ave., but the Philippine Bread House seems to garner the most hype around JSQ. Walk inside and you'll see glass shelves stocked with a variety of Filipino pastries, cakes, desserts, and bread among others. From the pan de sal to the ensaymada, mamon, and bibingka, they've got quite a selection here. If you're looking for a hearty meal, Cafe Filipino is on the right side of the bakery serving up authentic Filipino dishes, either a la carte or as a part of a combo meal.
Food for the Gods ($1.35/ea): These have always caught my eye. I've seen these little brown rectangles at many Filipino bakeries but never tried it until today. Taste and texture wise, it's a lot like banana bread, but with dates. They're soft and sweet, with plenty of crushed walnuts mixed in. It is not too sweet, which I really like. I'm guessing this would be a great match with tea.
Pan de Sal ($3): One of the better pan de sal I've bought. Each roll is pretty dense, but still soft (especially when you heat them up). I like how they don't coat their pan de sal with an excessive amount of bread crumbs like many other places.
Mocha Pianono ($4.75): Always buy pastries when they're fresh; Pianono is no exception. The cake was soft but spongy, with the right amount of sugar and cream rolled in the middle. Their mocha flavor is pretty light, but it does make this cake roll smell good. The cake is just 'alright' for me; it doesn't wow me. Maybe I'll have better luck with a different flavor or their Taisan.
Overall, this is a nice bakery. It's nothing to write home about, but I do find this place to be clean, orderly, and well stocked with a relatively large selection of goodies.
Their Ensaymada is a must for bread lovers. Soft freshly baked sweet bread topped with butter, sugar and cheese. Literally, life changing.
I may amend this later and go for a full 5 stars, I'm waiting on trying some of their hot food bar beyond the tasty lumpia. From what I experienced, I would willingly return to try more (and pick up some more pan de sal).
The neighborhood is on the not great side. Parking in their tiny lot was an exercise in bravery and geometry, so be forewarned. Upon entering, you're greeted by rows of brightly lit pastries and wire racks filled with every variety of bread and rolls imaginable. The ensemaida was the stuff dreams are made of: sweet, savory, with the crunch of sprinkled sugar, all wrapped up in a fresh, fluffy, bread package. The pan de sal was hot and fluffy, and there's not many ways you can get hot bread wrong. The lumpia were not hot, but at 3 for $1 I wasn't complaining. They were still crispy and had a nice seasoning blend on the meat filling.
Overall, good enough to get me to return here. My area is sorely lacking in Filipino casual dining and baking, so its worth the trip.
I spent Fourth of July weekend in Jersey City, and discovered this spot on my Yelp app while looking for a nearby breakfast spot. Because it was a holiday, I won't hold it against them that they didn't have much out. Their ensaymadas weren't even close to the best I've had – the ube ones were tasty but the regular ones used too much margarine on the outside while being very dry on the inside. The mongo bean bread is very soft and delicious, though! I also grabbed a package of pandesal because they didn't have any fresh ones out, but I suppose it could have been because it was a bit later in the day. Maybe I'm just spoiled by having lived near large Filipino communities (Woodside and Elmhurst in Queens, NY) my whole life that a bakery like this doesn't really impress.
4.5 stars.
I have been a regular customer of PBH for several years, as I regularly receive requests from my parents and/or brother, who do not live in the Jersey City area, to bring back pan de sal and/or ensaymada from this bakery when I visit them.
Locals and enthusiasts in the NJ/NY/CT tri-state area do not consider the positive reviews here "hype" at all, because they know that there is no other establishment remotely similar to Philippine Bread House in the area at all. My parents have told me repeatedly that the pan de sal and ensaymada remind them of what they encountered growing up in the Philippines. You simply cannot say the same thing about the mass-produced pastries with the "Christine's Bakery" or other labels sold in supermarkets or even similar pastries found at the nearby branch of the international chain Red Ribbon.
The ensaymada is so good, in fact, that we have actually mailed mass quantities of the famed pastry to my brother's godmother out in Texas. Philippine Bread House, if you are listening, a delivery service would increase your profit margin immensely.
Their bitsu-bitsu (Filipino donuts) and sapin-sapin (glutinous rice cake) are excellent as well.
As for the previous comments regarding the turo-turo, or food served buffet-style and sold as a combination platter, I have found that turo-turo in the area is not very reliable tastewise at all. You are better off going to Fiesta Grill on West Side Avenue for food served to you restaurant-style.
Hence, the 4.5 stars is primarily for the bakery and not the turo-turo or catering options. In any case, if you have not been to this establishment and live in the area, you should definitely make it a point to try the various pastries they have here.
Protip: for those who live further out, you can actually freeze the ensaymada in freezer bags, defrost them in the fridge overnight, and either briefly stick them in the oven as is or warm them up in the microwave with a slightly wet paper towel underneath. A few minutes in the oven at 300 degrees or 10-15 seconds in the microwave should do it. My parents and brother use this technique to store mass quantities of these pastries for future consumption.
Also, for any orders greater than ten of any one item, I would strongly suggest ordering a couple of days in advance by phone. By request, they will place your pastries in a cake box instead of plastic bags, which certainly helps if you are traveling from afar. I tend to give them an extra dollar in their tip jar for this service as a courtesy, as the boxes are not usually for pastry storage.
Finding parking in this area drives me crazy, and that parking lot by PBH is impossible sometimes, but the frustration/stress/road-rage is worth it to get to the Philippine Bread House.
I've gone here since I was a young kid. It's one of the original spots in JC where you could get legit Filipino food, fresh pan de sal, ensaymada, as well as a mean halo-halo. This was THE place you went if you lived in the area. The big draw was (and still is) the pan de sal. You come here for the fresh pan de sal because PBH bakes the rolls fresh on the premises.
My parents would order turo-turo. I wasn't into it so much – with the exception of lumpia shanghai (meat filled egg rolls) and ukoy (squash and shrimp fritter). I can't have the lumpia now because of the meat, but I'm still down with ukoy with that vinegar sauce. Good stuff.
While they serve hot food combo platters, the main attraction is the bakery – the pan de sal, special order cakes, and various sweets. My favs have always been the cassava cake and ube halaya.
A great place for authentic Philippino treats. My Philippino friends highly recommended this place. One of them got the ube cake and brought to our place. It was so fluffy with tons of coconut flavors. A bag of bread was so cheap, which could last you a while!
I would love to try their savory options.
The phrase "love at first sight" doesn't really apply here for various reasons. First of, it's located in not so delicious part of Jersey City. The exterior of the place is not exactly screaming "hey, come here and try our food". Once you get passed the first two impressions and when you think it will get better from there, well not exactly. LOL
As you enter PBH, there's bakery section and to your right towards the corner of the building there's a modest Filipino food section. It was hot outside and it's hot inside as well so, not exactly a place where you want to hang out and pull out your Macbook, have a cup of coffee kinda place.
So once you pass all those "first impressions" of the place, then you'll then be able to enjoy and understand why this place have 4.5 stars in Yelp.
I was kinda hungry and got a plate of Rice, Lechon and somekind of beef heart stew. Believe it or not, it was only $5!! I couldn't believe how cheap the meal was.
Before leaving PBH, my wife was curious about the bakery and wanted to try few different baked goods, so we did.
I was very skeptical and apprehensive about everything, I was so wrong! It was so good and it reminded me of my childhood memories from IDN.
Worth the trip and checking out! Come early and when the weather is cooler so you can sit and enjoy good stuff without feeling like you're in an oven. 🙂