Porto's Bakery (Downey) 9.5.14

This is actually a chain post from the previous post about Burger City Grill in Downey because this is the view from outside of BCG:

Porto's with its beautiful, beckoning glow

I first was introduced to Porto's Bakery by a friend of ours who lives near the location in Glendale and brought an assortment of Porto's goods to our housewarming.  A few months later, a co-worker celebrated her birthday with a Porto's cake (the Parisian--I only remember because this began my absolute obsession with this cake) and a couple of months ago, just prior to beginning this food blog (wait, there was eating before this food blog?!), I went to the Downey location with a friend of mine for lunch.  Here's what I had then: 

Pan Con Bistec w/ Plaintain Chips & Passionfruit Iced Tea

For savory foods, they have a variety of panini sandwiches like the Pan Con Bistec (Marinated Steak, Potato Sticks (like Pik-Nik potato sticks), Grilled Onions, Tomatoes and Mojo i.e. Cuban Garlic Sauce Pressed on Cuban Bread) that I had and the Ropa Vieja.  They also do dinner plates (which have rice, beans and fried plantains alongside chicken, steak, rope vieja (shredded beef) or lechon (shredded pork).  Those are available after 11am. They also serve breakfast and a variety of savory pastries included stuffed croissants and empanadas.  I liked my Pan Con Bistec, but honestly, I wouldn't come just for the savory food.  I'd probably grab a burger across the street unless I really felt like a sandwich. 

Porto's, for me, is all about the dessert.  So, when I found myself across the street on Friday night, just before closing time (8:30 pm on Friday), I had to drag my brother to pick up some dessert to go (there was no room for dessert after BCG).  After texting back and forth with my husband to get my very picky 8-year old's request, here's what we ended up with: 

Carrot Cake & White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
 

These were for the boys and they enjoyed them.  Contrary to what this post shows, Porto's doesn't just do cakes. It's a full-service bakery with breads (baguettes, cuban bread), cookies, pastries, tarts and mousses (and savory pastries as mentioned above).  Aside from what's shown, I'm also a fan of their triple chocolate mousse and creme brulée tart.  I've had the fruit tart as well which is okay, but I've had better elsewhere, which is something that I really can't say about the pièce de résistance, The Parisian:

  

The best cake I've ever had: The Parisian

The Parisian is my favorite cake in the whole wide world.  In fact, for my birthday at the end of the month, I've actually told my husband that he needs to drive to Downey to get me this cake.  It is a Devil's Food chocolate cake layered and decorated with chocolate whipped cream then finished with chocolate shavings.  The cake is super moist and I love it because the chocolate whipped cream is lighter and less sugary than butter cream with a rich chocolate flavor.  And, I'm a sucker for chocolate shavings. If you love chocolate, you have to try it (and the triple chocolate mousse)--if you're like me and you like chocolate okay, but you're not a total chocoholic, you still have to try it.  It's so delicious. 

A few side notes: 1) Porto's serves excellent coffee and tea (by Art of Tea, one my favorite local tea producers) to go alongside their pastries and apparently really good fresh squeezed OJ. 2)  Be prepared for a long line.  The line moves really quickly so don't be discouraged, but there's seriously always a line.  

May you have your (Porto's) cake and eat it too!