Philippine Bread House — Restaurant in Jersey City

How did I end up around the corner from what is supposed to be the best Filipino bakery in the Tri-State area? Not sure, but I'm happy I did! I used to hit Philippine Bread House somewhat regularly. Staff is generally friendly, except for an older woman who doesn't really speak English (and even she's not that bad). The young guy who works the bakery is great in particular. On weekends, this place will have a line 20 people deep at peak times, made up of all ages and races. It's an anchor for Journal Square, and the bakery lives up to the hype.

The pan de sal (little rolls cooked with salt) are tasty, and you get them freshly baked. The bicho (fried cruller with sugar) is a great substitute to Dunkin' Donuts or just about anything else. Their empanadas, while small, are cheap and tasty with a nice, sweet breading to them. Cake rolls, ensaymadas, and ube bread are all great--in particular anything flavored with ube. Best thing they sell though has to be the lengua de gato, which are small, silky smooth sugar wafers shaped like little cat tounges. Once you get past the weird name, they're addictive. While I can't quote the prices for all of these, lets just say they're very reasonable.

Their cafe is more of a mixed bag. I've gotten some things I really liked, and some that I ended up tossing. I'd recommend sticking to the safe stuff like lumpia, beef with peppers and onions, pancit, etc. The food really just sits out in the open, so the earlier you get it the better. Prices are around $10 for 2 meats with rice, which is a good deal given the portion. Just use your discretion when ordering. Also it's worth noting that you have to pay for cafe items separately from the bakery, which is a pain in the ass. All in all, still a great place to have...

The best fresh pan de sal right out of the oven. Just like the neighborhood shops in the Philippines but you don't have to get in line at 4am to get some. Bread is so good most people start eating it on the way back to the car. Great Christmas cookies with chocolate, jelly in the middle. Good for sharing with coworkers or family. They sell queso de bola which is a great match with the pan de sal. Other excellent Filipino desserts/snacks like gato de lengua, mamon, ensaymada, sapin sapin, suman. If you need a quick bite and don't want fast food, their turo-turo selections are pretty good. Chicken, fish, pork, vegetable dishes with rice. Recommended the lumpiang gulay (vegetable egg roll), fried eggplant, any of the fish dished. But especially Bangus (milk fish) which is already deboned. You get the delicious taste without the tedious work of deboning. They also have rellenong Bangus which is milk fish with stuffing (akin to Stuffed Turkey) which is a delicacy in the Philippines because of the respect and honor given to painstaking...

We come here for breakfast on the weekends for the traditional topsilog meals. Remonds us of home. We were told the tocino, longganisa and beef tapa are made in house. That plus eggs and fried rice can satisfy any pinoy breakfast cravings. The laing is also good, we always get that and the dinuguan. Price are reasonable. Service is good. Another favorite of pirs is the pandesal. They make it fresh everyday and ours is warm straight from the oven all the time. We would get a bag of pandesal on sunday and eat every morning for the rest of the week.. and it taste just as good heated in our oven toaster Also, another favorite of mine is the ensaymada. They have the ube and regular. Both are delicious. I like them here more (way better than goldilocks around the block ) there is parking available...