Shine Bakery and Cafe at the SM Aura is the new venture of Chef Rob Pengson (Goose Station) and Chef Sunshine Pengson. Chef Sunshine moved Gourmandise, her old patisserie in Serendra and incorporated a savory menu into her new cafe. Our friend Chef Gio, who works as a pastry chef there, invited us to try out some of their sweet and savory creations.
Shine Bakery and Cafe looks really whimsical with teal walls and chairs as well as candy cane door handles and fixtures inside. It’s located across Toy Kingdom on the 3rd floor of SM Aura so kids will definitely feel at home. The space is ensconced by two walls of glass giving it an airy feel plus adds some nice subdued lighting.
Be sure to check out these little boxes all around the stores filled with lots of interesting things.
Chef Gio gave us a try of the Matcha Shortbread Cookies he made. Crumbly with a nice silky butter feel on the taste buds with a subdued but still noticeable matcha flavor. These cookies won’t be available for sale until next month, so matcha addicts, be sure to watch out for these.
Next came a platter of fries they call Umami Fries (P233). French fries tossed in grated Parmesan cheese, nori, sesame seeds and other spices, served with a Kentucky Bourbon aioli dip. This is addictingly good, eat it as is or with the dip, either way you won’t want to be sharing this.
Burger were up next starting with the Spam and Egg and Cheeseburger (P398). An Angus beef patty sits between a brioche bun, topped with a fried slice of spam, fried egg, onions and gooey mornay sauce. They also serve this with yum potato chips and the same Kentucky bourbon aioli. This is going to get messy so get your napkins out if you plan on eating by hand or you can just fork and knife it away. The buns are packed but soft to the bite while the patties are meaty to the bite with lots of beef flavor. The spam adds its salty flavor while the cheese adds its sharp taste and the egg just coats everything up.
Foie Gras Burger (P598). Angus patty topped with Provolone cheese, green apple strips and a piece of seared foie gras. Lots of different flavors and textures meshing together to make an indulgent burger.
Mushroom Fondue Burger (P355). This one is topped with sauteed mushrooms and more gooey mornay sauce. A simpler burger compared to the previous two but still enjoyable with the mushrooms adding a nice soft and earthy flavor.
For the whole month of August, 2014, every purchase of a Chili Dog or Hero burger, which includes the 3 burgers we tried plus the Jalapeño Burger, Bacon Mushroom Fondue, BBQ Blue Cheeseburger and the Classic Cheeseburger Sliders will get you another Chili Dog. Don’t you think that’s a wonderful deal. The mornay sauce makes another appearance and pairs up with the chili (not spicy) and some relish and jalapeno slices to top a piece of hot dog sandwiched between a super soft bun.
Aside from the burgers, we got to try some of their savory plates like this Chicken Adobo (P365). 3 pieces of sous vide chicken with pickles, multi grain rice pilaf and a side of extra adobo sauce. The chicken pieces have bone penetrating flavor but if you want an extra flavor punch then you can drizzle some of the sauce. The surprising thing in this plate was the multi grain rice pilaf, it was so good.
Chorizo Fried Rice (P333). This is a simple fried rice that tastes anything but simple, Chorizo Bilbao mixed with multigrain rice served with a fried egg and fried banana plus two pieces of bacon. Nice and tasty but I think I’d still prefer the multi grain rice pilaf over it. I can’t believe I’m saying that about chorizo, so you know that rice pilaf is really good.
Beef Salpicao (P499). I love the marinated flavor of the beef tenderloin cubes thats accentuated by the olive oil and generous amount of garlic. They did not have sous vide egg so they used a fried egg instead, it still had a runny yolk so it was quite ok. My only complaint with this plate was the not so tender beef, it takes a bit of chewing.
Chef Gio brought out an assortment of cookies, Chocolate Truffle Cookies (P60), All Things Good (P55) and Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies (P50). My favorite was the All Things Good cookies, which has 3 kinds of sugar, marshmallow, pretzel, chocolate and a whole lot more secret ingredients. This is also another one of Chef Gio’s creations, inspired by the crazy cookie from Pi and Momofuku Milk Bar’s compost cookies.
The last thing we tried was the Elvis Cake (P1440/whole, P180/slice). Banana cake with peanut butter frosting and chocolate fudge.
After your meal you can head over to the take out counter and get a few things to eat at home like the All Things Good cookies that we bought for Lauren. She liked it so much she finished 2 in less than 10 minutes. I actually went back the next day to buy her 4 more pieces.
Shine Bakery and Cafe is a little overlooked with other restaurants in SM Aura receiving more hype but they serve familiar fare at reasonable prices. They also have a couple of dishes that show their creative and whimsical side. I’m glad I finally got to try the place, our next visit will definitely be with Lauren in tow.
Shine Bakery and Cafe
3/F SM Aura Premier (across Toy Kingdom) McKinley Parkway corner 26th Street Bonifacio Global City, TaguigFacebook Page: Shine Bakery and Cafe
Instagram: @ShineBakeryCafe
Twitter: @ShineBakeryCafe
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