New Japanese Pastries at Sun Flour Bagel

I am a big fan of Sun Flour Bagel and was so delighted that San Diego Magazine just included them in their "Best of San Diego" issue. I've written about them before but I stopped by there this week while I was in the neighborhood and learned that now both Numata daughters have been back to Japan for pastry school. With their return, says their father Hiro Numata, are a few new Japanese pastries they've created. He gave me samples to try and I thought I'd share them.

First is the Cream Cheese Red Bean with Black Sesame Seeds. Numata says that while Americans tend to prefer white sesame seeds, Japanese love the black seeds for the extra flavor they offer. The pastry itself is a treat to bite into -- soft poofy dough yields to subtle red bean flavors and the creaminess of, well, cream cheese.

Then, there's the Cream Cheese Cranberry and White Chocolate pastry. This one was nice with little bits of tart cranberry embedded in the dough and soft cream cheese combined with the white chocolate. The flavors are subtle. Don't expect American-style sweetness. It just makes for a nice mouthful with the pastry dough.

The Milk Tea Cream has the same soft doughiness of the previous two but the filling is speckled with English black tea. I liked it but was hoping for a more pronounced tea flavor.

The Japanese pastries are available only on Wednesdays and Saturdays -- but their terrific bagels are there every day. Go for the bagels, then treat yourself to one of these unique Japanese pastries.

Sun Flour Bagel is located at 6955 El Camino Real, Suite 105 in Carlsbad.


Print Page