We were along Fil-Am Highway in Pampanga when the family's interest got piqued by Jiin Bakery Korean Bread. 


So we parked and went off to Jiin Bakery Korean Bread. 


According to this Korean magazine, they have declared the Fil-AM Friendship Highway as "Friendship Korean Town Area" where as indicated is swarming with Korean establishments.   

Jiin Bakery's cakes looks delicious.  Too bad we couldn't try it because we had to endure around 4 hours travel back to Manila on that very traffic Maundy Thursday.  Some of it looks the same as Tous Les Jours.


The staffs thought we were Koreans but we honestly told them we were Chinese.  =p

The Korean owner was there too so we asked which pastries are their best-sellers.

♥ Mini Seashell

She recommended so many but we only chose this Mini Seashell.

♥ Mini Seashell

It is a small super soft pastry filled with mallow-like cream which was lightly sweetened.  My family didn't like it but I did.

♥ Matcha Cookies

I also got some of this Matcha flavored cookies which had the a unique chewy texture.  I also loved it but the family not so much.

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Jiin Bakery Korean Bread is worth a try.  Their pastries are different from what usual bakeries offer. They also have tables and free WiFi so you can dine in.

It's been a few months since we first discovered about Tous Les Jours and we've been huge fans ever since.  Whenever we go out and spot a branch, we'd definitely go in and go out with a large paper bag filled with Tous Les Jours pastries.  I have to admit, we always to tend to buy more than intended because the staff is so friendly and they always advise us of their hidden promo like buy 300 php worth and get a FREE macaron and stuff. 

So when I was invited to Tous Les Jours' opening at SM Jazz Mall, I was ecstatic to come!

*P.S. The new Jazz Mall is a foodie's haven with lots of restaurants that are soon to open!

Tous Les Jours is a French-Asian Bakery that originated in Korea with over 1,000 branches around the world including the United States.  Jazz Mall branch is bigger with lots of pastry display and a dining area.  They offer FREE wifi too.


The shelvings are consistent with the other branches.



It's my first time to visit them in the morning so I'm quite amused that the selections are more bountiful than it is during late hours.

Belgian Waffles
The Belgian Waffles are their new product. 

Blueberry Waffles (48 php)

I chose the Blueberry Waffles. Their version was thin, golden brown and crispy on the outside but slightly fluffy with blueberry bits on the inside.  It was like a hybrid of Holland waffles which is thin and crisp cookie-like waffle and the fluffy American waffles that we Filipinos are well-accustomed to.

Strawberry Waffles (48 php)

Chocolate Waffles (48 php)

Belgian Waffles (48 php)

Cakes

I've always dreamed of trying their cakes. =)  TLJ's cakes are so cute!

Each cake is created with passion by their pastry chef.  I was able to witness how they decorated their Rose Inspiration Fresh Cream Cake (498 php).  Check out the video if you want to learn to how to cake decorate (cake decoration 101).  But seeing how much skill it requires, I feel so lucky that I can just purchase them at an affordable price at TLJ. =)

Classic Chocolate Cake (598 php)

The first I tried was the Classic Chocolate Cake.  I really like Tous Les Jours light icing consistency.  This is probably the lightest chocolate cake I've ever had in terms of texture, consistency and taste.  Too bad, I'm more of a bitter-sweet chocolate lover.  
 

♥ Blueberry Berry Light Cheesecake (598 php)

The Blueberry Berry Light Cheesecake had the exquisite lightness yet still rich in cheesy flavor of a Japanese cheesecake.  It was delicious! 
 

Cookie Cream Cheesecake (798 php)

I'm naturally biased towards everything with Oreos.  So I can't help falling in love with this Cookie Cream Cheesecake.

So this is the dining area.  You enjoy your beverage and pastries here.

I tried the Iced Citron Tea (88 php).   It was a bit diluted compared to those served by other Korean coffee shops.

Almond Kouign Amann (78 php), ♥ Mango Bagel (78 php), Milk Bun (48 php) and Madelaine (38 php)

I already have my own favorite at Tous Les Jours but I took the opportunity to try something new. I tried the Almond Kouign Amann, Mango Bagel, Milk Bun and Madelaine.  I'm adding the Mango Bagel and Madelaine to my favorites list.

It's actually my first time to try the Breton originating cake called Kouign Amann.  TLJ's version was different from what I expected.  According to my research, a Kouign means "cake" and Amann  means "butter" in Breton.  It is a round crusty cake made with bread dough containing layers of butter and sugar folded in resulting into layers like a puff pastry i.e. croissant.  The Almond Kouign Amann was a thin-layered pastry glazed in thin crisp caramel coating with almond bits.  It was good albeit the sweet coating.


Tous Les Jours Patisserie Connoisseur Card

Tous Les Jours Patisserie Connoisseur Card

With the Tous Les Jours Patisserie Connoisseur Card, you can get 2% rebate with a minimum of 100 php worth of purchase.

Tous Les Jours Patisserie Connoisseur Card

How to avail and activate this card?
Step 1:  Purchase a minimum single-receipt purchase of 500 php and get this new Tous Les Jours Patisserie Connoisseur Card for FREE.  
Step 2: Activate by registering at www.tlj.ph

Macarons (28/38 php/piece), Tofu Chips (68 php), ♥ Sweet Black Rice Bread with Cream Cheese (48 php), ♥ Cream Cheese Walnut Bread (128 php) and Pumpkin Muffin (58 php)

Of course, my family will not forgive me if I didn't bring home some pastries for them.  Like I mentioned in my previous post, I love the Cream Cheese Walnut Bread!

♥ Sweet Black Rice Bread with Cream Cheese (48 php)

The Sweet Black Rice Bread with Cream Cheese is now our ultimate favorite!  This is a must buy for us in every visit. 
 

Macaron de Paris: Classics (28 php) and the Premiums (38 php)

We also love their Macaron de Paris.  Aside from being affordable, it's delicious too.  There are two types.  The Classics and the Premiums.  For the Classics, our favorite is the ♥Green Tea as the other variants are too sweet for us.  For the Premiums, we like Grape, ♥Korean Cherry and Green Apple.

Aside from their already reasonable pricing at great quality, the additional incentive of the Tous Les Jours Patisserie Connoisseur Card will surely make us frequent TLJ more.  It's also great that they continue to offer more pastry offerings so we can try something new every once in awhile. 

Just us we were about to head home, we were all bedazzled by the cute cake display of Tous Les Jours at SM Mall of Asia. We just had to go inside and check it out.

Tous Les Jours  is a French-Asian inspired bakery that originated in Korea.  It currently has over 1,600 stores worldwide.  Its branched quickly blossomed here in the Philippines too with six branches.  Tous Les Jours means every day in French.  This coincides with their slogan "Tous les Jours, serving only freshly baked bread. Fresh Bakery, Fresh Everyday"



As much as we wanted to take one of these cakes home, none of us wanted to buy one.  All of us are just hopeful that come Valentines Day, a prince charming will come and give us one of these cakes as a Valentine's day gift.  So if you're still thinking of a Valentine gift that will surely win a girl's heart, here's my personal suggestion. =)

So saving our cake craving for a dream yet to come true, we moved on to the pastry section. As we picked up the loaves on the top basket, we noticed that it didn't have any price so we asked the staff.  She said "Oh, hindi po yan binebenta.  Display lang po yan"  (That's not for sale.  It's only for display) Then she took a piece and said "Matigas po oh".  (Look it's hard)

We all laughed because we've been to some pastry shops that display their pastries that way.  We never imagined that Tous Les Jours would be bold enough to use real hardened pastries just for display purposes.  Haha!  It was quite an embarrassing experience but a funny one too. =D

I think its a great idea that their pastries are all packed and sealed neatly.  Cause to be honest, I notice that the usual bread picking system with the tongs in other bread shops are a bit faulty in terms of hygiene and appearance.  I've witnessed how people accidentally touch the bread or mess it up by picking it up with the tong, dropping it or returning it when they change their minds before they reach the counter. 

Apple Pie (48 php),  ♥ Cream Cheese Walnut Bread (128 php),  Multigrain Pan Bread (128 php),     Lets Twist Cinnamon Sugar (18 php), Soboro (28 php) and Sweet Potato Pie (48 php)

I love the Cream Cheese Walnut Bread the most among the pastries I've tried!  The rest were pretty good too.  The pricing is reasonable and competitive with other pastry chains.


Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Tous Les Jours offers a pastry shop that will surely continue to draw many customers with its adorable cakes and unique pastry varieties.  Unlike other cake shops, they are full of creativity.  It's a brilliant idea for them to create themed cakes according to events and occasions.  After seeing their lovely Valentine cakes, I look forward to visiting it again not just for its pastries but to see what cake designs they have in store for the rest of the year.