V Tropical Bake Shop

I was about to write a review of this place until I read the current Inspection Report from the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health which reads the following:
Facility Inspections
Facility Details
Facility Name: V TROPICAL BAKESHOP
Site Address: 3041 MCKEE RD, SAN JOSE
Phone: (408)729−3798
Programs Description: V TROPICAL BAKESHOP
FOOD PREP /​FOOD SVC OP 0 – 5 EMPLOYEES RC 2
Inspections
Latest Inspections:
10/​08/​2014 — ENFORCEMENT ACTION — VOLUNTARY CONDEMNATION AND DESTRUCTION
10/​08/​2014 — ROUTINE INSPECTION-​COMPLETED
Major Violation Cited — K07M — Improper hot and cold holding temperatures
Site Observation:
Various foods found above 41*F inside front display case refrigerator (measured at 63*F). Also found 3 Special Enseymadas stored at room temperature, they have real cheese as a topping.
[CA] — Maintain cold potentially hazardous foods at 41*F or below.
[COS] — All foods made before 12pm were discarded, 10 pansit, 1 package of empanadas, 3 special enseymadas. Other foods were relocated to walk in cooler
Minor Violation Cited — K27 — Food not separated and unprotected
Site Observation:
Found raw chicken stored over butter and bread in walk in cooler
[CA] — Store raw meats on bottom shelf
Minor Violation Cited — K35 — Equipment, utensils — Unapproved, unclean, not in good repair, inadequate capacity
Site Observation:
Front display case refrigerator measured at 63*F, inside found meat empanadas and pansit.
[CA] — All refrigeration units holding potentially hazarous foods must supply 41*F or below to its contents.
Repair by next week, send work order and verification it has been repaired (take photo of thermometer inside unit) to me.
Jessica Zertuche, REHS
(408)918−3359 (direct)
Minor Violation Cited — K43 — Toilet Area: improperly constructed/​supplied/​cleaned
Site Observation:
Men’s restroom toilet is loose and no toilet paper available
[CA] — Secure toilet and provide toilet paper in dispenser
Minor Violation Cited — K45 — Inadequate floors, walls, ceilings: built, maintained, clean
Site Observation:
Found brown accumulation on walls, particularly in dry storage room near light switch.
[CA] — Clean walls
02/​07/​2014 — ENFORCEMENT ACTION — FACILITY RE-​OPENED
02/​07/​2014 — FOLLOW-​UP INSPECTION
02/​04/​2014 — ENFORCEMENT ACTION — PERMIT SUSPENSION — CLOSURE
Comment: cockroaches
02/​04/​2014 — ROUTINE INSPECTION-​COMPLETED
Minor Violation Cited — K06 — Inadequate handwash facilities: supplied or accessible
Site Observation:
OBSERVED PAPER TOWELS STORED ON TOP OF PAPER TOWEL DISPENSER AT KITCHEN HAND WASH SINK.
Major Violation Cited — K07M — Improper hot and cold holding temperatures
Site Observation:
OBSERVED PLATES OF NOODLES AND EMPANADAS STORED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE.
Major Violation Cited — K23M — Observed rodents, insects, birds, or animals
Site Observation:
FOUND LIVE COCKROACHES ON FLOORS AND WALL NEXT TO FOOD PREP TABLE AND COOK LINE. FOUND ONE COCKROACH ON WALL BEHIND SHELVES WITH FOOD CONTACT SURFACE ITEMS. FOUND DEAD COCKROACHES ON FLOOD NEXT TO WALK IN COOLER, AND ONE DEAD COCKROACH INSIDE 3-​COMP SINK.
Minor Violation Cited — K29 — Toxic substantances improperly identified, stored, used
Site Observation:
FOUND CHEMICAL SPRAY BOTTLE STORED OVER POTS AND PANS.
Minor Violation Cited — K30 — Food storage containers are not identified
Site Observation:
OBSERVED OPEN BAG OF FLOUR AND FOOD CONTAINER LABELS ARE FADED.
After reading the above report, I will never go back!!!
I’ll have to check with the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health website
before I try any other place. Lesson learned!

Filipino bakery. Breads were soft. I tried the «ube bulilit» like a mini Hawaiian roll stuffed with the purple yam. sweetness to a good level, not overly sweet. I also tried the casava wrapped in banana leaf which was good too. They also sell pancit which is like chime in with a mix of clear ND yellow noodle. They do accept cards and service was really friendly. I asked alot of questions since I’m not sure what each item tastes like lol. And since I can’t each cheese I always ask. They were very patient with me and all smiles. I’ll be back!

It was aight. I guess cuz I came in at the end of the day, there wasn’t much if a selection.

Wow and yum! Came in while I was waiting for the hair salon to open next door. My tummy and taste buds are still smiling inside. The Ensaymada was so fresh, soft and delectable. I had a small cheese crossaint which was just right for me. Both for a mere $.65 each. Handmade, plump eggrolls filled with veggies and some ground meat are $.99. I was so tempted to try the chicken empenadas, but will be back very soon. Highly recommend this bakery.

Really tasty ube breads when you want something sweet. What a gem of a place! Filipino bakeries are really new for me and I’m totally loving the baked goods I got last night to enjoy this morning. The bread is fresh tasting, moist and most of all, the gorgeous ube filling is spectacular. Also the ube marbled muffins are great too! Highly recommended.

Pineapple Cream Cheese. If its in it, I’m buyin’ it and I’m eatin’ it. Their Pineapple Cream Cheese breads are addicting.
Ube rolls, I would trust no one else to get this done right. Just here, just right.
Don’t walk out the door with Kutsinta if you didn’t get your coconut to go with it!
So worth it to have one here when I can’t make the Valerio’s mother store in DC
Five stars

The only item I keep returning for is the monggo cup cakes…
It’s delicious… I like how its moist upto 2 – 3 days…

This is a great pan de sal stop!

Turon is my love, and boy is it tasty here. Sold at 65cents each, they are unique in that they are rolled like an eggroll, and topped with a carmelized coating. The amazing sweet crust on the exterior is crunchy and definitely makes me feel guilty after eating, but once in a while cant be that bad can it? ;) If you love bananas then grab a couple of them, heck prob even 10. it’s gooooodd yo, ill try to venture out and try different things in the future but turon is my homeboy

My Ratings:
Quantity: 3
Quality: 4
Price: 4
Location: 3
Parking: 3
Service: 2
Speed: 2
Overall: Pandesal and other baked goods is what I come here for. The service can be lacking and somethings snooty but I’m in and out quick enough that I don’t stress about them. Parking can be hard during busy hours. Place is small but sufficient for what they offer. But their breads especially their pandesal is the best!

Being a Filipino (Pinoy), sometimes I get the craving (infrequently) for a bag of hot pan-​de-​sal (dinner rolls). Sadly for me, every time I come here, they are never hot, and they are always out of it. They said the ones in the plastic bags are fresh — but how come they advertise that they bake it fresh everyday and throughout the day and that they have them piping hot! Nope, not so true!
V Tropical does sell a variety of other Filipino desserts. They are similar to Goldilocks (another Filipino bakery) but in a smaller scale and not as fancy especially on the packaging. They are cheaper and you can get your dinner rolls here for under $ 3 vs their competition which you could pay up to $ 6 or more per bag usually about a dozen rolls!
The staff here is blah — like most small Asian food businesses, sometimes you sacrifice service for their food!
Cheers!

I was craving for Burnt Almond Cake and I normally buy them from either Peter’s (
) or La Patisserie (
). I read somewhere that V Tropical Bake Shop carries some of the best burnt almond cakes, so I came here to get one.
But, they didn’t carry what I wanted. But there were other bakery goods that looked good, so we got some cheese roll or something and a chicken bake. Both were a dud. Didn’t like them at all. My taste buds were spoiled and I had to eat something else to get rid of this taste.

I was getting my nails done next door and I couldn’t resist the delicious smells of Filipino goodness!
From the palate of a super Americanized, yet enough street cred, Filipino Mexican American foodie:
Cheese Bread (ummm en-​sa-​ma-​da?) Good, not dry, and not too sweet
Turon: it tasted like banana, but I didn’t see it? I like when you bite into the banana and it all comes tumbling out
Bibinka: I’d like it if they sold smaller portions, but if you’re sharing its a good size and price. Definitely cheaper than Goldilocks!
Pan de sal: It never makes it to the house. The kids eat it all on the car ride home!
Thumbs up for baked goods

If you want pandesal then go here since its cheap @under $ 2:50 but if you are planning to get your filipino dessert fix then don’t get your hopes up because it was a great disappointment.
Leche flan — not creamy at all. My sister described it as cold scrambled eggs! Maybe over exaggerating but usually when someone orders Flan there are no leftovers in a Filipino house! Very disappointing…
Ube puto — tasted bland, their huge but
white puto — a little better than the UBE but HOW is anything better than UBE!!!
Worth a try:
Cheese ball — tasty
Cinnamon cheese roll — tasty
We did come here on a late Sunday so expect alot of things to be sold out and not as fresh as it would if they first open… I’m giving this place a modest 3 starts…

On the way to the Montere Bay Aquarium, I came across this cute little bakery and decide to grab some pastries here for breakfast and to snack on later. I was actually shocked at the total. With 1 pandesal, 1 cheese roll, 1 cheese ball, 1 chicken empanada, and a pork roll, the total was less than 4 dollars. CHEAPEST BREAD EVER.
The pandesal was hot out of the oven, chewy, just yummy, but due to the fact that it is meant to be regular dinner roll, it didn’t have much flavor, so to me, although it was good, it wasn’t anything special. The cheese roll had cream cheese in the middle, and I slightly regret not getting the one with sugar coated all over. The cheese was slightly sweet, but missing a little more sugar for it to be classified as sweet bread. The cheese ball was chewy but definitely more a savory item, but not very memorable. The chicken empanada and pork rolls were both pretty good appetizer items, and the empanada had it’s share of crustiness, but since they were cold, it wasn’t as good as it could have been. They might be able to microwave it for you in the back if you are also on the run as I was, but just on eating it cold, I wasn’t exactly blown away.
Overall, this bakery was dirt cheap and had really interesting authentic Filipino items, especially the ube, but since they came in a pack, I wasn’t able to try them. Maybe if I was around the area again, I would most definitely try the ube cupcakes, but as for the other stuff, I don’t think it was anything too special.

Cheese Bulilits, Espasols, Bibinka, The other kind of Bibinka, Palitao… Man… Need I say more?
For those who don’t know what any of those things are:
Some kind of delicious cheese bread rolls, a kind of rice rice cake with rice flour and cooked in coconut, Another kind of fluffy savory cake with sugar, the other kind of sticky rice cake with brown sugar, and lastly, yet another type of rice cake with shredded coconut and sugar and sesame seeds on top.
Just write my list down, go there and order. You will L-​O-​V-​E.

I love when family from the Bay visits me in Stockton. They usually bring me a bunch of baked goods from this place, but I would love to eat my Ham & Cheese Roll without metal hardware with it (see picture I uploaded).
Don’t worry Valerio’s I still love this place… at least the screw wasn’t inside my food! Gave me a good laugh that day.

I am no connoisseur in Filipino food and pastries, so I needed the help of Unilocal to search for a place with delicious treats to bring over to NYC for my boyfriend and his family.
V Tropical Bake Shop is a simple bakery. Nothing fancy. Walked in and was greeted by the friendly ladies behind the counter. The bread rolls were located on each side of the store and a glass counter in the front held some hot pastries. I definitely knew I wanted to get the Pan de Ube, because Ube anything is simply delicious! I love how there were so many variety of pan de sal, each with different fillings– ube, coconut, red bean, mango! Each bag had about 5 rolls for $ 2.25. Great prices! I bought a bag of pan de coco for my parents, and they absolutely loved it and will be back for more.

MACAPUNO ENSAYMADA! Nuff said.

Begeezus, this place is amazing!
Two buses+Light Rail=~2.5 hours to get here!
Of course, there was also the exciting experience of almost getting run over by 4 – 5 speeding cars, hooray!
Anyways, they have such a huge selection here! Bread, pastries, and pies everywhere :9 At first, I grabbed a ton of stuff. And then I realized that I only came with a backpack, so I figured I’d look like a homeless person that just robbed a bakery– unattractive!
I ended up getting the pan de sal with ube and two cheese rolls and a cheese ball. Only $ 4!!! Do you know what I can buy with $ 4 at a traditional American bakery? A cupcake with some extra crumbs! Wao. Had I known, I would have just gotten somebody to drive me here and bring the whole damn store home, so we could have a super party.
I actually had to go to Starbucks to charge my dying phone, so I ate the stuffs there. As I was unpacking my goodies, one of the baristas came up to me and told me that the pan de ube was his favorite: D heheh…
Anyways, the cheese balls are the BEST! The cheese rolls are pretty good, too. Unfortunately, I suffered from cream cheese overkill for the rest of the day… I didn’t care, though. I shoved 4 pan de ubes down my throat due to its deliciousness…
Droooooooool, I was planning on sharing the pan de ube with my friends but I changed my mind. They can get their own (:0

Glad to see that they have meat-​infused Pan de sal. It’s exactly what I wished for in my previous review.
I prefer their meaty corned beef Pan de sal. It almost reminded me of the one’s I used to get at Starbucks in Manila. I’m also a fan of their Menudo Pan de sal and Pork Adobo Pan de sal. Flavor of both menudo and adobo were spot on. I just wish I had more of it! They also have chicken Pan de sal available.
These tasty treats are only a buck fifty each and perfect for breakfast or a quick lunch.
Another surprise? They now accept credit cards!