"The name might have changed, but the restaurant and bakeshop formerly known as Krystal’s still serves pastries baked onsite. The first thing you’ll want to order is the pandesal, which has a tendency to sell out fast because these are some of the best in Little Manila. Pandesal isn’t salty as one would guess from its Spanish name (“pan de sal” literally translates to “salt bread”) and is to the Philippines what sliced white bread is to the US: ubiquitous, basic, and ranging in quality from mass-produced to freshly baked at the local panaderia. Ask for it plain or ube, eat it straight or toasted, dunked in coffee or hot chocolate, filled with meat or left alone. A slight step up would be the pan de coco, which comes stuffed with grated coconut, and on the far end of the richness spectrum sits their Brazo de Mercedes (Arm of Our Lady of Mercy). The Brazo is a type of jelly roll where a custard of egg yolks is encased in a pillowy meringue." - paolo espanola
