Then I went to three more, starting with Chico's since I had an errand to run in that area...
TC had been craving orejas, so I got a couple, along with another flaky round pastry topped with cinnamon and sugar (for Bert)...
The orejas here paled in comparison to the version we had from Mexico Lindo. These were not butter and the flakiness was not really there. I don't think I'll buy any more orejas here, sorry Chico's.
Last time I was here, I got a beef tamale for $1.50. Today, I tried the other flavors. This was the chicken...
It wasn't as moist as the beef and a bit on the bland side. Below was the cheese tamale which had a few embedded jalapenos in there.
There was too much masa and not enough cheese filling. Again, on the bland side.
Earlier this afternoon, I thought I would stop by Lambers Chinese Bakery since I was feeling nostalgic after having gone to Mexico Lindo earlier that week. I wanted to compare and see if there were any changes. Here is the little strip mall it's in on the northeast corner of Orange and Third. Here I am making an illegal left against a double yellow line near the stoplight. No one was around!
If you look closely, you can see the most awesomely named hair salon, "D'Sexy Look"!
If you ever need to get your lips or eyebrows tattooed (they have "permanent makeup" advertised via neon sign on their storefront), that place does it! The Chinese (really, it's Filipino) bakery is next door.
Before you get your hopes up, there is no real Chinese stuff here. A few of the yelpers were rather PO'd about that. Well, the only thing "Chinese" are the owners (who are Chinoys, "Chinese Filipinos").
I remember this place used to have really good pastries in the late 80's and early 90's. I liked their palmiers and their baklava. Their cakes (not pictured) were also really good - strawberry, strawberry banana, chocolate mousse, and carrot (which I never got). They were light, fluffy and were encrusted with thinly sliced almonds pressed onto buttercream frosting.
Time has sure made a difference here. The quality of these pastries didn't look all that good. On their bottom shelf, they had some really inferior looking macarons (for .75). They were thin, flat, and the woman couldn't even articulate what flavors they were. I didn't want to buy one but I thought she would at least know. The mac shells I saw were red but with a pale green filling, and the other macs were cream colored.
Their palmiers look quite sad. They were small and didn't even curl in the way they are supposed to. Sorry to sound like a hater but I call it as I see it.
More of the sad looking macs that I will never buy.
My siblings and I used to really like this bread, the pineapple and coconut so I thought I'd get some for old time's sake. They used to be $1.00 and more recently $1.50. They are now $1.95 each. My dad bought some recently and gave us the coconut which TC liked.
Right after leaving Lambers, I made a quick right out of the parking lot on Third, and another quick right onto Quintard...I couldn't help but stop by Moreliana's before going home...
The younger gal was working there that day; she was there during my last visit. Perhaps she is the daughter. Everyone who works there is super nice.
I really liked how they arranged the triangular pastries below...very efficient!
In the bag...
A tale of two orejas - The one of the left was from Moreliana while the bitten one on the right was from Chico's.
Can you see the difference? Chico's is not even caramelized. It's like they didn't even put any sugar in there. I wish I had a side by side comparison of the one from Mexico Lindo. That is my measuring stick of what a palmier should taste like, at least from a Mexican owned bakery.
These are all repeats of stuff I'd bought from the past, with the exception of the empanada de manzana (apple) on the lower left...
I got two of my favorites, the coyotas de piloncillo...
They had the sugared donut ring again...
So soft and fresh!
Lamber's Chinese Bakery
1445 3rd Ave, Suite E
Chula Vista, CA 91910
(619) 426-7458
There is no website but here is a mixed bag o'reviews.
I'll be honest. This place used to be really good. Our family would buy our cakes here all the time (second to Mexico Lindo, the other Chinese bakery in Chula Vista) for special occasions, but then, thequality started to go downhill. I don't know how long ago that happened since I haven't been here in years, but my gosh...just looking at the appearance of their baked goods, it was embarassing to look at. Even a grocery store's baked goods section looked better than their motley offerings.
The owners are Filipino Chinese but there really isn't anything "Chinese" except for the pineapple and coconut bread which is kind of a "milk" bread. Even then, that bread was not really good either. Compared to the Chinese or Asian style breads I've tried at Pangea, 85C, and JJ. which offer a similar "milk" bread look and texture, this was the most inferior. Sometimes I guess you can't go back to relive certain food memories, if you know what I mean.
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