As I walked into the small bakery, all I could see was the beautiful pegasus mural. It was a white pegasus flying in front of a tree, with leaves spanning out in a rainbow gradient.
“I like this bakery – everything is so simple,” said my partner in crime, freshman Hailey Fesai.
Pegasus Bakery and Cafe (6825 Stockton Blvd.) combines baking styles from Asia and Western Europe.
The breads in the bakery were placed self-serve style: Take a tray and get what you want.
The cakes, on the other hand, were inside glass cases and could be removed only by employees.
To start off, Hailey and I asked an employee for her recommendations. Without a second of hesitation, she rattled off her favorites.
“Definitely the taro bread, pork bun and fruit cake,” she said.
We decided on the taro bun ($1.38) and fruit cake ($2.75). Neither of us wanted to try the pork bun due to its enormity – it was practically the size of a baseball glove!
As we were paying for our first batch of items, we saw free samples of Swiss rolls on the counter. After the first taste, we decided to get a full slice.
As we sat down to eat, I noticed that the seating area was very limited, unlike other bakeries I’ve been to. However, most people were taking their food to go.
The ambiance of the bakery was nice – the bakery felt cozy. A lot of families were there, and everyone was talking and having fun. The fact that the bakery was not overly large added to the cozy feel.
As Hailey and I started to eat the taro bun, we noticed it had the perfect texture, and the flavors and textures complimented each other; the gooey taro in the middle went perfectly with the somewhat salty and crusty exterior.
“The bread is crumbly on the outside, and the taro in the middle is the perfect consistency,” Hailey said.
The bun was definitely one of the highlights. It was quite large, though – about the size of a softball – and even with the two of us, it was hard to finish.
The next item we tried was the slice of fruit cake.
It was made of a sponge cake, cream, frosting and some fruit (strawberries and honeydew) at the bottom. The texture was perfect, though the fruit at the bottom didn’t meld well with the rest of the vanilla cake.
Next we had the marble Swiss roll slice that we sampled earlier.
The slice cost $1.93, which was pricey in comparison to the taro bread, considering the size difference (the Swiss roll was only 2 inches thick.)
The marble slice was a mixture of chocolate and vanilla. The texture was cloudlike, and the combination of chocolate and vanilla went really well together.
“I really liked the flavors, but it was a bit salty,” Hailey said. “Although I can ignore that because this is really good.”
To wash down the food, we also ordered some drinks.
We got a large milk tea with cold boba ($4.20) and a coke ($2.50).
The milk tea was different than anything I’ve ever tried. The boba was standard, but the milk tea – chai with milk and a little bit of caffeine – was amazing.
“I’ve never tried anything like this,” Hailey said. “But I really like it!”
The bakery also had crepe ice cream sandwiches and waffle ice cream sandwiches, which we wanted. They looked delicious, but both Hailey and I were too full to try either.
However, I did see an employee making the crepes, and it seemed like she worked hard on every detail, all the way to the fruit garnish.
Hailey and I also wanted to try one of the sandwiches, but we were told that the kitchen closes at 4 p.m, and it was already 3:45 p.m.
In the end, Pegasus Bakery soared high and succeeded with flying colors, and I will definitely be back to try those crepes and sandwiches!
—By Arikta Triveti
Originally published in the Oct. 30 edition of the Octagon.
