During my down time, the Shilla Bakery opened on Rte 40 in Ellicott City.
Shilla is a Korean bakery with sweets and savory. I haven't been there yet, but I assume it has a selection similar to the Bon Appetit bakery farther west on Rte 40. Adam tells me that they have bulgogi and kimchi pizza. That seems like something that I need to try.
Shilla is on the south side of Rte 40 west of Rte 29. It is a strip shopping center just in front of the center where you can get Bon Chon fried chicken. Weirdly, the Shilla Web site seems to say the new bakery is at 8801 Baltimore National Pike, which would be the Lotte shopping center.
Thanks to Adam, Dan and everyone else who emailed me about Shilla opening. If you have been, please post reports or recommendations in the comments.
8 comments:
We went on the weekend they opened and tasted to our hearts content. Very much like Bon Appetit. We thought the croquettes were tasty -deep fried potato knish like thing with potato, onion, ham, egg and carrots in it.
It said on the sign that they will serve breakfast soon, and when I asked about when, they told me soon....
One of the girls told me her favorite Bing Soo was Green Tea. The Fruit Bowl and Red Bean are also popular. I'm waiting for a hot day and when I need something for dinner.
We took home a lemon, coconut bundt (very good), a couple croquettes and a coffee colored football shaped cake thing which I can't remember what it was. It was just meh.
Overall nice and clean and everyone was very helpful.
"Weirdly, the Shilla Web site seems to say the new bakery is at 8801 Baltimore National Pike, which would be the Lotte shopping center."
That threw me off too. I went to investigate and to pick up a fruit cake and it turns out that they installed a tiny Shilla stand in the (old) Lotte Plaza next to the food court. Selection is pretty limited.
I stopped by today (8/20) and they were giving lots of free samples of various pastries. Most were variations on sweet roll + creme filling, but the roll was good.
I tried a chive croquette and it was good. I would get it again, especially after they offered to warm it up for me. Like a savory donut - still some sweet, but mostly savory with a faint oniony taste.
The prices seem comparable to Bon Appetit and the selection is similar, though Bon Appetit has more savory choices and it has those wonderful Petit Choux, which I didn't see in Shilla.
The Rt. 40 corridor certainly has a lot of Korean bakeries now. Bon Appetit, Shilla, La Boulangerie (in Triangle by Thai Aroma), and the one inside Lotte (also Shilla?).
We tried the bulgogi pizza yesterday. It was very light on the beef and heavy on the kimchee. It was way too spicy for me, but my husband said he would get it again. I had an avocado bubble tea, which tasted like coconut to me. They had tons of samples sitting out, and they were all good, but nothing stood out to me as particularly spectacular. I was also a little concerned about the food sitting on the tables that should be refrigerated, like the pizzas. I wonder how long it had been sitting out when we bought it, and what their policy is on foods sitting out.
I'm looking forward to trying the Thai iced tea boba next time. We'll probably park at Bon Chon and have lunch, then walk across the parking lot for dessert. =)
Made a quick stop today around 1 p.m. Some dry samples were out, nothing outstanding. We did get the Cheese pizza, which was a very thin crust, with a couple of tomato slices and spices. Excellent reheat at home in a cast iron skillet. One bean paste bun, abundant filling to dough ratio. And one coffee macaroon to eat in the car. A butter cream-like coffee filling between two macaroons. The filling tasted like fake butter cream and the macaroons did not have the usual almond taste, but a nice crunch nonetheless. Will go back and find a table next time. Looks as if the have a breakfast menu on the board "coming soon" which makes sense since they open at 7 a.m.
Went in yesterday and was happy to discover a very nice employee who was willing to explain everything to me. She brought out special samples for me to try. The location was really nice, not what I expected from the outside. I bought an assortment of single item to try and we loved the chocolate creme bread and the egg cream. Skip the chocolate pound cake, dry and not worth the caloric intake:). Worth a trip in and if you pick up about 7-8 items, lay them out on a tray with a couple of knives it makes for a great ending to dinner with friends.
Nice, good quality treats
Finally had a chance to stop in yesterday evening and the place was busy. They had out a ton of different samples and the staff was putting out fresh baked goods as well as offering more samples and recommendations. We came home with cookies and several pastries, and had the popsicles on our drive home. Everything was excellent and we will go back soon for more treats!
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