Duke Bakery

A fun bakery that has a European décor but Japanese style breads. Grab a shopping cart lined with parchment paper and a tong. Browse through the store and pick out your favorite items.
Mango Cake: $ 4 a slice, $ 20 a strip, $ 55 a cake. This is a light mango cake that is layed with white cake. Taste exactly what they serve in Japan, San Francisco, Taiwan, Light and fluffy. Grade: B+
Lychee Bread ($ 4): Initially looks like a Everything Bagel, but made into a loaf and it has canned lychee flavor throughout the bread. I couldn’t figure out which end was up when I was eating the bread. Between the pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, raisins, white bread, lychee, etc… my taste buds and tongue got confused by the taste and texture. Grade: D
Chocolate Bread ($ 4/​bag): GET THIS! It’s the #1 seller in the store. Looks like dinner rolls, but it is chocolate rolls with chocolate truffle inside. Fun to eat and super tasty. Not sweet! delightful! Grade: A
Japanese Azuki (red bean paste) and Chocolate bread ($ 4): Interesting concept of mixing together the two ingredients. It worked and it was fun to eat. Grade: B+
Coconut Bread ($ 4): Always a super favorite of everyone! Moist and chewy coconut inside white bread. Winner! Grade: A–
Service here was pretty good. There are samples. And, if the samples aren’t available, ask for some and they will let you try whatever you want!
Food Grade: B+
Service Grade: A–
Worth the Money Grade: B
Overall Impression Grade: B+

I’m Latina, so I always feel a little weird going into Asian bakery’s (mostly because I never know exactly what is what and sometimes it’s not very welcoming, I’m sure Asians feel this way about Mexican markets lol) but this place was terrific!
I tried just two items to make sure I didn’t waste my money, and man, did I not!
The 3.50 cheese tart was possibly the best ones I’ve ever had! My father said the blueberry scone was delicious as well.
The place It’s definitely small, but I honestly think everything in there has to taste good. I’ll definitely be back for some bagels and cranberry bread!

I love their caramel crisp and the Hokkaido milk toast!

You gotta give it to people when they open up a store and give out a ton of
free samples. You need worms to catch birds, right? Well, they had a
store full of samplings full of breads. Chocolate and cheese breads, coffee breads,
nutty breads, truffle breads and the list goes on and on.
That’s what has made businesses like Yogurtland so successful. They give
away a lot of free stuff which in turns converts to repeat customers.
Anyway, I had seriously made up my mind that I was not going to buy anything
that didn’t fall in the pastry category, but after trying out a few of their
incredibly unique flavors of breads, I couldn’t resist. I ended up getting a scone,
a coffee cake roll and a choco & blue Mt. Coffee bread.
The customer service was also extremely friendly and the pricing very reasonable.
PRO
— Free samples
— Delicious breads
— Unique Flavors
— Great location (Around the corner from the Americana on Brand)
— They give away a free annual VIP membership with your purchase
which means 10% off of everything.
CON
— No coffee (The location in Pasadena serves coffee)

I visited Duke Bakery in the morning and we were the only customers in the store. The bread tastes good and the size is really big. The bread keeps good moisture after a day, which is also good.
I think there are two things that I don’t like and that’s where the missing star is. The latte I ordered is too milky and loses coffee aroma. The presentation of bread looks weird. I’m too used to feel «warm» when I walk into a bakery, but this one makes me feel cold. Hard to describe why.

Love it that this place is not as crowded like JJ bakery. It’s specious, has beautiful décor, and awesome Lavazza coffee. It’s mostly a bread store with different flavors. Some very yummy looking cakes. Next time I need a cake I’ll be coming here rather than JJ Bakery. I didn’t buy a cake today but their ingredients seem a lot more diverse than the typical strawberry & cream, chocolate & cream at Chinese bakeries.

I like the spaciousness of the bakery. They have these tiny grocery carts for you to push around and hold your bread. Large breads (loaves) are about $ 4 each, which are a lil pricy and the inidivdual sized ones are $ 1-​$ 2.
I liked: The Hokkaido Adzuki Toast is a white bread, with specks of maybe black sesame and a swirl of a barely sweet adjuki paste. It’s remained soft and fluffy over the course of a few days and it’s a good snacking bread.
The Black sesame bread is filled with a black sesame paste and I like it a lot but its pretty easy to overdose on this flavor.
The french sausage dog is their version of hot dog bread, with a REALLY fat hot dog encased in cheesy bread. We like it a lot!
Their smiley custard bread is like a cream pan — totally average. Their chocolate pan is the free give-​away for checking in on Unilocal and its got a lot of chocolate inside but otherwise unmemorable to me.
I also bought my mom a goji bread that looked whole grainy and nutty.

DOPE SPOT!
FRESH DOUGH. Amazing Service and great bread! Clean, big, spacious, and free samples,
GREGORY listens to japanese hiphop and other spins! GREAT!
Ask for Priscilla! She’s the Best!
GET THAT DOUGH DOUGH DOUGH!

I LOVE this bakery!
I had just come off bikini competition prep and haven’t had bread in months and stumbled upon this place a couple of days ago and I’ve been coming here almost every day since. My new favorite bakery! I love how there are so many samples! You can actually get full from trying all of them. I like how the samples are a decent size too. You can get a couple of bites out of them.
The breads are so soft and squishy, just the way I like it. I wish I could eat the entire store but I’m watching my calories and only allowing myself max 2 breads a day. All the breads are delicious but the ones that stood out to me the most were: raisin & cream cheese, sesame, truffle bread, magic stick mixed fruit, summer snow, carlbell, coconut, taro angel, and chocolate and cheese.
I recommend going earlier in the day while they’re more fresh. One time I went around 5pm and the breads weren’t as soft and squishy. The next day I went around 11am and they were just putting out the samples so I think that was a good sign – fresh bread! And indeed they were fresh!
The only con I have is that they’re too big! I’m just so tempted to eat the entire thing but I shouldn’t be eating the entire thing but I don’t want to throw the other half away either. So I end up eating the entire thing like a savage. I would actually pay the same price for half the size. These breads are so good that they’re priceless to me.
Get the chocolate bun instead of scone for the Unilocal check-​in! Chocolate bun tastes waaayy better in my opinion.

I often frequent all the Chinese bakeries. I’m a big fan off 85c, and JJ Bakery is still a common pit stop right across the street.
Duke bakery is a little bit different. Less selection, and the prices are higher than those other two bakeries (which aren’t that cheap to begin with).
The texture of the breads are a bit different. More chewy, less airy, has the feeling of higher quality ingredients.
I’m a very big fan of their black sesame bun. I haven’t come across that filling in a bread in any other bakery, and for that bun alone I will keep coming back.
One star off though because the last two times I’ve gone to Duke (in the late afternoon) they were sold out of the sesame bun. They only bake once per day, in the morning.

If you love bread, soft squishy bread then come here.
Honestly, did not know of this place even existed till I saw a new bakery coming at the Americana. Could of actually waited to try it out till it opened but I had an interview here (I am the worse interviewee ever!) –NO JOKE!!!
Anyway…when I came in, there was only one customer so it wasn’t busy. I guess the trend ended. Store itself was roomy compared to 85 °C, although selection is quite minimal compared to 85 °C. There were samples to most of the breads given, most were great but only bought 2 since I’m on a budget.
Price. Now I can see why people complain about the place, if you’re on a budget like me your options are kind of slim. The average price of these loaf of breads are about $ 3 – 4, when I was there I did not see any thing more than $ 5. Lowest I saw was $ 2.70. However, if you buy bread/​pastries at Starbucks or somewhere café like I’m sure their prices would almost be equivalent to the cost of bread here, with just a bigger portion.
Now to the healthy part. I wouldn’t say these are healthy according to other Unilocalers but it is healthier than 85 °C. The breads here are less sweetened, have nuts, and/​or fruits and not only stuffed with cheese. Come on its bread… don’t tell me it’s healthy when you buy all sorts of flavors and eat ¼−½ of it in one sitting. Geez! I did that when I discovered 85 °C. Yeah, it was bad.
Overall, would I come back of course when I’m in Arcadia. Other than that I can wait even though that chocolate and cheese bread was delicious!!!

If you check in they give you a chocolate bun or blueberry scone. I’d highly recommend getting the chocolate bun. It was miles above the blueberry scone (not saying the scone wasn’t good).
Let me start off by saying this place is expensive. That being said, their bread is really good. The bread itself was well made. I had their banana bread, their chocolate bun, their coconut bread and okinawan brown sugar bread. First off the banana bread was the bomb. It had a sweet banana like stuffing in it that tasted like fresh bananas. It wasn’t sweet aside from the stuffing and I was very put off by that (in a good way). Most places that you go to will glaze the exterior with some sugar to make the bread «taste better.» Duke keeps the bread plain and simple. They don’t do any over-​the top flavor additions and they stick to the basics. You won’t find any cheese + hot dog + green onion + butter + croissant here (ahem 85c). My favorite was the chocolate bun. They had actual chocolate chips stuffed on the inside of each of them. They were still chocolate chips and I’m very surprised at whatever sorcery they used to bake these buns but leave the chocolate chips unaltered. The chips had a very good bitterness to them and when paired with the plain flavors of the bread it was perfect. You get the dough from the bread with the semi-​sweetness of the chocolate chips and its like a flavor party in your mouth. But thats only if you like chocolate…
The design of the place reminds me of an upscale place. Its got vaulted ceilings, very nice bakery displays, shopping carts and sturdy tongs. They pack each individual bread like 85c but even their individual packing is upscale. Their bags are paper bags which are totally reusable and are great for packing lunch etc.

Sesame bun– I like it a lot they have a good amount of filling without over doing it. The only thing is the bread is really dense. It’s not as fluffy in my opinion but it’s fine
Strawberry bread –has strawberry cream cheese inside I like it !
Overall if you’re ever craving some breads, it’s not bad :)

CQQL bakery to try if you are tired of JJ’s and 85, or just want to explore new bread. When you walk in, there is a huge chandelier dangling on top of the bread selection. This bakery deserve this hashtag #fancy. Their bread are huge so I do recommend that you try bring a friend to share. I didn’t actually have any bread here, I bought 10 breads for my co-​workers to try and they all liked it. This guy name Felix recommended I tried their iced coffee latte, and I must say it was pretty good and quite strong too.
Will definitely be back to try the bread.

Another asian bakery in the area. The interior is clean and organized. They cute little bread carts to place your goodies in. I tried the red bean hokkaido bread, which was good. I also got the garlic weenie bun. Their cakes look really good, i tried a strawberry shortcake but instead of vanilla cake it was chocolate, not bad. My friend Felix works here. He is a very friendly and nice guy and will happily help you with whatever questions you have. Prices are fair, comparable to other bakeries in the area. Definitely give this place a try!!!
Same lot as UPS and the post office and hinortori across from LA fitness, easy parking.

PLEASE BRING BACK THE TUNA BREAD!!!
I don’t know why everyone is complaining about the price of the bread here. It’s pricier than other bakeries cause the bread here is like double or triple the size. Also, the quality is much better and the ingredients are natural. You get what you pay for!
I like that they have samples for you to try for some breads. They also have a list of their top 10 if you’re not sure what to get.
My favorites are the tuna bread and the truffle bread. I found out that they stopped making the tuna bread and I was so sad. My day was ruined! But luckily they still had the truffle bread in stock. I hope they bring the tuna bread back, because it was the greatest. So much better than the tuna bread at 85 degrees. Like a bajillion times better!
Some other honorable mentions are their scones and their Choco buns.

Stumbled upon this new bakery after getting a massage next door. They have little black baskets on top of carts with tongs inside of them so it’s easier for you to carry all the bread you want to buy. When you go to pay, you just take out the basket and put it on the counter and the workers will do the rest.
I will tell you right now that these breads are EXPENSIVE! For bread, they’re pretty pricey. But I must admit that their breads are delicious and HUGE! When I mean huge, they’re like not the normal size of regular bread, they’re prolly like 3 times the size. So I guess it kinda balances out, maybe? That’s all up to you.
They also give you free samples of almost each bread. This is what makes me want to buy the bread even more. Since I’m able to taste them, I’m able to see which ones I like more, therefore of course I would want to buy them.
Breads I’d recommend: truffle bread (because I love truffle. If you don’t like truffle then you won’t like this bread at all), strawberry milk bread, raisin and cream cheese, and the egg tart! The egg tart was delicious because it was different from the other Asian bakeries. This one had more of a cream cheese flavor to it, and I love cream cheese. It forsure is nothing like the dan tats that you get at dim sum.
My boyfriend got the tuna cheese bread, the hot dog bread and the smoked chicken bread. He loved all of them, and he usually doesn’t like bread. Wish the price was lower, but will forsure come back for that egg tart again.

Was in the Arcadia plaza to make a drop at the UPS Store. Mom saw this bakery next door and decided to take a peek. We ended up with a bag full of bread.
Blueberry scones, veggie & cheese buns, and red wine & longan bread.
Had a blueberry scone for breakfast today. It was dense, buttery and not too dry. I could’ve used more blueberries, but it was a good scone.
The red wine & longan bread of course, reminded us of Wu Pao Chun’s award winning rose & litchi bread. Duke’s was soft and had big chunks of longan. The bread can’t be compared to WPC’s, but it held its own.
My mom let me know that the veggie & cheese bun had a surprise inside. An actual piece of cheese! She said the bun was soft and very tasty.
Being that we’re not close to the bakery, frequenting the place would be unlikely, but if we’re in the area, I would skip Paris Baguette and pick up more breads from Duke’s.

Came here while waiting for our table at Din Tai Fung. It was about 6 ish so most of the breads are gone. Beautiful setup and I was surrounded by grand opening flower stands!!! So lovely! There were plenty of samples which was good idea as the average cost of the breads varies from 4 – 6 bucks! Ouch!
I tried EVERYTHING! Then again there were only about 10 kinds left. The breads are soft, doughy, awesome selections of nuts and fruits with combinations I’ve never seen before. I really liked the lychee and longan ones too! I settled for the raisin cream cheese. Tasted like a raisin bagel spread luxuriously with cream buttery cheese! Yum! I like!!! 20% off!!! Scoreeeeee!!!
I’ll be visiting the one closer to home in RH. Hopefully they have more stuff to choose from.

This place is gonna get real busy real fast.
Cons:
–There are mini shopping carts in the store for your breads instead of trays. Really? I understand that some of the breads are big and heavy, but it’s going to cause a nightmare of a mess trying to get breads. There were only 4 people in the store and I felt crammed around the breads already
–Bread will be bagged at the counter into fancy paper bags. This will definitely slow down each transaction.
–The parking lot isn’t that big.
–Many items contain walnuts or share a shelf with items that have walnuts. Warning for those with nut allergies.
Pros:
–20% off 4÷18÷15 to 4÷20÷15?
–Their breads are ridiculously delicious. Chewy, yet light. Good amount of filling for filled pastries. I don’t know about dropping $ 7 for bread, but the $ 3 and $ 4 ones are worth the price.
–They give you little business card with instructions on how to keep your bread fresh.
–Accepts Mastercard, Visa, and Discover.