Ordered:
12oz Iced Ube Latte (~$7)…read more12oz Iced Pandan & Matcha Latte (~$7)
Ube Babka Swirl (~$6): with ube butter & pearl sugar
Passionfruit Matcha Danish (~$9): passionfruit cream, Kettl Hinata matcha, Auro 32% white chocolate ganache
Strawberry Calamansi Shortcake (~$9): fried brioche, calamansi curd, strawberry compote, strawberry crunch, 32% white chocolate chantilly
Ube Donut (~$9): fried ube brioche, ube pastry cream, ube glaze, purple yam chips
Caramelized White Chocolate & Banana Cookie (~$5): ripened banana, caramelized Auro 32% white chocolate, cacao nib, sea salt
Aya's take:
Kora has been on my list to check out ever since I first came across them during the pandemic! I'm glad to see they have a brick & mortar now and the space is well-designed and the kitchen area overlooking the pastry display, there's some seating which was nice to see (I was expecting none), and the staff was so friendly! It was a Thursday around 10am and thankfully there was no line and they were still fully stocked. We got a bunch of pastries that I came in wanting to try and others that just caught my eye. Everything was honestly fantastic. If you're not looking to spend ~$40 on pastries, then the standouts I would get were the Passionfruit Matcha Danish, Ube Donut, and Strawberry Calamansi Shortcake in that order. The Passionfruit Matcha Danish was a perfect pastry (and I don't ever say that). The passionfruit cream actually tasted like passionfruit, the fact that they use Kettl matcha shows they take quality seriously, and the white chocolate ganache mixed with the matcha powder made for such a creamy, delicious, and earthy bite. The fried brioche on the Strawberry Calamansi Shortcake was so pillowy and fresh and I loved the white chocolate chantilly. The Ube Donut was honestly quite dense but what I liked about it was that it was filled to the brim with ube pastry cream! And this cream tasted unlike any other ube cream I've had; it had some texture (not fully creamy), great ube flavor, and balanced sweetness. I found the ube glaze on the outside to be too sticky and slightly weird but the ube brioche & pastry cream helped me quickly look past that. Both drinks we got were also beautifully crafted, the flavors were spot on, and the layers were distinct. They looked better than they tasted but honestly, I'm comparing it to the incredible pastries so it's a high bar. I wish they had more savory (non-pork) pastry options. All in all, a great first visit here and I'd definitely come back!