Panaderia Y Pasteleria Latina
Beso
Cacahuate
Oreja
Carrot Cake
Guava Cheese Turnover
Tres Leches
Cheese Cornbread
Continuing to weave a path through Las Vegas’ ethnic pastry shops it was just after 4:30pm that a stop was made at West Charleston’s Panaderia Y Pasteleria Latina, the pastries confirmed to all be made in house by a Spanish speaking colleague but the service as disheveled as the shop itself, a small market with all sorts of novelty items at the left while the bakery and kitchen comprise the other half, no labels found on any of the goods and the ladies behind the counter busy chatting and making themselves coffee while offering the bare minimum of help.
Thankfully accustomed to some of the items, though further research afterward was necessary to determine their proper names, it was with $9 even exchanged for eight items that goods were bagged before making way to the parking lot, a replacement slice of carrot cake requested when the middle-aged woman decided to spin and flip the plastic clamshell container within the bag.
Bordering on racist in their behavior to my presence after watching the staff of Panaderia Y Pasteleria Latina greet parties both before and after with warm smiles and plenty of help, it was with pictures taken that first bites of the turnover showed the unexpectedly sour cream cheese to complete overwhelm the bright red layer of guava, a distinctly different off-putting flavor marring the 2-for-1 “Peanut and Cream” Cacahuates with dough so dry that two small bites left the mouth completely parched for saliva.
More successful with a block of cornbread that saw fresh cheese enliven the otherwise sweet and toothsome base, and likewise with the familiar Oreja that riffed on a palmier or crispy elephant ear, it was again in pronounced dryness that the granulated sugar Beso did dwell, the half moistened by cream at the very least edible while the other was left for rats or airborn fowl.
Hoping that cakes would at least offer a textural upgrade on the pastries it was finally in two of a half-dozen options that plastic spoon was plunged, and although the carrot cake was serviceable if not memorable the tres leches was actually an excellent representation of the milk-soaked classic, the jam helping to offset a top sweet like fondant while the white cake layers were separated by lightly whipped ribbons of cream and an additional layer of guava.
TWO AND A HALF STARS: Setting aside issues of service that really did strike me as more than just disinterested or rude the bargain basement prices at Panaderia Y Pasteleria Latina simply aren’t enough to justify the general low quality of the product in general, not with better locations just a few miles up the road.
RECOMMENDED: Tres Leches, Oreja.
AVOID: Cacahuates, Beso.
TIP: Tucked far back in a strip mall behind The Chicken Basket, Panaderia Y Pasteleria Latina is not exactly visible from the road, an approach from the West requiring a U-Turn while those coming from the East will not be able to see the doors due to The Chicken Basket.
WHAT THE STARS MEAN: 5 World Class, 4 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Fair, 1 Poor
http://www.yellowpages.com/las-vegas-nv/mip/panaderia-y-pasteria-latina-15261378