Bakerrae is a beloved bakery with Filipino flair, now located in a new Toronto neighbourhood. 

Like its previous location, which closed its doors in the summer of 2024, Bakerrae shares space with Chachalate, an ethical artisan chocolatier. 

However, this is where the similarities end. Not only does the new location have a fully furnished dining room, it also carries a much wider selection of drinks and snacks.

Rae Abayan, the owner of Bakerrae, explains that finding a new location was a bit of a challenge. She knew that she wanted a larger storefront, but wasn't sure where to look.

Eventually, she and her partner, Chachalate founder Ry Lee, stumbled upon a vacant storefront in East Chinatown. 

Rae tells us that the space was once occupied by a grocery store, which she remembers passing as a child. That familiarity, coupled with the storefront's spacious interior, is what ultimately convinced her to claim it.Renovations took place over the course of a year. Seating was added to the front of the store, while the back was converted into a tiny chocolate factory for Chachalate.A large display case stretches from one end of the store to the other, its shelves lined with colourful pastries.Bakerrae and Chachalate both deal in memorable desserts, Rae and Ry tell me.

For Rae, this means reimagining traditional Filipino pastries in unique and inventive ways. For Ry, it means combining ethically sourced cacao beans with figs, olive oil and other unusual ingredients.

Both business owners enjoy experimenting in the kitchen and eagerly showed us a few of the dishes that they’re currently working on. One of their most interesting creations is a drink that makes use of asin tibuok, a rare artisanal sea salt also known as "dinosaur egg salt." Self-explanatory.

Of course, this is far from the only interesting item Bakerrae has to offer.The ube ensaymada croissant ($7) is a sweet and savoury pastry, filled with ube jam and topped with shredded cheddar. The spam, tamago and cheese pastry ($7.50) is made with soy-calamansi-glazed spam, a sweet Japanese-style omelette and grated gruyere cheese, wrapped in layers of laminated dough.The blueberry calamansi meringue danish ($7) consists of blueberry-calamansi compote and calamansi curd, topped with torched Italian meringue and fresh blueberries.The ube flan danish ($7) takes inspiration from Rae’s grandmother’s flan recipe, using ube cream to create a perfect purple disc. The final touch is a light dusting of powdered sugar.The calamansi espresso tonic ($6.50) is a light, fizzy drink whose tangy flavour comes from a mixture of calamansi syrup, tonic water and freshly brewed espresso.The ube matcha cloud ($8.50) is a beautiful purple-and-green beverage, made with imported matcha and house-made ube jam. Its flavour is rich and creamy, with just a hint of grassy bitterness. Chocolate bars ($12.99 each) are made in small batches, using ethically sourced cacao nibs.

My personal favourite was the strawberry yuzu flavour, which pairs 70% cacao with freeze-dried strawberries and tangy yuzu powder.Though the bakery has only been open since January of 2026, foodies from all over the city have already adopted it as their new favourite hangout spot. 

Rae and Ry note that many of these diners were regulars at the Upper Beaches location, while others discovered them through pop-ups and events.

Regardless of how their fans discovered them, both business owners are grateful for the support and hope to repay their customers' kindness in any way they can.Bakerrae is located at 326 Broadview Avenue.