9 Island Bakery

Across from Popeye’s

Specializing in Portuguese breads and pastries like the queijadas (pasteis de nata). A few Portuguese cheeses, sausages and groceries are available.

The aroma of fresh bread and oranges when you step in the door is absolutely intoxicating.

The mimos have a bottom that is like the richest and chewiest coconut macaroon you’ve ever had and on top is an intense and silky coco-flan.

The orange queijada has a delicate flakey crust, chewy moist center and concentrated orange flavor and aroma.

The almond queijada has the thinnest whisper of a tart shell with just enough substance to contain the quivering jelly-like almond essence within. The top was crowned with toasty almonds adding more crackle to the chewy/crisp macaroon-like surface

The custard queijada is anything but plain with a rich eggy flavor and a thin, short crust. The molasses queijada is like good spice cake but wasn’t that distinctive.

The bolo d’arroz was the house specialty. Despite the name, this sweet roll contains no rice. The very sweet top crust is covered with orange-scented sugar. The rest of it wasn’t particularly sweet. It had a crumbly, moist and dense coffee cake texture.

The puff pastry square filled with strawberry jam has lots of puffiness, is very flaky, yet has amazing lightness without being weighed down by butter.

The light and eggy massa savada (Portuguese style sweet bread) is very nice with a fine cake-like grain.

Misses: linguica roll

Tips: Ask when the pastries were baked and purchase those recently made.

This is a cheery little spot with shelves of breads and rolls behind the register and a small display case of pastries. The walls are decorated with photos of the nine islands of the Azores, where the bakery gets its name.

One cafe table outside.

There are some shelves of groceries that include the excellent Portuguese Gonsalves sardines.

The refrigerator case has soft drinks but also some Portuguese-style goodies. Packages of imported São Jorges (St. George) cheese and a variety of sausages and bacon are stocked. Gularte’s linguica, two types seasoned with wine from Fernandes São Jorge in Tracy. and a chouriço from a producer in Massachusetts are available.

The Caseira (homemade style) smoked linguica made by Fernandes São Jorge is the type served by the Grubstake with chunks of meat and darker color versus the coarse grind and lighter red of the other style.

The Toucinho Defumado (smoked bacon) is more heavily smoked and not as salty nor sweet as supermarket brands, it’s also quite lean with lots of meat.