M Bakery in Manila is a branch of Magnolia Bakery in New York City. It became a well-known bakery after it was featured on a TV series, “The Sex and The City”. There are international Magnolia outlets in 7 cities in 7 countries as of now according to Wikipedia. Those cities are Dubai, Beirut, Doha, Tokyo, Mexico City, Manila and Sao Paulo.
We were invited to go to a dinner at our friends’ a month ago. Even though our American friends told us we didn’t have to bring anything, I wanted to bring something nice for them. Since it was a busy day for me, I didn’t have the time to bake or cook during the day. I asked my new Japanese friend that I was with during the day where she would recommend me to get a dessert in BGC (Bonafacio Global City in Manila). M Bakery was one of her recommendations. Since I thought that cupcakes from M Bakery would make a good conversation and kids will love them, I decided to get some lovely cupcakes for desserts. All the kids especially mine loved them!
M Bakery as opposed to Magnolia Bakery
The original bakery in New York City is called Magnolia Bakery. Then why is it called M Bakery in Manila? The short answer is that the franchise in Manila did not want the locals to be confused with the local Magnolia brand. Below is a well explained article on the story by F&B Report with some lovely photos.
The inside story of how Magnolia Bakery ended up as M Bakery in Manila
More about the M Bakery in BGC
Here is a link to a good blog post with some great photos and details written by Our Awesome Planet.
M Bakery Manila: Iconic ‘Sex and the City’ Cupcake Shop MAGNOLIA BAKERY Opens in Manila!
If you are like me who likes to google search everything, you will stumble upon blog posts written by Our Awesome Planet blog during your search on Manila or the Philippines. I find this blog very well designed and detail oriented and provides helpful information and good quality photographs. It has been quite helpful.
Sex and The City was “the show” to watch with my girl friends when I was in my 20’s. (You can figure out my age, can’t you…?) If you are like me who enjoys seeing the store in the show and also see some other scenes and locations in New York City in the show that bring back good memories, here is a video on Top 10 Places You Must Visit If You Are a Sex and The City Fan. Enjoy!
I am fascinated by this success story of a cupcake shop.
Ah, bakeries! Thank you for this post. I grew up in the Netherlands where we love bakeries, often go for “koffie met gebak” (coffee with pastry). I am not impressed with the bakeries in the US — in general, in the suburbs — way too much gaudy sugary frostings on everything, but of course in the big cities you can find the best. I now live in France, and there are great bakeries in many places, in the smallest towns. People tend to have ‘their’ bakery where they will go to find their favorite baguettes and pastries. Love your photos. PS. The bakery goods in the Middle East are very interesting, but often a bit too sweet for me.
Thank you for your comment! You have been to many places yourself! I like sweets, but moderately sweet is my type of sweets as well! France must be so nice!! It would be my dream to be able to live in France. My favorite bread is baguettes. Thank you for your time to stop by!