Вот бы в булочной ещё остался чизкейк к вечеру.

Вот бы is a wishful expression. It adds the sense of if only, I wish, or it would be nice if.

So the sentence is not a plain statement. It expresses a hope or wish:

• Вот бы... остался чизкейк = If only there were still cheesecake left
• Вот бы often sounds a little emotional, dreamy, or hopeful.

You will often see similar patterns like:

• Вот бы поехать на море. — If only I could go to the sea.
• Вот бы он пришёл. — If only he came / I wish he would come.

In this sentence, вот бы sets the whole sentence up as a wish about the future.

This is a very common Russian pattern.

Russian often uses бы plus a past-tense form to express:

• wishes
• hypotheticals
• unreal or desired situations

So остался is grammatically a past-tense form, but with бы it does not literally mean past time here.

Instead:

• остался = past form of остаться
• бы turns it into a wish/hypothetical meaning

So:

• Вот бы ... остался чизкейк = If only there would still be cheesecake left

This is similar to how English sometimes uses past forms in unreal meanings:

• I wish he were here
• If only I had more time

So the past form here is part of the grammar of wishing, not a real past-time meaning.

Because the verb agrees with чизкейк, which is a masculine singular noun.

• чизкейк = masculine singular
• therefore: остался

Compare:

• остался чизкейк — cheesecake was left / remained
• осталась булочка — a bun was left
• осталось печенье — some cookies / cookie remained, or a neuter noun remained
• остались пирожные — pastries were left

Even though English often says there is cheesecake left, Russian treats чизкейк as the grammatical subject here, so the verb matches it.

Here остаться means to remain, to be left, or to still be available.

So остался чизкейк means something like:

• there was cheesecake left
• cheesecake remained
• cheesecake was still available

In a food/shop context, this often implies that some of the item has not sold out yet.

The perfective verb остаться focuses on the resulting state: something is left over / remains.

Compare:

• В булочной остался чизкейк. — There is cheesecake left in the bakery.
• Чизкейк остался. — The cheesecake is still there / still left.

Here ещё means still.

So:

• ещё остался чизкейк = there is still cheesecake left

It adds the idea that by that time, the cheesecake has not sold out yet.

Compare:

• остался чизкейк — cheesecake remained
• ещё остался чизкейк — there was still cheesecake left

In other contexts, ещё can mean other things too, such as:

• more
• another
• yet
• still

But in this sentence, still is the best fit.

К вечеру means by evening or toward evening.

It suggests a point reached by that time:

• к вечеру = by the evening / by evening time

So the sentence means the speaker hopes that when evening comes, cheesecake will still be left.

Compare:

• к вечеру — by evening
• вечером — in the evening

The difference is subtle but important:

• Вот бы к вечеру остался чизкейк. — I hope that by evening cheesecake will still be left.
• Вот бы вечером был чизкейк. — I hope there is cheesecake in the evening.

Here к вечеру works well because the idea is survival up to that time.

Because в + Prepositional Case is used to mean in or at a place.

The dictionary form is:

• булочная — bakery, bread shop

After в, it becomes:

• в булочной — in the bakery / at the bakery

This is the Prepositional singular form.

So:

• в булочной = at the bakery
• в магазине = in the shop
• в кафе = in the café

In this sentence, it tells you the location where the cheesecake might still be available.

Usually булочная means a bakery shop — a place where you buy bread, pastries, and similar items.

For a learner, the most natural translation here is:

• in the bakery
• at the bakery
• at the bakery shop

In real usage, it often refers to the shop from the customer’s point of view, not necessarily the production facility itself.

Russian word order is flexible, and the end of the sentence often carries the most important or newest information.

So:

• Вот бы в булочной ещё остался чизкейк к вечеру.

puts focus on чизкейк as the key thing the speaker cares about.

A more neutral English-like order might be:

• Вот бы чизкейк ещё остался в булочной к вечеру.

But the original sounds natural because Russian often arranges words according to information structure, not strict subject-verb-object order.

The ending position can make чизкейк feel a bit like the punchline or main hope: please let it be cheesecake that’s still there.

Yes. Russian allows several word orders here, for example:

• Вот бы в булочной ещё остался чизкейк к вечеру.
• Вот бы к вечеру в булочной ещё остался чизкейк.
• Вот бы чизкейк ещё остался в булочной к вечеру.

These versions are all understandable, but they do not sound exactly the same.

Changing the order changes what sounds most prominent:

• к вечеру near the front emphasizes the time
• чизкейк at the end emphasizes the item
• в булочной near the front sets the scene first

So the original order is natural and expressive, not random.

Russian usually does not need a dummy subject like English there.

English says:

• There is cheesecake left

Russian simply says:

• Остался чизкейк

Russian lets the real noun be the grammatical center of the sentence, so no extra existential there is needed.

That is why the sentence looks more like:

• Still remained cheesecake in the bakery by evening

if translated word-for-word, even though that is not natural English.

In this expression, вот бы is a very common set phrase, so learners should treat it as a unit.

You will often see:

• Вот бы он пришёл.
• Вот бы дождь закончился.

The particle бы is generally quite mobile in Russian, but in this specific wish formula, вот бы is the normal and natural opening.

So in this sentence, it is best understood as one expression:

• вот бы = if only / I wish

It is natural, everyday, conversational Russian.

Nothing in it is especially formal. In fact, вот бы makes it sound personal and spontaneous, as if someone is hoping out loud.

It could easily be said in casual speech, for example by someone thinking:

• I’m going later... I hope they still have cheesecake by evening.

Yes, чизкейк is a loanword used in Russian. It behaves like a normal masculine inanimate noun.

Its basic form is:

• чизкейк

And it can decline:

• nominative: чизкейк
• genitive: чизкейка
• dative: чизкейку
• accusative: чизкейк
• instrumental: чизкейком
• prepositional: о чизкейке

So in this sentence, чизкейк is nominative singular and is the noun the verb agrees with.

Yes, very naturally.

Even without extra context, the sentence strongly suggests something like:

• the speaker may go to the bakery later
• the speaker wants the cheesecake not to be sold out by then
• the speaker is expressing hope about availability

So the feeling is not just a general wish about the universe. It often implies practical interest: I want there to still be cheesecake there when evening comes.

Not with quite the same meaning.

• был would simply mean was
• остался means remained / was still left

That difference matters here.

Compare:

• Вот бы к вечеру в булочной был чизкейк.
  = I hope there is cheesecake in the bakery by evening.

• Вот бы к вечеру в булочной ещё остался чизкейк.
  = I hope there is still cheesecake left by evening.

The original suggests that the cheesecake might sell out, and the speaker hopes some will remain. Остался is better for that idea.