Jun 28, 2018
Credit: me for incessantly photographing my food.
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Sweden
seen from Spain
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from Brazil
seen from Australia
seen from Australia
seen from Australia
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Spain
seen from China
seen from Colombia
seen from Ireland
seen from Ireland
Credit: me for incessantly photographing my food.
Liu’s Creamery, 3913 W 6th St, Los Angeles (Koreatown), CA 90020
The Liu’s Café team opened an ice cream shop next door to Liu’s Café earlier this year. The small batch ice creams are made on site. They had seven offerings during my visit but only five flavors of ice cream (one was a sorbet). The toppings are considered part of the offering. The toppings are interesting (e.g., cilantro, pineapple jam, chili crisp) and chosen to evoke traditional Taiwanese desserts like pineapple cake and bubble tea. No substitutions are allowed. They do not offer split scoops.
Ice cream flavors:
Taiwan milk ice cream
Osmanthus ice cream
Honey toast ice cream
Oolong milk tea ice cream
Cucumber sorbet
A mini scoop is $5 and a single scoop is $6.50. The toppings and a small housemade cookie are included in the price.
Traditionalist: Taiwan milk ice cream, candied black sesame, candied sesame peanut powder, condensed milk. They should use a larger cup because the toppings kept falling off. I recommend mixing everything together so the powders stop falling off. The ice cream is made with three kinds of milk: condensed, evaporated and regular. The texture was smooth. The ice cream had an icy edge that I wasn’t expecting. I didn’t dislike the icy edge but the ice cream was way too sweet. The toppings were excellent, and I loved the thin crispy butter cookie.
The interior is charming and evokes the owner's childhood in Taiwan, I'm guessing.
Order at the counter. They accept cash but exact change only. Look for the Hookah sign above the door. There’s also a menu on the sidewalk by the front door. Parking will be a challenge.
4 out of 5 stars
By Lolia S.
Brown Bag Cookies, 3450 Wilshire Blvd Ste 106, Los Angeles (Koreatown), CA 90010
It took me awhile to find BBC. It doesn’t face Wilshire Blvd. It’s in the back of the building that faces Wilshire. The shop was cute and clean. The French-Korean pastries looked attractive. I spotted caneles, cookies, madeleines, pound cake, scones filled with cream, cinnamon rolls, basque cheesecakes, sables, etc. They had so many kinds of scones, madeleines, and financiers. The cookies looked thick. I was told that they were gooey. They also sell coffee (their own roast) and other beverages.
Earl grey canelé ($3.50): very good, very moist inside, caramelized exterior, the crust crackles and has a bit of crisp to it
Butter milk cream scone ($3.95): Very decadent looking. A buttermilk scone split in half with lots of cream in the middle. The scone wasn’t that sweet. It was dry though (they kept it refrigerated). The cream was thick and sweet, but also didn’t have that much flavor.
It’s a small shop with no seating. Also, parking is hard to find in the area.
4 of 5 stars
By Lolia S.
Old Ferry Donut, 3513 W 6th St, Los Angeles (Koreatown), CA 90021
Love the story of OFD…founded in Seoul in 2016, the company claims to be the first “premium donut brand” in South Korea. They specialize in filled donuts that cater to the tastes of Koreans. The first US location opened in Buena Park (Orange County).
The Koreatown location is super cute. It’s in an older building. The bear mascot is featured on the signs and merchandise. The donut box even has bear ears.
As for the donuts, they have a variety – raised, filled, cake. The flavors are interesting – e.g., Earl Grey, Butter Pistachio, Crème Brulee, etc. The price ranges from $2.95 to $4.25 each. They also have coffee (their own roast), flavored milk, and bottled drinks.
Milk cream ball ($3.45): a round brioche donut with milk cream filling. The donut was stuffed with the maximum amount of cream. The donut was tender and while dusted with a bit of sugar, not very sweet. The cream seemed too soft and thin compared to other milk cream. It keep squirting out when I bit into the donut. The cream wasn’t that sweet. Wish the cream were thicker.
White chocolate sesame cake ($3.45): a plain cake donut dipped in white chocolate with black sesame seeds. The cake donut was very basic and not sweet. The sesame topping was nutty and not that sweet. It wasn’t filled.
Strawberry milk drink ($4): it’s made there. It was very sweet and I didn’t see any strawberry bits. I couldn’t finish it and had to throw it away.
Good luck finding parking. There’s a cute seating area.
4 of 5 stars
By Lolia S.
Calic Bagel, 2748 W 8th St, Ste 107, Los Angeles (Koreatown), CA 90005
Calic Bagel opened recently in Koreatown. They offer LA style bagels, hand-rolled, and baked daily. They’re known for their Calic stuffed bagel which is a take on the Korean cream cheese garlic butter bread. I wasn’t sure what LA style bagels were, but an article by Eater LA says they are lighter, fluffy, an and airy.
They have bagels (4 kinds: plain, sesame, everything, jalapeno cheddar), schmears (blueberry, fig pecan, jeju hallabong, sweet corn, black sesame, etc.), stuffed bagels, and bagel sandwiches. Bagels are $3. They serve Groundwork organic coffee and also have Dippin’ Dots.
Place your order at the kiosk and they’ll bring your order to you.
Calic Bagel: garlic butter dipped with garlic cream cheese ($8): A plain bagel is cut into sections with a bit of cream cheese studded with garlic between each section. The bagel is dipped in garlic butter. Oh and the whole thing is toasted till the exterior is crispy. It’s served warm. The Calic bagel was very good – very garlickly and crispy. It’s a little sweet too. The bagel was very garlicky. The texture was softer than I expected but I think the softness works better as a component of the Korean style cream cheese garlic butter bread. It reminds me of garlic bread with a hint of sweetness.
Sesame bagel: Soft and fluffy, good for toasting because the exterior becomes crispy. I’m not used to these softer, fluffier bagels. Prefer NY style I suppose.
It’s a large space with indoor and outdoor seating, free wi-fi, and underground parking. They also sell some drinks, hot sauce, salt, and other condiments. Online ordering is available.
4 out of 5 stars
By Lolia S.
Pao Jao Dumpling House, 928 S Western Ave, Ste 137, Los Angeles (Koreatown), 90006
Pao Jao is the dumpling specialist stall inside Koreatown Plaza’s International Food Court. I could see them stuffing dumplings by hand, so their dumplings do seem fresh and they’re made on site. The menu is limited: King dumplings, red bean bread, shrimp dumpling, chive dumplings, kimchi dumplings, grilled fried dumplings, and a few noodle dishes. Dumplings start at $14.99.
Order at the counter and they’ll give you a buzzer. The buzzer goes off when your order is ready.
Kimchi dumplings (10 pieces, $15.99): seemed expensive but the dumplings are stuffed with more filling than usual. They seemed steamed rather than boiled. The dumplings looked like fat potstickers. I’m not sure what the filling was because it was finely chopped but there may have been some ground pork. I definitely spotted clear sweet potato noodles and chopped up kimchi. It was seasoned with soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, etc. It was tasty but I do prefer Chinese dumplings that have more meat and are much juicier. The dumplings came with a vinegar chili dipping sauce (tangy, spicy, good) and pickled sweet daikon radish (seemed like a palate cleanser). One order was enough for lunch.
They have a water dispenser at the register.
4 out of 5 stars
By Lolia S.
Coin De Rue Bakery & Cafe, 125 N Western Ave, Ste 113, Los Angeles (Koreatown), CA 90004
Coin De Rue is a cute Korean fusion bakery café owned by a pastry chef. It looks similar to Paris Baguette (and it’s better than PB). They make everything in-house. The variety was impressive and included full size cakes, cake slices, cheesecake, castella cakes, napoleons, croquettes, croissants, macarons, savory and sweet baked buns, cookies, mochi, pesto bread, egg salad sandwiches, and lots of coffee and tea drinks.
The smaller items were individually wrapped in plastic. The items were labeled and included a list of ingredients. Grab a tray and pick out what you’d like. Fresh bread is baked without preservatives every day.
Real real: Two mochi, one looked like a potato and one looked like a sweet potato. Both were generously filled. The mochi shells were thin and chewy and the filling, mashed and natural tasting. So good! Super cute too.
Red rice flour shio roll: similar to Okayama Kobo’s salt & butter roll but bright red in color, it looks like a Pillsbury crescent roll. It’s soft and slightly salty from the sprinkle of salt on top. Not as soft as Okayama’s. Good but I like the shio rolls better at Okayama and Sunmerry
Sausage bun ($4): bigger and with way more toppings than you’d get at other Asian bakeries. Liked it a lot because it had lots of hot dog slices, cheese, onions, and peppers. Drizzled lightly with ketchup.
Coin De Rue had some super cute pastries. They’re located in a strip mall with parking. Free wi-fi. They have indoor and outdoor seating.
I want to try the mochi bread next time.
4.5 out of 5 stars
By Lolia S.
Episode #25 - All about Korean BBQ with Patrick Yoo (feat. Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong)
Patrick Yoo grew up in Southern California, an area with one of the largest Korean populations in America. As a Korean American growing up in a place with great Korean food, Patrick always had an appreciation for the cuisine - especially for Korean BBQ. In this Episode, Patrick features a KBBQ restaurant called Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong, located in Koreatown in LA. Patrick describes some of the nuances between different styles of KBBQ, and explains what he looks for in a restaurant. He also shares about the importance of KBBQ to the Korean-American experience.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5PYqpuLGTmfbfbhEbfppQI?si=zEjovEuBQ567QZ4iKxcXTQ