Restaurant Review #263: Phoenix Bakery, Chinatown

Strawberry cake, $4.50

Chinatown's Phoenix Bakery isn't known for its Chinese pastries; it's beloved for its seemingly mundane fresh strawberry whipped cream cake, a fluffy white cake with fresh strawberries nestled into a lightweight whipped cream frosting. It's tasty, if not unique, and is ideal for those who dislike the cavity-inducing sweetness of your typical cake. You won't feel like a glutton after eating a piece, either. You can order it with or without a coating of sliced almonds.

This cake is popular for special occasions, but it doesn't slice neatly so it might not be right for a more formal affair. Phoenix Bakery does offer reasonably priced, some might even say inexpensive, wedding cakes.

Wintermelon cake, $2

The spacious bakery has tables if you'd prefer to eat your goodies on the premises. The service is friendly and fast; the prices aren't as cheap as you'd like them to be, especially for Chinatown, but they're still reasonable for baked goods. There's a $10 minimum if you want to pay with plastic.

Wintermelon cake

Skip the wintermelon cake. The scant wintermelon filling only has a dull sweetness.  The other pastries that look like it might have better fillings, but they wouldn't make up for the dense, doughy pastry that tastes like little more than shortening and flour.

They also sell ice cream mochi in the usual flavors--chocolate, green tea, strawberry, and mango. I was disappointed that they didn't have the durian mochi I saw on Yelp.

Phoenix Bakery
969 N Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 628-4642
Mon-Sun 9 am - 8 pm
Phoenix Bakery website

Restaurant Review #248: Elysee Bakery, Westwood

 A spacious sandwich shop with a relaxed atmosphere, Elysee would seem to be one of the few places to eat in Westwood where you could enjoy a somewhat peaceful meal.

Located on a busy street corner with pedestrians constantly streaming by, Elysee also winds up being a wonderful place to people watch and a good place to eat.

The sandwiches at Elysee are not what I’d describe as cheap, but they are very tasty and rather filling, so you’ll feel like you got your money’s worth. The sandwiches are rather creative—there is a menu of several different sandwiches, often with combinations of ingredients that you’d think shouldn’t go together and yet somehow wind up being complementary. Speaking of complimentary, the staff deserves recognition for being rather friendly and attentive—something noteworthy in the Westwood area.

Flickr photo by madaroni

Elysee Bakery
1099 Gayley
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310.208.6505
Elysee Bakery website

Restaurant Review #235: Skiff's Cakes, Simi Valley

Cupcakes

Skiff's is a small, family-owned bakery in Simi Valley that sells cupcakes and special-order cakes.

The cupcakes come in numerous flavors and are all filled in the middle with wedding cake fillings. Most have chocolate or vanilla buttercream icing. Cake and filling combinations include red velvet with cream cheese, white cake with strawberry mousse, vanilla cake with vanilla bavarian cream, chocolate cake with chocolate bavarian cream, carrot cake with cream cheese, lemon poppyseed with lemon chiffon, and more. Ordering the cupcakes was a bit of a challenge--since it's such a small bakery, there are no display cases and, while there is a list of all the cake flavors and fillings available for special-order cakes, there is no list of which flavors have been combined into the cupcakes. I was presented with a tray of perhaps fifteen flavors of cupcakes that were available and a girl behind the counter pointed and recited all the flavors to me. It was difficult to keep track of the flavors I wanted to order and the girl didn't seem particularly patient.

When I got the cupcakes home, I was disappointed in them for two reasons. First, the amount of filling inside each cupcake was miniscule--barely enough to get a taste of it. Second, the flavors I had didn't match up with what I thought I had ordered. I'm not sure if I pointed at the wrong cupcakes on the tray, if the person who made the cupcakes didn't put the correct fillings in them, or if the girl behind the counter didn't recite all the flavors correctly. It didn't really matter what the reason was--the important thing was that I didn't get everything I wanted, and for $3 a cupcake, that was annoying. Also, I found the cake to be dry and the vanilla buttercream icing to be overly sugary (but I think most icing is too sugary). The chocolate buttercream icing tastes like fudge and is quite good.

Based on the reviews I've read online and the word-of-mouth recommendations I've received, Skiff's seems to be popular and well-liked for its custom cakes. The owner, Steve, is a very laid back, straightforward, down-to-earth guy who will make you feel confident that he and his wife, the cake baker and decorator, will do a fantastic job with your order. Custom cake prices are reasonable and middle-of-the-road as far as area bakeries go, and their website has numerous beautiful photos of their creations and plenty of information about their cake flavors and policies. But my experience with the cupcakes gave me doubts about how good the actual cakes would be. I don't doubt that for many people, Skiff's is a great choice, but I will gladly drive the extra miles to go to Bread Basket in Camarillo.

Skiff's Cakes

2355 Tapo Street, Ste 14
Simi Valley, CA 93063
805-582-4882
Skiff's Menu
Skiff's Website

Restaurant Review #211: Porto's, Glendale

Assorted pastries. From back left to front right: guava strudel, almond danish, croissant, coconut glazed, coconut strudel, apple empanada

Though Porto's is a Los Angeles legend, it's possible to not know about it, especially if you live on the Westside. In an attempt to avoid the crowds, we visited late on a Saturday afternoon, but despite primarily being a bakery, the place was a madhouse. As we waited in line, we crained our necks around the throngs ordering at the counter trying to pick out which goodies we wanted. Few items are labeled, so unless you're a regular, you'll just have to point. Printed and posted menus curiously don't list all the items.


Assorted savory pastries. From back left to front right: pastel de carne (meat pie), chorizo pie, chicken empanada, ham croquettes, potato balls

Porto's serves both sweet and savory pastries with a Cuban influence. With so many delicious options, you can feel the pounds piling on before you even start eating. While there are really no bad dishes, in the savory category, you won't want to miss the pastel de carne (puff pastry filled with seasoned ground beef), chicken empanada (filled with moist, shredded chicken and peppers), or potato balls (mashed potato wrapped around seasoned ground beef, breaded and deep fried). In the sweet category, be sure to try the mango empanadas, cheese danish, and coconut strudel.


Medianoche sandwich

In addition to its pastries, Porto's offers a selection of sandwiches. The medianoche (midnight) sandwich, a concoction of ham, roasted pork, swiss cheese, pickles, mustard, and mayonnaise on a toasted sweet roll, is tastier than its simple appearance implies. The grilled chicken sandwich is basic but juicy and tender.


Grilled chicken sandwich

Porto's prices are stunningly low--and they create and delivery large orders for parties. Imagine how many people you could feed on the cheap when a dense, filling empanada costs just 95 cents? Most savory pastries are under $1.00 to start with and are even cheaper when you buy them 50 pieces at a time. The sweet pastries are equally inexpensive. If you're looking for something more sophisticated, Porto's also has a large selection of French-style cakes and mousses and they also do elaborate wedding cakes.

Porto's
315 N. Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91203
818.956.5996
Porto's website (very informative)

Restaurant Review #204: Sprinkles Cupcakes, Beverly Hills

I have to admit, I'm not a fan of the cupcake craze. I can't believe it's not over yet. I just think it's all rather ridiculous. I can make an entire batch of twelve cupcakes for about $5, no special skills required except the ability to follow a Duncan Hines recipe, so why would I go to a place that charges me $3 or more for a single cupcake, even if it is dense, moist, and abundantly frosted? In the time it would take me to drive to a cupcake store, park, wait in line, and drive back, I could bake and generously frost twelve cupcakes myself and save $31. Sprinkles' cupcakes are $3.25 each, or $36 a dozen.

Were I to actually make it to Sprinkles myself instead of having a cupcake randomly bestowed upon me by an office party, I'd probably try cinnamon sugar and chai latte. Most of the other eighteen flavors I could easily make at home. Actually, I could probably make the cinnamon and the chai, too, with a little trial and error. As it was, I had a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting. For the record, I think red velvet is a really strange concept. Who wants to eat that much food coloring in one sitting?

If you're wondering about the mysterious dot on the top, it indicates the cupcake's flavor. I think I would hate working there. "Is red velvet the light blue on red dot, or red on light blue dot?" Not every flavor is available every day, but you can check their website for a day/flavor grid. In addition to Sprinkles' regular flavors, there are also seasonal flavors, like vanilla peppermint, chocolate peppermint, and eggnog spice.



Sprinkles Cupcakes
9635 Santa Monica Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310.274,8765
Sprinkles Website
(All ranting aside, their website is a wonderful example of what all web design should be: easy to navigate, gorgeous, and highly informative.)

Restaurant Review #182: Big Sugar Bakeshop, Studio City

Big Sugar Bakeshop is a tiny new bakery on crazy-busy Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. It's so small you'll miss it if you're driving by at more than five miles per hour, but unless it's two in the morning, you probably won't be going much faster. The bakery has no parking, so you'll need to fight the masses for a meter on Ventura or a free spot on a nearby side street.


Chocolate cupcake

I stopped by the place hoping to satisfy a cake craving and pick up a gift for a co-worker. I sort of accomplished my mission. The display case offered no more than 20 items, far fewer than I expected from viewing their website (their menu is longer than what you see on display--I should have asked about that). They had three cupcakes, so I got one of each. I wasn't terribly impressed by them and didn't think they were worth $3 apiece. They were lightweight (I guess for $3 I wanted a dense cupcake) and the cake part was dry. The icing was superb, however--light, fluffy, and not too sweet. I had to whip up my own batch of buttercream frosting afterwards to finish off a craving induced by the vanilla cupcake. (Yes, my eating habits completely revolve around my cravings.) There aren't any tables, so don't expect to dine in. They have ribbon if you need your item to look gifty, but their packaging doesn't even begin to compare to Boule's (though their pricing does). The cupcake boxes have nifty cupcake holders to keep your cupcakes from sliding into each other on the drive home.


Vanilla cupcake

The gift selection was adequate, but could use more options. Right now, you can purchase well-designed cards for about $4.50 each, flavored gourmet honeys, obscenely priced tins of hot chocoloate (yours for only $22.50!), Kschocolate bars for $4.50, butterscotch sauce for ice cream, designer cloth napkins, mugs, luxurious hand lotions, and various other items.

If you're a cupcake aficionado, be sure to check out the newly launched Cupcake Finder LA.

Big Sugar Bakeshop
12182 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City, CA 91604
818.508.5855
Tue-Sat 10am - 6pm
Sun 11am - 5pm
Closed Mon.
Website


Tags:Cupcakes Los Angeles Studio City Bakeries

Restaurant Review #171: Boule - CLOSED

Fromage blanc cheesecake

Boule is an upscale bakery, chocolatier, and gelateria with an unassuming, even drab brown exterior that gives way to an incredibly sunny, high-ceilinged light blue paradise. It's the perfect place for some pampering: after your car dies in the middle of a major intersection during rush hour and you have to spend $360 to get it fixed, on top of the $650 you've already spent fixing other stuff, what do you do? Spend more money to make yourself feel better, of course.
I don't normally like cheesecake, but I couldn't pass up a cheesecake this attractive and made with Cowgirl Creamery's fromage blanc. The texture was nearly fluffy and the fromage blanc added a unique flavor. The cheesecake was packaged so well that it made it home in my car still looking perfect. At $5.50, this was one of the most reasonably priced items in the store.


Pate des fruits

Pates des fruits, if you've never had them, are sort of like all-natural, homemade, oversized gumdrops. Fruit is cooked down to its essence, combined with lots of sugar, then cooled, shaped, and coated in more sugar. The meyer lemon saffron was incredibly sour--it must have taken me four tries to finish it. The Indonesian cherry pepper was very interesting. It didn't taste spicy or peppery, but it was much more interesting than plain old cherry. These cost a little over $1 each.


Clockwise from left: Grace, Isis, Baumaniere, Venus

Boule's chocolates are best reserved for special occasions (unless you're wealthy, in which case you should consume them daily). They're sold in sets: four for $10, 12 for $28, or 25 for $55. Stunned by the prices, I went with the four for $10 option--that's $2.50 for less than one square inch of chocolate! Could these chocolates possibly be worth that much to someone as frugal as I am?

Yes, they could.

Once you get home, you'll probably have forgotten what you picked out. Therein lies the genius of the little card you'll find tucked into the top of your chocolate box, which marks which chocolates your purchased and describes their flavors:

Grace - thyme honey
Isis - rosewater caramel
Baumaniere - cardamom coffee
Venus - lavender

I could really taste the flavors of each chocolate and savored each bite for as long as possible. Good luck choosing among the endless options!



My $10 box of chocolates

Though I don't usually spend the kind of money that Boule requires, I felt that I very much got my money's worth. At Boule, no detail goes unnoticed, from the friendly, skilled staff to the attractive boxes and bags to the gorgeous presentation of their desserts and chocolates. This is a great place to pick up a gift (you won't even have to wrap it!) or take yourself for a special treat. And if you're feeling really extravagant, get this--they deliver!

Boule
420 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
310.289.9977
Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-7pm
Sun 10am-5pm
Boule Website