Kawaii Bakery has been serving cakes, sweet buns, breads, and other pastries in the old Alin's Party Supply Plaza for over two years now. I suspect that most people heading on Warner in that direction are on a single mission to get on the freeway and often overlook the obscure location.
Though the breads and buns looked good, the three of us were looking to cash in on the promotion, which advertised three slices of cake for $6.49. The single refridgerated case housed mostly fruit-based mousse cakes, though there were a few classic chocolate and sponge cakes thrown in for good measure. I was told the most popular cakes are the Sweet Tasty, a heart-shaped raspberry mousse, and the Opera, a chocolate mousse cake. For our choices, we opted for the Pineapple, strawberry-yogurt mousse, and "Japanese-style cake," which was a cheesecake made with cream cheese.
The presentation of the cakes was simple with light fruit garnishes serving as the only embellishment, although the cake wrappers were cumbersome and difficult to remove. There seemed to be more air beaten into the egg whites than normal, which led to an almost weightless mousse cake that melted in our mouths. The strawberry and yogurt combination was tart, while the chocolate and vanilla sponge cakes acted as a counterbalance.
The Pineapple Cake was a sponge cake topped with pineapple jam. It was nice and light. The Japanese cheesecake was the only disappointment since the cheese was neither sweet nor sour and the crust incredibly dry. A good dousing of raspberry sauce would have done it good.
Though the cakes were simple, they tasted good, came in large portions, and were relatively cheap. No complaints, but no rave reviews either.
As we wandered around the store, we kept discovering one treat after another, until I walked away with a laundry list of items to check out the next time I'm there. On my list: ham and egg sandwiches, banana bread, and chocolate cake toast.
Food update July 31, 2007
This time, I came for the buns and sandwiches for a light lunch. Overall my choices weren't bad, though I've had better.
I picked up the only two sandwiches they had available. The ham and cheese on white bread was a little manufactured tasting with the brick of unnatural-looking cheese being what put me off most. The bread was expectedly fluffy, though a tad sweet. Not bad on the whole, though Cream Pan's are better and feel a bit more homemade.
The potato and tuna salad stuffed buns deceptively looked like baguettes, but were more like Hawaiian bread rolls. Potato salad is too starchy for an already carb-loaded bun and the tuna salad tasted more like mayo than it did tuna.
The pastries below come with the same buttery bun casing, though they're packaged in different shapes and sizes. The buns are sweet and doughy on the inside.
The Pork Sung and Green Onion Bun was overloaded with sweet pork sung and didn't have enough of the green onions for a fragrant contrast. The corn in the Corn and Ham Bun didn't have much sweetness of its own and as far as I could taste, the ham was almost absent altogether.
The only real winner was the Banana Bread, which would have rivaled any great grandmother's family recipe. It's everything you expect homemade banana bread to taste like.
Kawaii Bakery
17020 Magnolia St
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
(714) 596-6178
Try: Strawberry-Yogurt Mousse, Banana BreadSkip: Japanese-style Cake, Pork Sung and Green Onion Bun, Ham and Corn Bun
The Turkey Pesto Ciabatta was surprisingly acceptable bordering on good. The crispy lettuce and the bite of the pesto kept the melted cheese from overwhelming my already sweaty palate. Regardless, I only managed to eat ¼ of the sandwich before passing it onto my SO.
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