I gotta put something for the blog so we’re gonna talk about the recent treats & eats I’ve had. I went to Paris Baguette yesterday actually. Got some good pics too me thinks, but I need somewhere to dump it so here’s my food dump!
Paris Baguette
I was at the Zion market yesterday with NO INTENT to shop at Paris Baguette but all the treats were just there staring me down so I didn’t really have a choice.
This is what I ended up getting. It came out to $13.47.
3/5 ★★★☆☆ Curry Croquette
Disappointed! I had high expectations but it was really just meh. I’m more of a savory food person so this was a let down for me. Maybe I should’ve stayed in my lane and got hotdog bread as usual…
4/5 ★★★★☆ Coffee Croissant Donut
A little bitty too sweet for my Asian palette but no complaints, really. The outside was crispy and the coffee cream inside was so great. I think the sugar and coffee glaze is what over did the sweetness for me, but without it, it wouldn’t have been so cute.
5/5 ★★★★★ Strawberry Lemon Cream Croissant
This is so basic and generic but man was it so good. The lemon cream had the perfect amount of tartness and wasn’t too sweet. Strawberries were fresh. Chef’s kiss **
Mini Pan-Fried Bun
Can you believe how ginormous this is?? I saw it on yelp so I mainly came here just for that drink and bun combo. I had the jasmine soy milk and it was amazing. I’m not a soy milk lover but I would 100% drink that again. Also my boyfriend got dan dan noodles which were good too, and we shared a pork bun, which was amazing too.
Da Vien Coffee
I don’t know why I felt the need to have a photoshoot with my banana coffee at work but I did. Really popular cafe I’d like to try more from it…
3/5 ★★★☆☆ Banana Latte
Not very banana-y. I was expecting a lot more banana. According to the menu, I guess the only banana part is the banana cream on top, but that didn’t have a strong banana flavor to me. And to top if off, they had a generous amount of cinnamon topping which kind of overpowered any kind of flavor in the banana cream. If you’re looking for a real good banana drink, try Ape Coffee in Orange.
Wara Bistro
This cafe opened up in The Market Place corporate plaza and honestly… it’s not bad but not amazing. I haven’t tried everything yet though so maybe I’ll change my mind later, but I feel like it’s close to being amazing but right now it’s only just average.
The Cookie Plug
This is the first time I ordered a cookie from a cookie place. I’m not a cookie muncher but this one was alright. Pretty dense and cakey, almost like fudge but not. I got the Dubai cookie btw, and it wasn’t really anything crazy. Excuse the not aesthetic photos here.
Northern Cafe
This is one of my favorite Chinese places. Mainly just for the oil spill noodles (油泼面) but other stuff is good too. I always order these noodles. Def on my top 5 noodles of my life list.
BTW I have a recipe for this here but I just use udon, since it’s easy.
The Den Cafe
Just like Wara Bistro, this place is SO MID. But not in a bad way. It’s like, everything on the menu seems pretty modern but also normie, and some sound pretty good too. But when you actually get the food it’s just so bland and you just can’t figure out why there is a lack of flavor. It’s a step away from being amazing but I don’t know why. So perplexed.
Redshift Coffee Roasters
This little coffee shop is in a weird plaza that has almost nothing of interest. It’s also in Lake Forest, which no offense, is so boring. But the drink was not bad…
Honeymee
I used to be a Honeymee hater for no good reason. They opened up when I was in high school and I tried it once back then. I think I disliked the strong flavor of honey, but recently I’ve gone back quite a few times after I discovered the ice cream is BOMB.
Here is Dalgona and Green Grape (aren’t they cute!):
Puesto
PASSION FRUIT CEVICHE. That alone is enough to have me going back. It is among the best ceviche I’ve ever had. Luckily pretty much everything else on the menu is really good too. I never had a bad meal or experience here. If I was rich, I’d eat here more.
Boil and Bake
This bagel spot in Costa Mesa is for lox lovers. I’m off the lox now but man it was so bomb. Most things on the menu was a lox bagel in different forms but there are other stuffs too.
Lynda’s African Delicacies
I’ve always wanted to try African food and there is barely any around me other than this place. It’s a hole in the wall in the middle of a corporate plaza.
Food was great though. They even let me try some samples. I want to go back and try fufu and the goat. I feel like African food tastes familiar but I could not describe why. Maybe we use similar spices in Chinese food?
That’s it for my recent treats & eats so far of 2025. Will do another one in several months I think. Also, here’s a Ramune I had that I liked because it was colorful and it matched my desk at work 🙂
ok bye!! Try some of these places out!
Big J
P.S. Find some other yummies in my Manhattan Food Diary blog. 🙂