Pros - It's new. It's happening. It's the place to be at on any given day or night of the week. It's clean. Lots of food choices.
Cons - Parking can be a pain during busy hour. Only one entrance for cars (something that has to do with Irvine zoning so they could not have another entrance on the side of Jamboree). Restaurant prices are a bit more expensive.
(I must say - I am pretty impressed with this picture. It was taken with my DSLR while I was in the car. It could be sharper but I was holding the camera versus a tripod. :D)First destination: Bon Epi - Patisserie Cafe. A good friend of mine mentioned this bakery a few times this week so I figured, what the heck. Granted - it's not freakishly busy like 85C but it's new, clean and nice. :D By the way - making a stop at a bakery at 9:30 p.m. isn't all that great of an idea. The baked goods are limited but I'll take what I can get tonight. I think it's more of a Korean bakery since it's on the corner with all the Korean food BUT I may be wrong.
I picked up this chocolate custard pastry. I haven't tried it yet so no review. Are you salivating yet?
My friend also recommended the croissants. There are at least three or four different choices and I ended up with this chocolate croissant. Again, I haven't tried it so no review. I know, I know but I'd just eaten a meal an hour before I stopped by this shopping center. I was just too full.
After I paid for my two pastries - I walked over to 85C. It was packed and the time was 9:45 p.m. Most of the baked goods were gone so people grabbed whatever were available.
I picked up three pork sung rolls. This roll is pretty good but to be honest - I love pork sung rolls from most bakeries so does 85C's pork sung roll stand out? Not really but I'll take it. Most of other bread items were completely gone and I heard one of the workers say that the pastry chef had gone home for the day. (WHAT? But this place is bustling....don't they have someone manning at all hours? :P) I felt obligated to buy something else since I made the extra effort to drive down here so I bought a loaf of bread but no picture.
I also ordered an iced green milk tea with boba. While I was waiting for my drink, a number of thoughts came to my head.
I wondered to myself if 85C is overrated? I guess this question would depend on who you ask. Some people may not understand why this cafe is packed since they're probably thinking to themselves, it's just baked goods and drinks...like anywhere else. BUT the thing is....it's a busy bakery! A busy bakery means the hustling and bustling of customers coming in and out of its store round the clock. This in turn means that the baked goods you get are FRESH! That's really important! Nothing is worst than eating stale pastry or bread.
Here's another thing - this bakery is new to the United States. From my limited understanding of 85C - this is a popular chain in Taiwan and they've just recently entered the US market with the Irvine location being the first US store. Could this be the next PinkBerry? Only time will tell. :D
Oh yes - if you are a coffee drinker or just like to try new things - the sea salt coffee is popular here. I don't drink coffee and have only taken a sip once when I bought a cup for the husband so my review would be invalid. As for the husband's opinion - he thought it was o.k....whatever that means.
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