Beard Papa

Located in the Puente Hills Mall, Beard Papa's has gained fans from several locations throughout the country including California, Hawaii and New York.

One of the unique things about Beard Papa's is that their cream puffs are filled to order. The shells are baked throughout the day. By filling the cream puffs when the customer places an order the cream puffs don't get soggy, as they tend to get if they sit around for long periods of time.

There are three flavor of cream puffs to choose from: Vanilla, Chocolate and Coffee.

The cream puff shells are crunchy and flaky on the outside, and soft on the inside.

The vanilla filling is light and fluffy, a mixture of custard and whipped cream, or so it appears. The cream also has a distinct creme brulee flavor, without the burnt sugar topping. Although good, I wasn't too fond of this cream puff, because I like the filling to be really a really thick custard, almost like pudding.

The chocolate cream puffs are dusted with a small amount of cocoa powder, giving you a sign of whats to come when you bite into the cream puff. The filling is also light and airy. The chocolate flavor is prevalent although not overbearing. The cream had an unusual grainy texture, as if the vanilla cream and chocolate weren't thoroughly mixed before being ready to serve.

The cream puffs at Beard Papa's have a nice contrast between the crunchy puff and light and airy cream. These are ideal when you want to something sweet, but not too heavy.


Beard Papa's
Puente Hills Mall
1600 Azusa Avenue #160
City Of Industry, CA 91748
(626) 839-1240

Senor Baja

Located in the Chino Spectrum, Senor Baja is a fairly new restaurant with clean lines and minimalist decoration. There is a surfboard hanging from the ceiling when you first walk in, welcoming you to Senor Baja. There are pictures of Baja scattered throughout the restaurant. The menu isn't overwhelimg, but contains items that most are familiar with. The only "scary" item on the menu would be the lengua (tongue) tacos.

The fish tacos (!1.49) are made with hand battered fish filets, crisp and freshly shredded cabbage and a white sauce that tastes like watered down mayo. The ingredients are placed on two warm corn tortillas. There is a wonderful texture and temperature contrast between, the warm corn tortillas, crisp fried fish filet and the crunchy cabbage.

The taquitos ($3.49) come 3 to an order, covered with a huge mound of cabbage and white sauce and a big scoop of guacamole on the side. The taquitos are also hand made and have a nice amount of beef in them. The guacamole has a nice little tang to it, but nothing over powering.

The tacos are comparable to Rubio's, but are a little bit better in my opinion.


Senor Baja
3908 Grand Ave. Unit A
Chino, CA 91710
Phone: (909) 902-5110

Chocolate Mochi

Picked up a few pieces of Fugetsu-do's chocolate mochi at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Monterey Park. They are about the size of a silver dollar pancake. The mochi is almost the color of milk chocolate with a dusting of corn starch. The mochi is pillowy soft and has a nice chew to it. It has a subtle yet distinctive chocolate flavor.

The surprise is when you get to the middle of the mochi where there is a soft, fudge like chocolate center. It reminds me of the dobash at King's Hawaiian Bakery.

Don't know how long the chocolate mochi has been around, but the next time I'm in J town, I'll be sure to pick some more up

Fugetsu-do Confectioners
315 East First St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 625-8595