Kiki Bakery - Alhambra

A while back, I was meeting up with my friend E(L) for a belated birthday dinner at Messob Ethiopian Restaurant in Los Angeles and I knew I couldn't come empty-handed. Remembering the cute cakes at Kiki Bakery from when I dined at Jazz Cat Cafe next door, I swung by to pick up some on the way to meet up with her.

Tell me this isn't the cutest container ever? My friend actually squealed with delight when she saw the box.




I bought her mango and chocolate mousse cakes for $2.65 each. Shhh! Don't tell her how cheap they were. :P




Since I didn't actually get to taste them, I had to go back another time for the blog. I know, so difficult huh? The things I do for my readers. ;)

So while waiting for our table at Jazz Cat Cafe one night, I stopped in. Here's a shot of the mid-sized cakes. They also do larger birthday cakes of all their flavors such as taro, mango mousse, strawberry mousse, green tea mousse, and tiramisu.




But really, I think Kiki's specialty is their breads and rolls. At the end of the night, most of the good stuff had been picked clean.




But I managed to snag the last very large, incredibly pillowy taro mochi bun for $1.69. You can't tell by the picture because it was so dark but it was a pretty pale lavender in color as well.




It's filled with taro paste and taro mochi! This bun was just soooo good. Not too sweet, so airy and light. Just perfect.




My cousin and I saved the mango and green tea mousse cakes for dessert. The green tea mousse layers had red bean pieces, reminiscent of Vanille de Patisserie's version but almost half the price.




Kiki Bakery is a bakery. No tables or chairs to sit down. Go early if you want a parking spot before the Jazz Cat Cafe patrons fill up the lot. Or wander in if you're killing time while waiting for a table at Jazz Cat.

See Kiki Bakery - San Gabriel, for more close-ups of the taro mochi bun and taro toast bread.

Here's the strawberry cake that cousin Q bought for his little brother's birthday.




The small Chinese egg tarts are also quite good.




And the cutest thing ever, panda cookies! I bought the package and then mailed them to lil' sis. She said it was just the thing to cheer her up.




November 10, 2009 update: New owners, but same employees, this location of Kiki Bakery is now MoMo Bakery.

October 5, 2010 update: In June, I noticed a soft opening sign for Kiki Bakery in Pacific Square, near Kang Kang Food Court. Kiki Bakery is back in Alhambra then, and only a few blocks down from its original location. And with the earlier opening of Kiki Bakery - Monterey Park, I wonder what caused the split and why they seem to be going head-to-head with MoMo Bakery?




This location is pretty small, but they did have the usual cakes and rolls. And the taro mochi bun!




Too bad one of the employees told me not to take pictures. So take that Kiki! No more pictures for you! I'll just go to your former location and competition, MoMo Bakery, where the employees actually encourage me to take more pictures and to please post them on the internet. So there!

Other Chinese bakeries:
Happy Bakery - San Gabriel
Kee Wah Bakery - Monterey Park
Kiki Bakery - Monterey Park 
MoMo Bakery - Alhambra
Vanille de Patisserie - San Marino

Kiki Bakery (Several locations)
Pacific Square
21 E. Valley Blvd.
Alhambra, CA 91803
626-282-6889
9 a.m. to 9 p.m.