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Long lines and order limits can't take the shine off Asa Bakery
Japanese Bakery in East Village serves exquisitely soft, crispy, and photogenic pastries
The custard-filled "Naruto croissant," matcha flavored
Video:
FEAST!: Long lines and order limits can't take the shine off Asa Bakery
I'd heard Asa Bakery & Cafe could attract long lines, and sell out of certain popular items, so I've made a plan to show up right when it opens: 9 a.m. Turns out, other pastry fans have made better, earlier plans, because as the first customers walk through the front door, I find nearly 50 others lined up behind them on the East Village sidewalk.
That line is just as long behind me a half hour later, when I make it close enough to read a small, laminated printout posted at the entrance. "Due to high demand and limited supply," it states, orders are limited to four pastries per person. Immediately, I'm grateful our 12-year-old decided to tag along this morning. There are way more than four pastries here I wanted to try — even ordering eight between us will force some tough decisions.
An everything bagel made extra chewy thanks to mochi flour
Some I want to eat because they are rare or completely unheard of on this side of the Pacific Ocean. Japanese bakeries aren't common in San Diego, so to be honest, this place could serve any unusual thing and I'd feel compelled try it. Like a bread roll stuffed with curried ground beef ($6); an everything bagel ($4) given elastic chew thanks to the addition of mochi flour; or the "creamy caviar roll" ($7) a salty and fishy baguette sandwich smeared with a blend of butter and fish roe (mentaiko).
Others I want to order for what I assume are the same reasons most of these people are here: the photo ops. Several of the croissant variations inside the shop's glass counter are so pretty you wonder if they're trying to attract pollinators. Simple croissants stuffed with matcha cream are prettied up with dark green stripes running parallel to fine lines of flaky laminated dough ($7). More dazzling is the ribbon caramel croissant ($6), the red-striped pastry twisted up to look like the bow on a birthday present. And at top of the list is the so-called Naruto croissant.
The "ribbon caramel croissant" at Asa Bakery & Cafe
This is what the 12-year-old came to see. He's a fan of the popular Japanese manga and anime series Naruto, about a ninja boy inhabited by the spirit of a nine-tailed demon fox. I know the name due to Naruto fish cakes, the little white pucks with pink swirls served as a topping in Japanese-owned ramen bars. And those are named after the spiraling Naruto whirlpools, which appear between tides in the Naruto Strait, in the south of Japan.
At Asa Bakery, Naruto croissants ($6) are rolled into a spiral shape, filled with vanilla custard, half-dipped in flavored chocolate, then topped with cookies or dehydrated fruit. Flavor options are regular chocolate, strawberry, or matcha green tea, each more photogenic than the last. And due to their popularity, orders are limited to one Naruto per person.
It takes nearly 50 minutes for the two of us to reach the counter, and start naming our eight pastries, but this somehow winds up working in our favor. Turns out, Naruto croissants aren't available til 10am each morning. We've already waited this long, so we order a couple drinks from the elaborate coffee and tea menu, and decide holding out another fifteen minutes feels worth it. Tastes worth it, too, when our matcha- and Oreo-dressed baked good arrives.
Matcha-custard filled croissants
Timing at Asa Bakery really makes a difference. Show up at 11:30, and you may order savory dishes, such as meaty rice plates and crustless Japanese sandos made on Hokkaido milk bread. Show up after 2pm, and you can expect pastries to be sold out. Show up at 6pm, and a hidden door in the back opens up to reveal a small omakase bar, Sushi Gaga.
But I'm here to tell you the pastries are worth scheduling part of your day around. Not because they're pretty or will score you clicks on social media. But because there's an outstanding baker at work here, a guy named Yuto Hikosaka, who moved here from Japan with special Hokkaido wheat and the knowhow to turn it into exquisitely soft breads and rolls, or buttery-crisp, flaky croissants, or extra chew bagels. If you want to experience all of his best work, show up around 11:15, and don't sweat the wait.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Long lines and order limits can't take the shine off Asa Bakery
Japanese Bakery in East Village serves exquisitely soft, crispy, and photogenic pastries
Long lines and order limits can't take the shine off Asa Bakery
Japanese Bakery in East Village serves exquisitely soft, crispy, and photogenic pastries
The custard-filled "Naruto croissant," matcha flavored
Video:
FEAST!: Long lines and order limits can't take the shine off Asa Bakery
I'd heard Asa Bakery & Cafe could attract long lines, and sell out of certain popular items, so I've made a plan to show up right when it opens: 9 a.m. Turns out, other pastry fans have made better, earlier plans, because as the first customers walk through the front door, I find nearly 50 others lined up behind them on the East Village sidewalk.
That line is just as long behind me a half hour later, when I make it close enough to read a small, laminated printout posted at the entrance. "Due to high demand and limited supply," it states, orders are limited to four pastries per person. Immediately, I'm grateful our 12-year-old decided to tag along this morning. There are way more than four pastries here I wanted to try — even ordering eight between us will force some tough decisions.
An everything bagel made extra chewy thanks to mochi flour
Some I want to eat because they are rare or completely unheard of on this side of the Pacific Ocean. Japanese bakeries aren't common in San Diego, so to be honest, this place could serve any unusual thing and I'd feel compelled try it. Like a bread roll stuffed with curried ground beef ($6); an everything bagel ($4) given elastic chew thanks to the addition of mochi flour; or the "creamy caviar roll" ($7) a salty and fishy baguette sandwich smeared with a blend of butter and fish roe (mentaiko).
Others I want to order for what I assume are the same reasons most of these people are here: the photo ops. Several of the croissant variations inside the shop's glass counter are so pretty you wonder if they're trying to attract pollinators. Simple croissants stuffed with matcha cream are prettied up with dark green stripes running parallel to fine lines of flaky laminated dough ($7). More dazzling is the ribbon caramel croissant ($6), the red-striped pastry twisted up to look like the bow on a birthday present. And at top of the list is the so-called Naruto croissant.
The "ribbon caramel croissant" at Asa Bakery & Cafe
This is what the 12-year-old came to see. He's a fan of the popular Japanese manga and anime series Naruto, about a ninja boy inhabited by the spirit of a nine-tailed demon fox. I know the name due to Naruto fish cakes, the little white pucks with pink swirls served as a topping in Japanese-owned ramen bars. And those are named after the spiraling Naruto whirlpools, which appear between tides in the Naruto Strait, in the south of Japan.
At Asa Bakery, Naruto croissants ($6) are rolled into a spiral shape, filled with vanilla custard, half-dipped in flavored chocolate, then topped with cookies or dehydrated fruit. Flavor options are regular chocolate, strawberry, or matcha green tea, each more photogenic than the last. And due to their popularity, orders are limited to one Naruto per person.
It takes nearly 50 minutes for the two of us to reach the counter, and start naming our eight pastries, but this somehow winds up working in our favor. Turns out, Naruto croissants aren't available til 10am each morning. We've already waited this long, so we order a couple drinks from the elaborate coffee and tea menu, and decide holding out another fifteen minutes feels worth it. Tastes worth it, too, when our matcha- and Oreo-dressed baked good arrives.
Matcha-custard filled croissants
Timing at Asa Bakery really makes a difference. Show up at 11:30, and you may order savory dishes, such as meaty rice plates and crustless Japanese sandos made on Hokkaido milk bread. Show up after 2pm, and you can expect pastries to be sold out. Show up at 6pm, and a hidden door in the back opens up to reveal a small omakase bar, Sushi Gaga.
But I'm here to tell you the pastries are worth scheduling part of your day around. Not because they're pretty or will score you clicks on social media. But because there's an outstanding baker at work here, a guy named Yuto Hikosaka, who moved here from Japan with special Hokkaido wheat and the knowhow to turn it into exquisitely soft breads and rolls, or buttery-crisp, flaky croissants, or extra chew bagels. If you want to experience all of his best work, show up around 11:15, and don't sweat the wait.
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