85 °C Bakery Café : Only One Thing Good

Everyone has been talking about 85 °C Bakery Café that opened up recently. It's suppose to be a famous chain from Taiwan. I am going to give it the benefit of the doubt that the ones in Taiwan are much better than this location. After all the hype, I finally came here late one night with PK and HW. There wasn't much stuff left but we were happy to find a place open so late for tea and some snacks. We arrived just in time before the rush, but they were out of a lot of things. They were even out of milk tea!!! How could they! =*(
I looked through their baked breads display but there wasn't anything that caught my eye enough to purchase. PK picked up the only two items that we agreed looked more delectable. I purchased the cakes because she said they always looked so good and that she has never tried them. So I thought it would be a good chance for all of us to try something new! ^_^
The best thing of the night was the Brioche Toast! It was extremely tasty and sweet. The bread was moist and fluffy. This really reminded me of King Hawaiian Bread or a mix between "Nai Su" (milk) and typical Asian bread. Apparently HW went back the next day and they did not have it. I hope to see this again and pick some up for home!
We were tempted by the Cream Cheese Custard Tart. Doesn't it sound good in theory? Yes, in THEORY! I don't know what they did with the custard but it tasted really gross and awkward. I could not taste the cream cheese at all and the crust was flavorless. I was hoping that the custard would be a mix between egg tart custard and cream cheese. They should change their recipe!
I chose the Coffee Crème Brûlée Cup. They describe it as classic French Crème Brûlée with fresh caramel and milk custard topped with coffee glaze. When I saw it I thought... "Sounds good"... but boy was I wrong! I don't know if it is the coffee caramel but something tasted funky. The coffee tasted sour and awkward. The dessert was presented nicely but the flavor was just horrid!
The Tiramisu looked good too and I picked that out but again... presentation is not everything and you can NOT judge a book by it's cover. Everything may look pretty but the taste surely did not reflect that. You could not taste any liquor, chocolate, or coffee essence that the cake should be dipped in. It was just Asian fluffy cake with some cream and chocolate powder on top. Is this even a Tiramisu? I am staying away from their cakes! It's not worth the risk to try them.
I do like the little boxes they pack the cakes in though... but I don't eat the box so I'd rather have it taste good!
As I mentioned before, they were out of Milk Tea! So they pushed for customers to get the Milk Green Tea and I caved in to order that. It took them a LONG time to get the drink out! Don't know why it should take that long. Finally I got my drink and BLECH!!!! Yes, I can taste the tea flavor and some milk but nothing else! I need some sugar in my drink! It was so gross and tasteless that I wanted to just toss it but it would be so wasteful. Now I am afraid of ordering any drink from there too!
All in all this place is not that good and I wouldn't come back! Except for the small chance that I can get that Brioche Toast. I mean I will give it ONE more try before I brush them off. My next trip should be much better than the first time, I mean... it's not that hard! As for now, I can bake much better than them and make better drinks! All this hype about them just tells me that I am not going to listen to them because there are a lot of people out there who eat anything! PK told me that there are cute people who work there but the night we went there was only one girl who was cute and that was it. My hopes for eye candy were dashed too! =*(

85 °C Bakery Café

2700 Alton Pkwy
Irvine, CA 92606

(949) 553-8585