Kat's 9 Lives

As I mentioned before, I'm very into drinks that come in cool bottles! Even though I was on crutches, I still made my way to Icy Cream Roll because of their fun drinks.  They were very busy at night so I went again in the day time and it was a much shorter wait.

Many people have been anticipating the Hello Kitty Cafe opening at Irvine Spectrum.  It's literally just a container with a few tables and some sweet treats plus drinks.  Beware : They tend to run out of items quite quickly and the lines can be long.  I even went about 1 hr after they opened and a bunch of items were already out.  My pal really wanted the Birthday Cake and it was sold out.  I wanted the Macarons and of course they were gone too.

Who doesn't love ice cream and donuts?  Now imagine them harmoniously together in one bite! I decided to finally try Afters for dessert, even though it is a bit far but worth the trip.  They were pretty packed the night I went and very hard to find.  There isn't really a sign that pops out for them.  I kept circling the plaza and had to look real hard to find them.  What helped that night was that there was a crowd of people waiting.
The line was way out the door but you could tell that it must be good or something special to make it so popular.  Most of the crowd were teenagers and college students.  The interior is very simple and the line wrapped around inside.  They have tables outside for you to sit and eat there if you like.
I liked the variety of ice cream flavors they had.  Not your typical flavors, which is what I love.  My favorite is the Cookie Batter.  It is really good! They have Thai Ice Tea, Vietnamese Ice Coffee, Cookie Monster, and more.
If there isn't too much of a line, I would suggest to ask and try some of their flavors.  You can choose to just eat the ice cream or make it into an ice cream sandwich.  You can either get it glazed or without it.  Personally, I like glazed but it does tend to get heavy because it is all bad sugars for you.  So bad, but so good O=D.
The first time I went, I got two sandwiches and could barely even finish one.  Still, I ate the yummy ice cream! The Cookie Monster is very colorful and just fun to eat but flavor wise, it was just okay.  Surprisingly the Cookie Batter was great and if you add a little Captain Crunch, it would really add to the texture.
All in all I really enjoyed the place because you can't find many good ice cream places in Orange County like you could in San Francisco.  I heard the owner say they are thinking of opening down in Tustin, which would be great and I would go more often.  The sandwiches are more for splurging.  If I went more often, I would just get the ice cream and enjoy a bunch of different flavors.  =)

Afters
18030 Brookhurst St
Fountain Valley, CA 92708

On my first visit, I decided to try the chocolate covered waffles.  They have a variety to choose from and they all looked very delectable.
The waffle was crisp and had a nice bite.  They have just the right amount of chocolate coating.  The taste was light and could be dangerous as you may not realize how much you have eaten until it is too late. lol
For my first 3D Latte Art, I chose a bear and a kitty.  For the drink, we chose the Matcha Latte and Espresso Latte.
As for the matcha, it was a little bit sweeter.  You can taste the sweetness more as the drink cools down, which should not be a problem because we took our sweet time taking thousands of photos!
Many people have no discovered this place and I feel like they have had more practice with the 3D artwork and it is getting cuter and cuter.
When I first went, they did a good job too but I feel like the animals are shaped more precisely and have a cuter expression.  It could also be who was making it of course.  On my most recent trip we got a bear, dog, and pig.  They were all super cute! Even though my dog was deflating, they were all very adorable.  =)
If you look at my photos of the interior, you will see that no one was there and we had the whole place to ourselves.  This really worked in our favor so that we can freely look like dorks and take our photos with our super cute drinks and snacks.
Besides the lattes, we decided to try their Signature Italian Soda with Yogurt and Fruit.  They recommended the pineapple flavor.
To be honest, I didn't like the taste of this drink.  It sounded like an interesting combination but it didn't come together for me.  Maybe it is the tangy flavor of the pineapple that didn't go well with the yogurt.
It could just be me, but I wouldn't be inclined to get the Italian soda again.  I'd definitely stick to the 3D art for fun.  The staff here are very sweet.  It is a very small and cozy place.  They have a section for live music but I have not seen anyone play there just yet.  I would say that people can come here and have the place all to themselves, but as I have seen recently the secret is out and the whole place was packed when we went.  Due to its rising popularity, the prices have gone up a lot too.  When I went in September last year, the 3D Latte Art was only $4 but now it is around $6 plus tax.  The drinks are just so-so but the drinks are undeniably cute =).
Love To Go
307 S Mission Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776  
(626) 264-8195

During my stay with Ms. Lin Guide near Universal Studios I decided to explore some tasty treats.  I happened to come across Quenelle.
They offer a variety tasty and innovative concoctions.  What really caught my eye was that they had plenty of yuzu flavored items.  I am an avid yuzu fan so whenever I see it being served, I must get some.
Ms. Lin Guide and I tried a bunch of different flavors.  He was so nice and patient with us that I really wished there was a tip jar to leave tip.  We ended up just leaving some money on the counter because he was so sweet and gave us extra service.
First we tried the different ice creams and sorbets.  There were just so many things that looked good and I was going to be very greedy and order a ton.  Luckily we just started with 2 scoops and then move onto the popsicles followed by the baked goods.  We chose to try the passion fruit kaffir lime and the jackfruit tonic.
The flavors were very vibrant and fresh.  For me, the passion fruit was quite tart.  The jackfruit complemented well as it was much sweeter and lighter.  For the topping, I chose the caramelized rice as it sounded very interesting.  They had quite a few toppings that sounded very tasty.
For the "On a Stick" flavors, I wanted to try a bunch of them but in the end we agreed upon yuzu mojito and the hibiscus watermelon.  The guy warned me that the yuzu is very tart and I thought to myself, "yuzu is always yummy."  Oh man! That was one tart popsicle! I gave it to Ms. Lin Guide as usual since she always takes the bullet for me on food I don't want.  The hibiscus watermelon was very light and not too sweet.  For me, I prefer a heavier flavor and sweeter treats.
The service there was impeccable because as I stood there eating the popsicle, he could sense I didn't like it and offered to change flavors for me.  I didn't want to be any trouble so I told him that we were good since he let us try so many flavors.  After we were done, he scooped out a generous serving on the new ice cream that he was testing.  This was also a yuzu flavor based, I believe with jasmine tea.  I really enjoyed this as it was sweet and flavorful.  This really hit the spot and it was so sweet of him to give us extra free items.
That was not the end of the friendly service.  We broke down our stay with ice cream first, then popsicles, and baked goods to finish.  After all the goodies and free goods we were offered, I was getting full but I still wanted to pick up some of the tasty baked goods they offered.  Everything looked very tasty and I wanted to get one of everything.  We debated for a long time on which items we should get because we were trying to be good about not overbuying and not finishing the treats.  There were alfajores, peanut butter and jelly cookies, brownies, blondies, red velvet cupcake, and more! I was a kid in a candy shop.  We didn't get everything but the guy was so friendly and sweet that he put a bunch of extra sweets inside for us! I felt so guilty because he was so nice and that he didn't need to.  We ended up with almost twice as much baked goods! He was just the nicest guy and wanted us to try the tasty pastries.
Man! The service here was so friendly and welcoming that we talked about the whole car ride.  I would definitely come back to try any new flavors and for the service.  It's a very small but quaint shop.  Everything was very clean and neat.

Quenelle
2214 West Magnolia Boulevard 
Burbank, CA 91506
(818) 843-1035

After a full dinner of Taiwanese hot pot, Tea4two and I looked for a late night place to grab dessert.  We found Bambu Desserts & Drinks and thought that this may be a good option.  This place seemed like it would have drinks and desserts but it is really a Vietnamese dessert place.  There isn't any real dessert like cakes or food.  It's mainly the drinks filled with lots of add ins.  I was hoping to find somewhere to sit and enjoy some sweet desserts with a drink but this was definitely not the place.  Still we decided to stay and if we wanted more desserts we will keep driving out.
The people here were very nice and it was not that packed when I first got there but the later it got, the more people came in.  It's a good place to come for late night chats and groups.  They have playing cards for people to play.  This reminded me of the old Tapioca Express that I used to hang out in when I was in high school and college.
As many know, I am actually not a huge fan of Vietnamese food and drinks where I have to chew more than actually being able to drink the drink.  Still, we were here and I wanted to explore and try something new.  Bơ dằm looked interesting to me with avocado, dark brick, combo jelly, and pearl.  I was going to order without all the chewy stuff but forgot and it was a very interesting combo.  They used a high amount of avocado and it was a big mash of avocado with different add ins mixed in.  The avocado was good but there is no sweetness and the add ins was the little boosts of sweet flavor.  I actually thought this was very weird in the beginning because I felt like I was eating a bland guacamole and then suddenly chewing on the jellies or pearls was so bizarre.  The more I ate, the more I got use to the combo of avocado and jellies.  It was not too bad but I still don't really know about this lol.
The girl working there was really nice because I was very skeptical about the other dessert/drink I had.  I have had it before at other places and there is only one place I have enjoyed the flavors.  She patiently answered my questions on what is inside.  I got the Chè trái cây with lychee, longan, red tapioca, jackfruit, palm seed, pandan jelly, jello, and young coconut.  The coconut was definitely fresh.  Everything inside seemed plentiful and pretty mixed in with the white coconut milk.  I liked how all the drinks had a shaved snowball on top.  You have to mix everything in and it started making a mess because I used the straw.  Word to the wise, use the spoon and not the straw.  =)  The drink wasn't very sweet, which I didn't like.  They told me it was because I didn't mix it all the way to the bottom but the girl was very nice and added more syrup.  I still prefer this dessert I get near my work and not here.  They definitely have more and fresher ingredients here but it wasn't for me.  Too much to chew and nothing to drink.
Tea4two got the Vietnamese iced coffee and she thought it was very strong.  She ended up going back two days later and texting me the photo of it too =).  I am glad she liked it.  For me, Bambu Desserts and Drinks was not bad but nothing that really stood out.  If I was in the area, I'd probably be willing to go back but I don't think I would really crave it.  Although there isn't a lot of places open late in Irvine, so beggars really can't be choosers lol.
Bambu Desserts & Drinks
14775 Jeffrey Rd., Suite B 
Irvine, CA 92618
Tel: (949) 232.1145