Pomegranate (dessert shop)

Americas - USA West Los Angeles
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The person who cuts my hair loves to eat, and she mentioned that her favorite dessert in LA is the matcha mousse cake at Pomegranate (near Cedars). It’s somehow related to Shojin, and everything there is vegan and gluten-free. I’m not a big dessert person, but I thought it’d be worth a try.

Short story long, it’s pretty bad (IMHO). I suppose it’s unfair to compare vegan and gluten free desserts to “regular” ones, but I’m not sure to what else I should compare them…

The place makes a great first impression. It looks more like a spa than it does like a bakery. They sell several skin-care items (IIRC, and pictured below on the shelves).

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Service is very polite, unobtrusive, and very typically Japanese (IMHO).

Partner and I had the chocolate pudding and the matcha cake.

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The pudding texture was kind of revolting; it was halfway between jello (!) and pudding. I guess the taste was fine? (It had a decently intense chocolate flavor) Partner took one bite and declined the rest.

The cake was also disappointing. My complaint about green tea desserts is that they are frequently too sweet and don’t have an intense enough green tea flavor. The only green tea ice cream I’ve truly enjoyed was at a sushi place in Little Tokyo (I think), where it had a great balance of actual green tea flavor w/o the cloying sweetness.

The cake wasn’t too sweet. The problem is that it had a really bitter undertone. The red bean paste and mochi were pleasant enough.

Kinako and sesame cookie was brittle (not surprising) and had an unpleasantly sharp tang.

I finished the desserts simply because the people working there seem very sweet. I otherwise wouldn’t have had more than one bite of the pudding and would’ve only had a few bites of the cake.

I respect what Pomegranate is trying to do, but I wouldn’t return.

Partner and I stopped off at Bouchon to clease our palate. ::sigh::

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Thanks for that report.

The only vegan dessert/sweet I’ve found to rival non-vegan would be the donuts at Donut Farm, which are among the best I’ve had in recent memory.

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I’ve never heard of the place. Thanks for the info. :slight_smile: Have you ever been to Follow Your Heart in the valley? I think it has a good reputation, but I’ve never been myself…

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That sucks. How can something that looks so fabulous be so bad? It’s very creative. But they forgot taste :smirk:.

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Hi @paranoidgarliclover,

Thanks for the report and taking one for the team. Very unfortunate.

If you were stopping by Bouchon, you should’ve stopped by Chaumont Bakery a few blocks away instead! :wink: Get their awesome Croissant.

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I received a gift basket from them one time. Had great lip balm.

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I would’ve, but I’m pretty sure Chaumont was closed (this was pretty late on a Sun afternoon). Besides, the courtyard at the Montage was brimming w/ activities, and the people-watching was actually really fun. :slight_smile:

Well, good to know that one/some of their products involving the mouth are good… ::sigh::

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I treated it like a lollipop.

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Wait, you can’t joke w/ me b/c I’m very earnest. Do you really mean to say that you ingested it???

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Yes. Why did you think I recommended it?

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I love Follow Your Heart! They’ve been around forever. As you said, it’s hard to compare vegan desserts with “regular” ones. Given that, their desserts are quite good and their restaurant food is even better. I used to go there all the time when I worked in the valley.

Thanks for the recommendation! Excited to check them out!

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Thanks for the report!

Sometimes, knowing where to not go is as important as knowing where to go!
NWTC :zipper_mouth_face: not worth the calories