Susina Bakery

Posted by Edmund in Bakeries & Sweets, Los Angeles | 0 comments

Susina Bakery

7122 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036

It should be apparent by now that I have quite the sweet tooth. So I was just looking for an excuse to check out Susina Bakery, one of the finest bakeries/coffee houses in town. That excuse came last Sunday, when I decided to go out with some friends to Susina for the weekly coffee night. One of the nicest things about this place is that it’s open every day until 11 pm, unlike most of the really good bakeries in town. If you’re craving sweets at night, then, this is the perfect place to go.

As for the place itself, it’s actually really nice. Unlike some of the other bakeries/cafes in town, like Milk and Sweet Lady Jane’s, there is a lot of seating, and the place seems much homier because it is larger, with much better seating arrangements. Still, this place gets packed, and you should plan for that. Lots of people like to come and just do some homework or hang out with friends, so seating is quite limited.

I also like the vibe of the place. It’s a quaint little store, filled with tons of treats, ranging from French style pastries (croissants, etc.) to cakes to cookies. Moreover, it sells lots of gourmet goods, especially chocolate (Hachez, Santander, Bonnat, Pralus, Michael Mischer).

As for the food, it lives up to the hype with no problems. As noted, there is a variety of baked goods, and most of them are quite good. I would recommend sticking to some of the cakes, though, although some of them might be hit-and-miss, depending on the flavor.

It’s for all these reasons that Susina is one of my favorite bakeries and cafés in town. Whether you want a slice of cake or a nice place to relax with some friends, this is the place to go. Highly recommended!

What I had:

1. Bear Cake—Chocolate Devil’s Food cake layered with white chocolate mousse and a hint of Italian rum, chocolate mousse with milk chocolate chunks. Covered with milk chocolate and white chocolate shavings. Really good cake actually. Probably the best I had here. Nice sponginess to it w/ a great chocolate flavor that just kind of melts in the mouth.  Not overpowering/cloying at all. Strong chocolate flavor, but perfect sweetness, and white choc especially adds a great balance. Is it the best chocolate cake ever? No. Actually, it’s kind of a sissy cake, in that it’s very good but does nothing extraordinary. Superb cake anyway.
2. Carrot cake—Kind of disappointing actually. Cake is good, with a slight nuttiness in there. Frosting is not overly sweet. Not cloying at all. Decent, but flavors are kind of weak. Just a good cake, with good texture, and  nothing special to it. Has the taste of “health food.” Not as buttery/rich as others.
3. Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake – Three layers of chocolate devil’s food cake. Filled with creamy peanut butter mousse; banded with chopped peanuts and topped with chocolate mirror glaze and chocolate leaves. I had just a bite, but it wasn’t bad. Not as good as the bear, but it does have a nice peanut butter flavor that really does come through. After a while, flavor would probably get a little annoying, perhaps a bit cloying. Sweetness did seem right though. Shouldn’t have been bad in larger quantities. If you like peanut butter, you’ll really like this. Good texture and taste to cake too.
4. Fudgy Brownie—Amazing! Mega keeper! I don’t even like fudgy brownies, but this is right on. Hard, kind of crunchy exterior. Hardened chocolate on top that provides a nice intense, fudginess. Cake itself is much more cakey than expected. Still on the fudgy, very dense, very intense choc side, but with just enough cakiness to make it tolerable. Sugar is not too much either, so it’s possible to eat the whole thing. Kind of like an intense choc cookie. Can’t complain. Heavy, fudgy, and with great flavor.
5. Chocolate chip cookie—Another keeper! I’m not a big fan of cookies, but this is very good. Crispy/crunchy on the edges, gooey/chooey on the inside. Nice contrast. Also, great chocolate flavor. Very nicely distributed chips, and chips have strong flavor. Cookie is on buttery, oily side, but not so much that it detracts from experience or makes you feel disgusting. It’s an awesome cookie. No complaints. Now just need to try peanut butter, which looked amazing.
6. Berry Blossom—This is the specialty cake of the house and is the most popular, yet it was kind of a disappointment. It wasn’t actually bad. The cake was fresh and moist, though it was dull and lacked intense flavor. The cream was near flawless. Not too sweet, very light, with a great texture. You could eat it all day. Whipped cream, however, is a bit weak on flavor in general and doesn’t do much to help the cake’s lack of strong flavors. Berries added very little—whole blueberries and strawberries just formed an extra layer of cake. Berries didn’t blend well with the cake and seemed tacked on. Solid cake, but definitely uninspired.

Taste: 4.0/5.0
Ambience: 4.0/5.0
Overall Score, as a bakery and as a café: 4.0/5.0