ASA Bakery a Quick Look

So, the Missus on Her forays thru social media asked me if I knew about the new Japanese Bakery that opened in the East Village. Well, I'd seen the sign for ASA Bakery while taking a walk and waiting for our takeout order from Sovereign and I'd read the post on Eater. So yes, I knew about the place being opened by the owners of BeShock Ramen, they also opened a speakeasy type establishment and a omakase only sushi bar discreetly hidden on the premises. Now, in spite of my love of croissants, I was going to wait this out a bit as I figured the opening hype machine was in full swing. But since I had a weekday off, the Missus wanted me to check the place out. So, I figured I'd at least get a croissant out of it, right? Seeing that they opened at 9, I headed on down to East Village, found some parking and arrived at 920, only to see the line. On a weekday!

Sigh...... You know, we love lines in Taiwan, but our experiences here....well, not so much. But I'd already found parking and had walked on over.....so I guess I was (or should have been) committed.

    Well, along with lines, I found that ASA likes their signs. Like the one above that states only 3 pastries per person. Good thing I didn't promise anyone else some goodies from here right?

The line moved rather slowly, though folks seemed quite excited about the place which I took to be a good sign. The gentleman to the right in the photo seemed to be a regular because he knew the employee checking the line and they had a nice chat while waiting.

And more signs......

Wow, they open at 8 and pastries are only available until 1030. Well, according to this "sign" they had opened at 9am on this day.

Well, that's some demand I guess. Speaking of demand, the clock had nearly hit 950 when I got my turn to order and take a look at what's available!

Whoa...it was barely 930 and there were only four items left. On a weekday.

I think the back kitchen must be pretty small to only be able to make small batches; for such a large space? And sigh.....no croissants aux buerre. I ended up getting my allocated three items and walked out at 940. Check out the line as I left. I'm wondering if these folks were just getting coffee or drinks because, ahem, according to the signs other stuff wasn't available until 1130?

On the way to the car I did get to check out some interesting machinery on display along 14th street.

After doing a bit of "Googling", I came to find out these are "Industrial Artifacts" from the Sinclair Collection, in case you're interested.

I drove home and the Missus opened things up.

Since there were only four bakery items left, I got three. One of the items was the chocolate-macadamia "baguette". 

   This is baguette in name only and absolutely does not have any attributes of bread. It was hard as rock....hope you have good teeth if you get this. You basically didn't tear this; you cracked it into pieces. The chocolate was fine, not too sweet, but since whole macadamia nuts were used, the distribution was haphazard and you'd only occasionally find one.

I also got the Custard Choco Crunch and the Chocolate Danish.

The Missus had a bite of each, made a face and put them back in the carton. She was going to throw it away; but I told Her "I spent over forty minutes in line for this, so you're going to have to finish them." She told me to have a taste of the Chocolate Danish. The chocolate on top was fine, but the pastry was hard and dry, like cardboard. Wow. I left the carton on the dining table and it "mysteriously disappeared" a few hours later. Hmmm.......

Man, this was so disappointing. We'd been to our share of Japanese style bakeries in Japan, here in the states, and other countries as well and never had anything close to this. Perhaps there was a reason these were the only items left? Though folks before me seemed to be buying them up? Oh well, after this and our visit to Jiou Chu Dumplings, if the Missus wants to check a place out and mentions Instagram, I may just run away. As for ASA, well, unless folks tell me their croissants or if any other items here are outstanding, I'm just going to stick with Izola Bakery when I'm in the area.

ASA Cafe & Bakery
634 14th St. Suite 110
San Diego, CA 92101

(They seem to keep changing hours so I'm not going to be listing any) 

Comments

[RedDevil]

I was blown away by the quality of the pastries we had this summer in Japan and Korea. Sorry to hear this place didn’t “pan” out. Thanks, as always, for your time and review.

[Dereck]

That line is insane for such mediocre products.. I'm sorry that you had to wait through that.

[Kirk]

I know RD....so maybe our expectations were too high?

It was quite disappointing Dereck!

[kat]

what a waste of time:(

[Sandy]

Somehow I missed the Eater post, so I was excited to start reading your post. What a disappointment; I wonder if the social media hype is hype-ing up expectations.

[James]

Thanks for the update! I was looking forward to trying it out, but I guess I'll wait quite a while before I do. I won't wait in line for food for anything less than Michelin stars.

[Soo]

Thanks for the warning. I don't wanna crack my teeth on rocks.

[alnc]

What an intriguing read. The place is so popular that they run out early, and even limit the amount customers can purchase, only to give them something lacking. ???

The best part of this was, "...if the Missus wants to check a place out and mentions Instagram, I may just run away." LOL

[Kirk]

It was Kat!

I believe you're right Sandy!

Lol James! You're a lot tougher than I am!

Then better not get that Soo! ;o)

This was quite a disappointment ALNC! Not sure why the place is so popular.....I'd hesitate before trying again.

[Junichi]

I heard the speakeasy is good. I'll definitely be skipping the bakery portion.

[Kirk]

Well, hopefully things will get better Junichi?

[Ayaka]

Hello Kirk!
This is Ayaka from Asa bakery, thank you for visiting us during soft opening! I feel terribly bad about your experience. Our baker just arrived from Japan end of September. As you can imagine baking or any type of cooking is very different in every country, he needs to make adjustment from ingredients(Japanese flower vs US) water source(Soft water vs very hard water in SD) cultivating yeast, humidity, even measurements are all different (oz vs ml, ℉ vs ℃, lb vs grams). We bake everything in house and that requires high baking skill sets. Training new staffs, hiring experienced bakers also takes time as a brand new business. It is a family own business, it is not that we have manuals for everything, we need to try and error to figure out every steps. We really appreciate many of the local supports, they have been very patient with us and watching us grow and improve day to day basis. Thankfully our supply is more stable, never sell out in the morning anymore, plus all other cafe items kicks in way before pastries sell out so there is always something to try during your visit. (Again I’m very sorry, when we first open was quite ridiculous, I totally agree!) very short line or no line during the weekdays and no limitation on how many pastries you can buy. Avoid to come on Fri, (especially) Sat, Sun as line could get very long. My favorites are more on a savory “Sozai Pan”category, but try Japanese Curry Pan, Mochi bagel, Melon Pan. Also Katsu Sando which made with Japanese Milk bread “Shokupan” is so soft and pillowy, makes the best sandwich!! (Available from 11:30am) Our classic croissant is head baker’s favorite bread to bake, perfect flaky crust outside, right amount of butter to have moist and chewy texture with light and airy layers. Thank you for reading my comment and I hope you will give us another chance and write another honest review on how we are doing today! Arigato Gozaimasu!

[Kirk]

Hi Ayaka - Thank you for your thoughtful comment! I actually would have waited to visit, but there was so much on Asa on Social Media that the Missus just had to have me go! I'm glad things are stabilizing. I'm fairly certain that you don't read my posts; but we are big fans of a "good" croissant aux buerre and even go out of our way when in Paris, which we visit once or twice a year, to find what we enjoy the best.
In fact, I have an entire category dedicated to croissants:

https://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/croissants/

So, I'm looking forward to trying Asa's croissants and perhaps we can sway the Missus's opinion as well, since She loves a good Katsu Sando.