East To West: Cali Cafe Carousal

This is less a review than some food porn recap of my Cali trip. Enjoy!

Guppy House. Mochilato. The Balcony.

Irvine, CA.

If there's one thing Irvine has no lack of, it's Asian style cafes.
Fortunately, quantity did not take away from quality.

Everything at Guppy House is so big...Look at the shave ice mountain above. Covered with strawberries, mango, banana, red bean, and condensed milk, it was one deliciously majestic (intimidating) dessert.
And it pairs perfectly with...

Butter coconut and dark chocolate brick toast!
So buttery luscious and soft in the middle with dangerously crunchy edges. I'm drooling now.

I don't know why I had such a hard time understanding the concept of Mochilato...but I had a delicious time trying. I love when food comes in a rainbow variety.

A cloud-like mochi filled with mango gelato.

I had heard endless rants and raves about the shave ice at The Balcony so of course I had to try it.
While I prefer New Jersey bingsoo or shave ice hands down, one new shave ice topping that I had never before encountered was the quivering "milk brûlée", a vanilla and coconut-y  sweet custard. 

The paltry amount of condensed milk left the shave ice bland but the ice itself was as fine and fluffy as powdered sugar. The feel is extraordinary.