GIANT SHAVED SNOW & LATTE ART & FOOD @ IOTA BREW CAFE

ADDRESS:
528 S Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90020
(Located in Korea Town where street parking may suck but at least there is $3 valet for this place.)
http://iotabrewcafe.com/menu.html

After an exciting 4D movie adventure from watching TMNT at the L.A. Live Regal Theater, Kev and I had dinner and dessert at the popular, hip and trendy Iota Brew Cafe in Korea Town. I've been wanting to try this place for the longest time because I kept seeing yummy photos on instagram of their delicious and pretty desserts!

After looking meticulously through their menu, I still couldn't decide which dessert to order! It took awhile but I eventually decided on the Honeydew Shaved Snow which is honeydew shaved snow inside a honeydew! Honeydew-ception... ?! To my disappointment, the waiter informed us that it was sold out. However, he came back again to say that there was one last one so of course I ordered it! But, I specifically ordered it without red bean but it definitely had red bean in it so I was a bit angry inside... Maybe it was for someone else but it was a mistake and so I got it instead... Oh well, the red bean wasn't that big of a deal I guess. What was a big deal was that the shaved snow came first.

So Kev and I are pretty used to eating dessert first and dinner last. However, at Iota Brew Cafe, we ordered a main entree: spicy mentaiko pasta, 2 drinks and the honeydew shaved snow. Of all things, the honeydew shaved snow came first while the pasta had to remain untouched for awhile and eventually became cold. We had to quickly finish the shaved snow before it melted. I was not a happy camper but at least the pasta still tasted good even though a bit cold...

Aside from the food, oh man, the atmosphere of this place is incredibly hip and trendy! It has huuuuuuuge windows at the entrance perfect for people-watching. The place itself is very high-rise. What I mean is, the ceiling is so high above! They also have nice and comfy chairs and a great collection of wine displayed on one of the sides of the store. They have pastries and cakes as well as state of the art Dutch Coffee making machines that loook like something appropriate in a science lab.

The service is alright. I'm not that happy because they gave us dessert first which made us eat a cold entree. There are buttons to press for service. Three to be exact! A "call server", "ready to pay" and "cancel" button were on each table for convenience.

Overall:

prices are on the pricier side. More than $10 so be prepared!
great for a night out and to chit chat with your girlfriends
they have awesome dessert

I recommend the waffles and shaved snow. They look delicious!

the shaved snow inside the melon is super unique and hard to find anywhere else

it's also VERY VERY huge and definitely made for more than 2 people

they do have amazing latte art!
they serve legit coffee
parking is hard to find unless you Valet which is $3 + tip
service is okay
music is a bit loud. You'll hear current popular Korean music
they also have lunch specials and serve delicious looking appetizers and food
I would totally go here again to show a friend because it has cool dessert

Food Recap:

Taro Smoothie with Whipped Cream

yummmmmmmmy! very smoooooth and icy-cold. I liked it but it will taste like the taro powder so if you don't like that, I warned you.

Hot Green Tea Latte

Cute latte h"art"! Tasted very green tea but honestly it wasn't the best. I prefer Coffee Code!

Mentaiko Pasta (Spicy Cod Roe Pasta or known as "Pollack Fish Roe Pasta" on the menu)

soooooooooo freakin good even though we ate it cold (because we had to finish the shaved snow first since the dessert came out first...)
I like it better than Cafe Hiro in Cypress!

Honeydew Shaved Snow

so so delicious!
Kev: This doesn't look like it was made for 2 people...
very very big. best to be shared with 3-4 people
looooooove the mochi rice balls!
It's so cool that it is inside the honeydew melon too!!
there are honeydew "balls" that burst with honeydew flavor
the shaved snow itself is actually finely shaved snow with green tea flavor infused in it. You can also order it with Milk shaved snow too.