By Brett Callwood
According to their online bio, the Paran Poong Cha bakery “specializes in Korean breads and pastries as well as cakes and roll cakes.” That’s apparent when walking in, thanks to the rows upon rows of delicious looking sweet and savory baked good.
“Paran Poong Cha Bakery started with one family’s dream of serving delicious breads to the public in 2007 and has continued to prosper throughout the years,” they say. “In 2017 the baton was passed to another family to continue to run the business with the same care and love as the prior owners had.”
That care and love is clear when entering. It feels like you’re walking into a Korean bakery run by Willy Wonka. The place smells incredible, and the colors from all corners are striking.
“We want to bring you the most delicious bread we can so everything is baked the morning of by our professional bakers who put their love and effort into every product (which you can taste!),” they say. “We also do custom cakes as well as photo cakes.”
There are two Paran Poong Cha locations, in Gardena and another in Torrance, which is wonderfully convenient for those in the know. Everything about Paran Poong Cha screams decadence, a well-deserved treat. The fact that the items are individually wrapped, commonplace culturally, makes popping in to grab said well-deserved treat convenient too.
Paran Poong Cha is located in the Seoul Plaza. Hwang’s Korean BBQ sits next door, and other tantalizing eateries such as Pho Daily, Boba Time, are nearby. There are also saunas, vape stores and barber shops in the same plaza.
We tried two items from the bakery, doing our recent diet no good at all but making our taste buds dance. The first, a custard-filled bun, was delightful. The bread-like pastry was thick and sweet, but also light. Each bite bounced off of the teeth. The custard was creamy and full of vanilla flavor. The combination of flavor and texture made for a dreamy dessert.
We also had a red velvet muffin. This time, the texture of the baked good was incredibly airy. There was no filling, but the cake itself was so tasty, sweet and light that it didn’t need any.
The staff were very helpful and kind, and the place itself was noticeably spotless. The only problem with Paran Poong Cha is that, once you know where it is, you’ll want to keep going back.
Paran Poong Cha is located at 15200 S. Western Ave., Gardena 90249. Call 310-515-8280.
