Joli Kobe Bakery & Bistro

Love this place — and was so sad that they closed it down. When we lived in Sandy Springs for 2 years my husband and I always used to go to this place for bread, croissants, and the sweet crème brûlée filled bread.
Some pastries I did not like and they were a bit expensive in my opinion but the sweet breads and loaves of bread are very affordable.
Now I am trying to find a café like Joli Kobe down in Alpharetta, but haven’t been able to find one yet like Joli Kobe.

I love this place, but they appear to be closed in the Sandy Springs location. The inside is barren and there is no signage about moving locations. Sad to see it go.

Sad to see very few people dining in for Lunch. I came by on a Friday and I was glad I did.
I got the Joli Kobe sampler that has an ice cream scoop of 6 different salads (potato, chicken, egg, curry-​chicken, tuna) served on a romaine lettuce and baguette slice. It came with a cup of soup so I got the crab bisque. The salads where yummy and I got full with half of them and the soup. The soup was delightful!
I took a Unilocaler’s advice and for dessert got a slice of green tea sponge cake that was a dollar-​something. I wanted to buy every dessert in the bakery but I had to hold back due to budget and full tummy.
This is a great place for a quick lunch, or a date. The atmosphere is cozy, you just have to be patient with parking.

I recently had my second visit to Joli Kobe. Apparently it has moved to another location on Roswell Road. I had lunch and dessert with friends. It was very reasonably priced and I finished my entire plate. I had the crabcake sandwich which came with french fries and ketchup dipping sauce. The portion size was quite large and the entrée was very filling.
Despite not being a fan of the bakery staff (twice I’ve encountered someone with an attitude — no clue what that’s about), I would return because they do have great sweets. We had a variety of cakes, cheese cake, macarons francaises and more. All of it was absolutely delicious. I have had better (and better service with a smile) and there are much more superior macaron shoppes and places in ATL with tastier crab but I still felt this was «fine» for our purpose of finding a nice cute spot to have lunch in a great location.
Pros: Tasty dishes and desserts
Cons: bad attitudes from *some bakery staff
Cost: spent about $ 30.45 USD
Parking: have to drive around a bit on a busy day but there is a deck
Location: If you’ve never been there before, they are in the shopping center where Publix is located, across from Marlow’s Tavern. It’s kind of hidden.

Hands down, best bakery in town, and really, as good as any I’ve been to in New York, San Francisco, or New Orleans, and really great staff, so I come here almost every day after work for either espresso or mocha with a pastry.
They serve lunch, which I’m not usually around for, so can only comment on bakery.
I can’t believe more people haven’t found this place.

The bakery is awesome, food is awesome! The cakes are heavenly! The only problem is the old asian woman who work here. She is rude and has zero customer service.

In the midst of the craziness that is Taco Mac, Five Season Brewery, and Marlow’s Tavern here at Prado, by the evening (in any day of the week,) this place looks quite dismal (and in all fairness, I have only visited this place during the evenings… three times.) There is quite a dining area in this place but with the type of food they serve in this place, it is not surprising why they are abandoned at this time.
They are mainly a bakery, and with that, I feel like the place may need to downsize when it comes to the amount of space they take. They serve some sandwiches and the like, but they did not seem appetizing at all as they sat there on the display bar covered in plastic wrap. The prices they ask for these cannot compete with the type of food AND ATMOSPHERE the surrounding businesses has to offer. After a few minutes in this place, I always decided to may as well eat at Taco Mac.
However, with all that being said, the lady behind the counter seems to be just wonderful and THE CAKES LOOKS AWESOME! I have only had one cake from here from a friend, a mocha cake, and it was delicious! The icing was not too sweet and there is definitely a lot of love and care that goes into the cake. They can be quite pricey, but hey, at this age and time, if you want something good and done right, you better have the money for it. So, with that being said, the cakes are great. I actually plan to purchase a cake from here in a couple of months for a graduation party.
So, all in all, I would like to give it four stars as a bakery, but since they also advertise as a restaurant/​eatery/​café, I simply have to sette with three stars since they do not meet such expectations. As a bakery, they are wonderful, but other than that, I honestly cannot recomend it for anything else. Stick with their bakery.

My favorite bakery by far in the ATL. The mango mousse cake is awesome here! I love it for every birthday celebration. My current fave is the Tiramisu cake. So good! But the last time I was here and I got the sliced Tiramisu instead of the whole cake and it was pretty bitter. Nonetheless, i killed it. lol
I also love their little desserts that they offer, my absolute favorite is the small swan cream puffs, the white chocolate cakes and the coffee flavored one.
Overall, you should give this place a try!

The shop is two-​fold: a bakery and a restaurant.
We went for the bakery-​side.
They have a good selection of delectable delights! We opted for a half dozen of the $ 1 each pastries — very good looking and very delicious! A chocolate éclair which was pretty darn tasty. And a slice of some good looking cake — that I haven’t tried yet.
They have bread and tasty buns.
It was worth the drive — I’d go back for more of those $ 1 pastries and other things.

Since the restaurant was closed by the time I got there, couldn’t try any dishes. Sp strictly bakery for me, I was a little disappointed in that and also whatever was left that wasn’t sold earlier. I mean, it means that it’s fresh baked daily but I wanted more variety to choose from. It was a lot smaller than I thought. The pictures makes the bakery section look much better. Gotta give props to the photographer for that.
Nothing really caught my eye from what was left. I did buy the mango chocolate cake. It wasn’t really a cake to me, it’s was spongy and was like a soft and smoothier version of a cheesecake. I did like that it was sweet but not overwhelming.
I really cannot cannot say too much since I wanted to try more. Maybe next time.

I always stop in here to get some pastries when I have to go to my podiatrist around the corner. Even when the restaurant itself is closed, the bakery is generally open. The cream roll is probably top pastry on my list. It’s not too sweet, but has this fresh butter-​like cream inside. I have had most of the cookies and all are solid choices. You can’t beat an almond croissant. Macarons (the french ones) are delicious, but pricey. I wish I could try more of their pastry menu, but sadly I am stuck on the few regular items above. Maybe I’ll venture out next time.

I have been coming here for years, it has always been this on again off again affair once had then forgotten. You think about it sometimes and ooh I must have you again !!
Desserts and cakes here are wonderful (you will pay a premium for them), salads and sandwiches can be had from the case even breads are all grab and go if you like. Dinning in lunch is served until three and for those of you that have a craving for chicken salad there are three different kinds.

This is a review for both the restaurant and bakery.
The restaurant offers an eclectic menu, at reasonable prices. I had the salmon & quinoa patty which is pan-​fried and served with a side salad. This was very flavorful, but the portion was small.
My wife had the curry chicken sandwich, which was also flavorful, with a kick to it. However, it was dry, and very processed, in a medium/​fine consistency. We both commented that we would have preferred more texture and some small chunks of chicken. The bread is very thick, making the sandwich appear more substantial than it actually is.
We shared an order of french fries, which were excellent, with the skin on.
The bakery is like those in Japan, down to the cellophane wrapping with scotch tape to secure the packages. All pastries looked delicious. The chocolate cookie was average in taste, and the green tea pound cake didn’t have enough flavor to warrant calling it green tea.
Nice place to go to, but I won’t plan to return for dining… only the desserts!!!

Joli Kobe is a hybrid French-​Japanese bakery and café. «Joli» is French for pretty and Kobe is the name of the original owner’s hometown in Japan. The business has been open since 1985. It’s undergone a handful of significant changes over that time, the latest in early 2013, with the introduction of chef Mihoko Obunai (former co-​owner of Repast). A second location is in Midtown.
This review is focused more on the restaurant instead of the bakery.
The restaurant is located in the Prado shopping center on Roswell Road, just south of I-​285. The Prado is busy, but plenty of parking is available in the parking deck. Other businesses in this shopping center include Publix and Target. Joli Kobe is situated in the same part of the property as 5 Seasons Brewing and Kobe Steaks Japanese Restaurant.
The space looks quite nice. The bakery is filled with shiny glass display cases containing the chef’s French pastries. The open kitchen, restaurant, and bar are elegant — suitable for both casual and finer dining encounters. Glass windows wrap around the space, letting plenty of sunlight in during the day and allowing a nice, wide view of the Prado.
I’ve been here two times for lunch in the past four months. Once in late January, before the current chef took over, and once again shortly after the current chef took over. Gone are some of the special and popular items such as Japanese curry rice and other assorted rice dishes, tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet), quiche, and burgers (including the massive «Tokyo» burger). Enter ramen (Japanese noodle soup) and less heavy dishes such as salads and plates involving healthy grains like quinoa. The lunch menu still retains some of the gourmet bistro feel.
Pricing is about the same. Expect to spend about $ 10 – 12 per entrée.
I’m sad to see the Panko Crusted Pork Cutlet Sandwich ($ 9.95) go. The «panko crusted pork cutlet» is the same thing as the aforementioned tonkatsu, a popular Japanese food. What drew me most to this sandwich was just that — it was a sandwich. Tonkatsu is not typically served as a sandwich, but rather as an entrée on its own. It was an interesting twist and it worked. Well-​crafted and delicious.
The sandwiches aren’t as massive as they used to be, but that can be a good thing. The food items seem lighter and healthier overall. One of my tablemates ordered a sandwich and the pieces of toast, while not as thick, were still hearty and buttered.
I tried the tonkotsu ramen ($ 12). Chef Obunai’s ramen comes with pork belly, half an organic farm egg, bok choy, kimchi, and Swiss chard. This is different than traditional tonkotsu ramen which typically contains dried seaweed, scallion, chashu pork (roast pork), bean sprouts, and fish cake. I think the only common ingredients between the two are the pork-​based tonkotsu broth, noodles, and egg.
Aside from the ingredients, another difference is the presentation. The ramen at Joli Kobe stands out because it looks different and unique. Instead of a regular circular ramen bowl, the bowl is long and oval-​shaped. I’m not sure if the same amount of ramen fits into this oval bowl as a standard circular bowl. Eating ramen out of this differently shaped bowl felt odd to me. I felt as if the ingredients were compacted together and there wasn’t as much broth.
The ramen itself is OK. It’s a twist on traditional tonkotsu ramen. The pork flavor in the broth is evident. The broth is a little bit oily, but full-​flavored and enjoyable. The broth certainly is not as rich or thick as most other tonkotsu ramen I’ve tried. Those broths have a creamier, milkier color. This broth is milder and slightly more translucent.
I’m not a huge fan of the noodles. They are super soft, almost too soft. Not a whole lot of chew or texture. That’s what the kimchi, bokchoy, and Swiss chard are for. It’s interesting to have Korean kimchi in ramen. It provides a strong, pointed spicy and sour flavor to the dish.
The semi-​hard boiled egg is cooked very nicely. The pork belly is soft as opposed to crispy. I’ve had crispy pork belly in tonkotsu ramen before, so this way of preparation is completely different. The meat is soft and, dare I say, slimy to match the noodles’ delicate consistency. It tastes good, though. Generally, I think the ramen could use more flavor. Where’s the shichimi?!
One item I’ve tried from the bakery is the green tea pound cake ($ 1.30 per slice). It’s moist and delicious. The green color of the pound cake can be deceiving because the green tea flavor is quite subtle. It mostly tastes like regular pound cake with a slightly bitter green tea finish.
Service is good. The servers are friendly and attentive and the food comes out from the kitchen in a reasonable amount of time.

I wish I could give a better review, I really do. But, alas, this time, I cannot.
When I found out early last week about the renowned ramen chefs coming for a one-​night only pop up ramen shop at Joli Kobe, on Friday, I was excited. My boyfriend (who loves ramen more than anyone I’ve met), was doubly excited. We went to Miso when it first re-​introduced ramen and even though it was a cluster, the ramen was excellent.
So although I didn’t buy presale tickets, we decided to wing it and headed up to Joli Kobe to brave the crowds and hopefully have some great ramen. It turned out to be an epic fail on everyone’s part.
My boyfriend and I walked into what can almost be described as chaos at 6:30. Imagine, if you will, a line of people awkwardly snaking all the way around the restaurant almost out the door, more people milling in the regular dining area, and not a satisfied customer in sight.
We braved the mêlée for almost 45 minutes (during which time the line barely moved), only to learn that even people who bought presale tickets were mixed with us regulars who didn’t (they had no special treatment although they’d already plunked down $ 12 per ticket), and once you got to the front of the line, you were given another ticket and forced to wait again until that number was called, at which time, you might, MIGHT get a bowl of ramen served in the back. HUH?!? How does that make any sense at all?
I really have no idea, but when one lucky guy who’d received his ticket (#31 while they were still calling #5) told us the wait AFTER receiving the ticket was close to an hour, I’d had enough. Not only was it already 7:30 and I was starving, but we’d also watched at least four people line jump in front of us because their friends were standing there.
During this whole encounter, not once did I see anyone who worked for Joli Kobe come out to address the crowd, explain how the line or ticket number system worked, or give a general idea of how long you’d have to wait until ramen-​y goodness. Very unprofessional.
Finally, after threatening to pass out from starvation, my boyfriend and I left to go have a delicious dinner at Double Zero Napoletana just up the road instead. I was really hoping for ramen, but that whole event setup and execution was so poor, I wasn’t willing to tolerate it.
Hopefully Joli will bring ramen into its regular rotation or I might go back in the future on a non-​ramen day and give it a better review. But for now, this is the best I can do.

My first time here.
The Ramen event was poorly executed and it’s not a great way to bring in more customers when they’re having to wait for hours to get a bowl of ramen. We lucked out because we had some friends that were already seated and managed to squeeze us in. Otherwise, I would have left hungry and angry after waiting for 2 hours.
Given, the ramen itself was dericious, and no it’s not a typo. My favorite has to be the Beef because it’s the lightest out of the 3 with a nice beef flavor and the ramen is much thinner and easier to slurp. The other two were just too heavy for me (broth and ramen). Although I thoroughly enjoy the soy sauce egg from the Shoya bowl but the noodle was too floury? I’m no noodle expert, I just know what taste good in my mouth and easy to chew and swallow. :P
The pastry is definitely divine for all it’s worth. I was able to grab a rustic cranberry loaf, a mini baguette (for my Sunday brunch) and a strawberry cheese danish. It is divine and worth the trip to the area. I must say that their pastry selection is beautifully displayed and makes it very tempting to buy everything.

I have loved the bakery for years and decided to try the lunch at the café. The service started out shaky. It took awhile for our waitress to take order because she was busy — talking about fashion at another table. I decided to order the fried chicken, but the waitress told me I should try the soba with smoked trout, which I inquired earlier. I wasn’t in the mood for cold food, but she ensured me it’s a hot stir fry noodle dish. Ok! I gave in to her enthusiasm… bad idea!
The noodle was lukewarm, swiss chard was bland, and vinaigrette’s flavor is very subtle. The only flavorful component was the smoke trout and mushroom. This is definitely NOT a hot stir fry noodle dish.
Wife pitied me and swapped her Tonkotsu Ramen with mine. First sip of the broth and something is missing– flavor. The flavor lasted half a second in my mouth and dissipated quickly. I searched very hard to find any flavor that may lingers around — nothing! This is like a biblical miracle: while Jesus turned water into wine, the chef turned broth into water. It was the worst ramen I ever had.
Went over to the bakery for dessert after our meal, which is the saving grace for this outing. My earl grey cream brulee was a good balance of sweetness and bitterness from the tea. Oh, you might want to bring a hammer and chisel to get through the crust… it was about ¹⁄₈ inch thick. Wife’s tiramisu was good too, but few bakeries can screw up tiramisu.
Overall, a very disappointing experience. I’ll keep going to the bakery (4 stars) and skip the café (2 stars).

When I heard Mihoko Obunai took over as the new chef and is now serving Tonkotsu Ramen, I decided to check it out.
If you didn’t know, Obunai san was a consultant before she became a chef for Joli Kobe. She worked with Guy Wong to create Miso Izakaya’s tonkotsu ramen.
I never had the ramen at Miso, but I figured it would be simliar to the one here. The ramen comes in a weird, oval shaped bowl. I didn’t like the bowl. It felt weird. It felt like everything was packed together. I would’ve preferred a traditional bowl. I’m not sure why they chose to put it in a oval bowl.
The ramen looks unique. It comes with unique ingredients like kimchee and swiss chard. It also came with egg, pork, and bok choy. It looks like she took the Korean approach to ramen because my family likes to put egg and kimchee in our instant ramen. It kinda reminded me of it.
The broth tasted fine. I could taste the pork bone flavor in it well. However, the broth seem more on the bland side. It was felt more light than rich.
The noodles felt weird to me. They seemed more like somen noodles than ramen noodles.
Overall, I thought the ramen tasted A-​OK. Maybe they’re working out the kinks. But the bowl felt awkward, and it is on the bland side overall. It also felt overpriced for the quality I got. It costs about $ 12.
I went to the bakery and tried their green tea pound cake. It tasted pretty good, but I didn’t taste any pound cake. It tasted more citrusy to me.

This place has potential. Environment is nice, located in a popular plaza, and they server pastries and have a bistro side for food. This place use to only be open for lunch but now it’s open all day so I decided to give it a try.
Got the Tokyo Burger and the Pork Cutlet and Curry Combo.
Curry was very simple and the pork cutlet was decent. I would probably venture out to different curry to see what it’s like because this one was pretty simple.
The Tokyo Burger was allllll wrong. I asked for Medium rare and got Medium/​Well Done. And once I lifted my burger up, I couldn’t put it down due to the amount of condiment sauce dripping and juice and oil from the burger toppings. I got it since it has a fried egg in it which I love but the burger being almost well done made it dry and didn’t mesh well with the fried egg. Would not recommend at allll.
For dessert, got some macaroons and they were aitte. Had better ones. I would definitely go and try out their different desserts though.

Met up with a good friend here for dinner and dessert.
The vibe is Japansese-​European and for dinner, we both had the curry rice dishes (she had veggie and I tried chicken). Not too bad, I enjoyed my meal and brought home a little more than half for lunch the next day. Portion and price are both very reasonable. Maybe it was because we arrived later in the evening, but service was inconsistent. Luckily, good conversation distracted me from this usual pet peeve.
Anyway, we headed over to the bakery side to pick out what we wanted for dessert… there and then to take home! We both settled on the Almond Cream Choux pastry, which turned out to be a funny coincidence. To appear educated, I won’t throw out expletives to express how incredibly amazing this thing was! Goodness, the choux pastry was done perfectly, but the delight was in the almond cream. What did they do, lace it with make-​me-​happy crack or something? I was smiling from ear-​to-​ear and we both could not stop gushing about how good it was. Just this one pastry make the trek to Sandy Springs worth it. Seriously. I am so not lying.
I took home some petit fours and macarons. The eclairs were wonderful, which I was suspicious about, due to their small size. The choux pastry was not dry or anything, just perfect (consider that I got them right before closing, so they probably were not the freshest that they could be and yet, they were still oh-​so-​great). The mousse petit fours were done exquisitely. The macarons, on the other hand, were pretty good, but they did not blow me away. They are also smaller than the typical 1.5-in. size (by about half an inch). Next time, I am sticking to their cakes and pastries. Oh Almond Cream Choux, I miss you. I shall be there soon, my dear.