Pang Kum Tuh Village Bakery

Very cute small bakery. Helpful friendly staff. I love the crunchy sweet toast pieces. $ 5.75 for a big bag. Very additive!

Soboro soboro soboro! For me kimbap, kimchi chigae, rainbow (mujigae) dduk and soboro brings back fond memories of childhood in Korea.
Soboro aka korean streusal bread, is a soft bread with a crumbly buttery peanut butter topping. When it’s fresh it’s amazing! There are several variations (stuffed with red bean, or filled with cream etc) but I’m a purist.
I’ve tried soboro all over K-​town (far before Unilocal) on different occasions and so far, in my opinion, they make it the best here. I usually come in the morning so it’s super fresh and I love it because it’s not cloyingly sweet nor is the over the top peanut flavor. It has a nice light crispy balance of butter and peanut butter. My friends all love it!
I took away a star because of the lack of variety and their curried croquette lacked a little flavor. Otherwise the owner has always been gracious and I’ve never seen «old» bread/​cakes.

I can’t give zero stars?
Well they deserve one.
Not only did they sell us moldy bread, when we tried returning the batch (because no one at work felt comfortable eating the rest after seeing clearly moldy bread), they fought with us saying that «Oh, it’s JUST that one. Sometimes one of the workers forget to remove the old bread.»
To that I said «Well, okay. But I don’t know how to trust you guys after you sold us moldy bread. We would like a refund for the remaining bread.»
THEM: «It’s just this ONE bread. You should trust us because I’m saying it. Why can’t you believe me? It’s a mistake but just ONE bread. It’s possible for anyone to make a mistake. Everything else was made fresh this morning.»
At this point, I’m still waiting for an apology. They did offer to replace all the bread to anything else from the shop but we didn’t want to replace, we just wanted a refund.
ME: «Look, how can I believe you now? And no, moldy bread in a bread shop isn’t a mistake you should make.»
We ended up getting the refund for uneaten bread and pastries and hope that no one at work gets sick.
Guess who will never ever go back there?
I’ll upload the pictures to the pictures section so you can be grossed out.
Let’s put this place out of business so the owner can learn to 1) give better customer service, 2) not sell moldy bread.

We bought the Green Tea Cake and it was rotten, the fruits and the cream on the cake were no longer edible. The Cake’s temperature most likely was not in the correct degree because the cake smelled like wine or something rotten.
We went back to get another cake since we thought that the first cake should be the only cake that have went bad; however, the second Cake that we got was a sweet potato cake and it was rotten too, the bread and the cream cake were rotten once again. Hallelujah, but both cakes were rotten. I didn’t even take any pictures because I felt so gross after eating the cakes. I’m just thankful that I didn’t fall through the cakes and get sick after eating these rotten cakes.
The Workers also have really really Bad CUSTOMER Service they don’t care about their mistakes because they can’t even say SORRY to their Customers. Very Bad Service and my mouth tastes nasty and gross. YUCK! Never Coming here again!

compared to cake house, much more affordable. a mocha roll there is $ 20, but here is $ 12 and you can get a half one for $ 6. got some other manju and mochi too but many classic items.

I was going to give 2 stars but bumped it up to 3 simply because it is the only local bakery within a few blocks. It is also has a good location being next to all the restaurants JIC you want something sweet after a big meal
This bakery was clean and well maintained. The worker behind the counter was very friendly, polite and was full of smiles.
Most of the goods were between $ 1-​$ 2 which is really good, even compared to the baked goods for sale @ Tom Toms or 7 – 11 (which are located the next block over). Their hours are late compared to the local bakeries which close around 8 or so. Most bakeries open super early and close around 6PM; I think it was almost 9:30/ 10PM and they were still open. There was even a few chairs and tables outside in case you wanted to drink your coffee or cocoa and relax outside.

Good:
Lots of sweet, starchy options at $ 1.50.
Filling.
Accessible location: A block away from the Purple Line station and 720÷710÷757 stops, among others.
Open early-​ish, at 7AM.
Bad:
$ 10 card minimum.
Not the most amazing quality ever.
For your waistline.
Approximate pricing:
Sealed buns, $ 1.50-$ 1.75. (The former price for sponge cake, brownies, cinnamon pastries and chocolate and lemon buns; latter for fancier things like the mocha sponge/​mille-​feuille hybrid layer-​cake slice.)
Bags of cookies, $ 5.
Sponge cake rolls, $ 12.
Gavina coffee refills, $.50.
I had:
The lemon bun. Did not taste like lemon. Tasted like, well, cake.
Two large round halves of cake, dyed with green food colouring and having a pleasant, slightly gritty texture, with some white cream between them. One hemisphere was dipped half-​way in white chocolate confectionery coating, which was very sweet.
Plastic sleeve listed ingredients as: ‘flour, butter, milk, salt, sugar, yeast, beans, water, egg’; I’m pretty sure they use the same packaging for all of their pastries.
It was nothing impressive, and I did feel a little gross after eating it (half would have been enough); but it was only $ 1.50, paid in coins.

Everything I’ve tried has been very yummy here! They have these Poe cookies that are flaky and have just the right amount of caramelized sugar on top. I’ve tried some of the other buns too and everything tastes very fresh, not like its been sitting out there for days.
Their loaves of bread all seem to look really yummy too except I haven’t had a chance to try it yet. The area around here has very chaotic parking on the streets so them having their own little shared parking lot is a big plus to making it a nice place to stop by for some pastries and buns!

Going to have to stop by for these tofu chips everyone’s talking about.
Each pastry was around $ 1.50. I love mochi. Grabbed a red bean one of those. The brownie, which is not a regular dense sweetness you associate with the term. It’s less sweet and more cakey. Doesn’t quite satisfy a chocolate craving. (**Update — I just stuck it in the micro for about 15 seconds and it’s not bad!) Also tried the green tea cake. No need to try that one.
But I agree with others. Everything was fresh and the store feels clean and organized.

One of my favorite bakeries. Everything is made fresh from scratch I usually visit it on my way home. Staff is super friendly and helpful.

Yummy affordable buns. Good to grab and go. Loved their red bean. Sweet lady gave me service with a smile. Oh dear, that sounds wrong, but it’s super right!

I usually come here for emergency cake situations. They give you a free bun or something with the purchase of a cake.
Once I came here in need of a shaved ice fix but they wouldn’t make one for me because the health department was visiting. I had to wait (which wasn’t long and I didn’t want to drive to another place) only to find out that they ran out of ice cream. Oh fond memories. Ladies that work here are generally nice and their cakes are pretty good too.

more like… 2.5 stars…
I used to come here A LOT, esp because my grams lives nearby.
It’s the usual fare you find at a Korean bakery. Hot dog bread, sweet potato cake, fruit cakes, mochi, etc…
So I went in today because I was craving the fried mochi… I remember them being light and crispy with sesame seeds on the outside and the perfect amount of red bean on the inside… The stuff I got today was NO WHERE NEAR that! It’s was borderline burnt, stuffed to the brim with really really sweet redbean, and the sweet rice layer of it was like hard-​chewy. I was so sad this morning =[
(AND I was mad-​dogged on the way in by some ahjuma and ahjushee sitting outside stuffing their faces with bread. They were eating the bread like it wasn’t good and they HAD to eat it.)
The ladies that work there are nice enough…

I may not enjoy chips (except for ketchup chips), ice cream, or cupcakes but I do enjoy the occasional Korean pastry.
They have a decent amount of pastries to choose from but I’d have to say that my favorite would have to be the chestnut croissant. It’s buttery and flaky on the outside, and slightly sweet on the inside. I forget the exact price but it’s under $ 2.
As much as I like brownies, theirs is a bit too heavy. It’s not very flaky or soft, and it’s more like a dense cake if anything. At around $ 1.50, it’s decent enough but only if you’re craving something REALLY sweet because this is exactly that.
I love their tofu chips. Right above the cake counter, they have a variety of chips, and the lady who works there highly recommended the tofu chips. I know, TOFU CHIPS?! But they are really, really good. You pay $ 3 for a small bag but trust me it is worth it. It’s not very sweet, and it’s perfect for snacking because it won’t fill you up.
I used to get their half-​sandwiches, which basically consist of a slice of cheese, ham, lettuce, and a tomato. It’s really expensive at $ 1.50 per sandwich-​half but hey, when you haven’t eaten and you have to run into work, it definitely does the trick. They also have these «salad breads» that basically consist of three hawaiian rolls stuffed with a vegetable slaw/​salad type of filling. It’s $ 3 and I actually really recommend this. It’s light, tasty, and affordable.
I definitely suggest you check this bakery out because I really think there’s something for everyone here. The ladies who work here are really nice, and they generally have pretty good recommendations. :) I’ll be making a trip back soon. See you there!

3.5 stars.
Just like theother korean bakery around here.
I bought vegetable bread $ 1 and chestnut sponge cake $ 3. Both bread were good. vegetable bread had bacon in it, so don’t think it’s only vegetable in it. chestnut sponge cake was more like tart/​pie.

I used to live in Costa Mesa and I would drive down to Westminster to get some baked good! When I moved here to LA this place was my first bake shop and well… I was disappointed… everything is not what I expected… they were a lot of stuff to choose from but it wasn’t the same. I think I was disappointed with the price and that everything I got was flavorless.

Used to stop in here all the time in 2004 when I lived on Manhattan Place at 6^th street. Now that I’m further away, I don’t find myself near Village Bakery all that often, but when I am, OOOOOOH, the CINNAMON PIES. I ignore all the other cute, oddly filling-​ed asian treats, and rush right to the basket with the $ 1.50 cinnamon pies stacked up.
Ok, its not exactly a ‘pie’ at all; just imagine a cross between a churro and a cookie, thinly spread out phyllo-​like dough, flaky & crisp, coated with cinnamon sugar and baked until it caramelizes.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Dammit, now I want one.

Good selection of pastries
Cream puffs, were strange (yellow egg filling)
Coffee was overpriced and only so — so

I’m not a big eater, especially when it comes to breakfast, but I think this bakery does a pretty good job of filling you up for cheap. (All the individual servings were just $ 1.25.)
I’ve only been to this place twice, but I liked what I got. The green tea sponge cake/​roll wasn’t particularly moist, but it wasn’t dry, and the cream was not excessive like the cream rolls from other bakeries. I also got the cute little fried red bean donut balls, which tasted fine, but was super-​oily, as expected. Their chocolate brownie was very chocolatey, but not very brownie-​y. Still good stuff.
One thing I’m curious about: Is their banana-​shaped bread made with banana bread, or just plain bread?

Village Bakery, in a strip mall on Wilshire Boulevard just off Western Avenue, does not have the allure of Paris Baguette, but holds its own among Koreatown’s bakeries.
The selection is small and is mostly oriented around sweet pastries, though breads are available, too. A lot of the desserts are filled with red bean, chestnuts or corn. One item that seems to be out of place in a Korean bakery is the Hungarian cake, a sweet, dark coffee cake.
Village Bakery has cakes but does not sell slices.
Prices are about $ 1-​$ 3 per item.
Transit access: Metro Purple Line, Rapid lines 720 and 757, and Local lines 18, 20/​21, 66, 207 and 209; LADOT DASH Wilshire Center/​Koreatown and Hollywood/​Wilshire Center; and Foothill Transit Line 481.