Kook Hwa Bakery Cafe

It is so nice to be able to go to an Asian bakery without having to deal with the traffic and parking issues like in Pal Park or Fort Lee. Bubble tea is some of the best and the desserts are very good. I always get dessert here after having hibachi at Kiku next door. The workers are pleasant and the place is very clean with lots of places to sit, study and chat.

Fan of how this place is under the radar. It’s spacious and it’s never too full where I can’t find a place to sit and chill for a bit. The baked goods are fine, same as any other asian bakery. The selling point for me is the iced coffee. Stop by here everytime I’m back in town.

Gorgeous place and pretty good bubble tea but not very pastries were available when going in. I’d love to see this place succeed but doesn’t seem busy whenever I go in.

Thai bubble tea was good and the green tea cream chase pastry was the best pastry I’ve tasted

Terrific Korean bakery. VERY clean inside, tons of space and very roomy. Pastries were very good. Can’t wait to try more things! My only suggestion would be to carry soy or almond milk for those who need an alternative for their coffee. I will definitely be back! My new favorite spot!

If you ever get stuck on Route 17 traffic going home from work, this is THE place to be! The atmosphere of this bakery/​café is so nice and relaxing. Wi-​fi and electric outlet are also making this place a perfect place to study (I’m not a student anymore, but oh well). Delicious breads, awesome green tea bubble tea, and friendly service.

This is a great little bakery, that’s not so little. When you walk in, you think OMG, how am I going to afford anything in this place. Then you look at the baked goods and how much they cost and you’re like OMG, this is so reasonably priced. We go every weekend and have pretty much gotten everything on the shelves and it all just tastes so good. It’s also a very chill environment with friendly staff.
They sell this strange pizza thing, with corn, it actually tastes really good. Also the bubble tea isn’t that bad.

This is my favorite bubble tea spot in the area. I’ve had the thai and mango flavors and they were both delicious. I also get the tapioca balls mixed with the other exploding fruit balls — great combo.

I tried this bakery /​café based on all the positive reviews, but I have to say I was pretty confused when I got there. It is supposed to be a café, but all they have is coffee in carafes a la 7 – 11. No espresso drinks or anything like that. As far as the baked goods, there was not much of a selection. I bought a few different donuts to try, but they were not very good. I also got some awful banana bread. I’m really not sure what all the reviewers here are raving about.

I agree with most Unilocal reviews that this place too big for its own good. the coffee, bubble tea and pastries were quite good, can’t complain. Their brown sign upfront is barely noticeable so I almost missed the turn. In my opinion they should have a sign that’s more attention grabbing, possibly something bigger and brighter than what they have now

Needing a last minute birthday cake, I called for a cake that’s already been made without having to preorder 24 hours in advance. The cake is beautifully decorated with special touches of gold glaze covering the berries. The cake itself is light and fluffy of course not too sweet as it is from a Korean bakery. The birthday candles they provided were also very pretty, both long and short giving dimension to the cake. Each candle wrapped in tinfoil on the bottom to keep the cake clean of wax (how thoughtful!)

Amazing spot.
1) One of the best Korean bakeries in the area.
2) The ambiance is excellent. The décor/​layout is very comforting.
3) I will recommend the taro bubble tea. And maybe a single slice cake.
4) They also have free wifi and plug-​ins for your computer/​tablets/​phones.

Great bubble tea, coffee, and GREAT pastries. I would recommend to anyone alone or in a large group. Prices are all great and it is an all around pleasant experience. It is a good place to sit and converse or even sit down with a laptop and get some work done.

Quiet, clean, spacious bakery/​café right on Route 17. It’s a hidden gem that is connected to Kiku Japanese restaurant that not too many people know about. They have a broad selection of small Asian pastries such as red bean donuts, green tea roll cakes as well as many bubble tea flavors. Their bubble tea is a must get here — I usually get Taro. Keep in mind some pastries are a bit pricey, but it’s worth a stop every so often. Also, the staff is very friendly!
Come here if you are looking to study, do work or grab a small sweet snack. Also, they have free wifi.

Great place to stop by after dinner!
Need to get out a little after that big dinner meal? Come and do check this place out! Not feeling entirely full yet and have some room for dessert? Come and do check this place out (If you don’t mind having delicious baked pastry goodies for dessert that is)! Regardless of whether or not you plan on having them that night or not, they can always be saved for breakfast the next morning (I personally like to pop mines in the microwave for a good 20 seconds or so and depending on what pastry it is, possibly toasted the outer layer some bit in the conventional oven) and will taste fantastic!
Love how they have special hours here, making the pastries pretty darn cheap and how it is not overly crowded like other mega-​popular Korean bakeries usually are.
SPECIAL HOURS:
Mon — Thur: After 6pm
Fri — Sun: After 7pm
SPECIAL SALE:
5 single pastries for $ 5
All other pastries are 50% off
Definitely worth checking out! I promise you folks won’t regret it!

A lovely atmosphere and very delectable treats. I didn’t try any of the drinks, but the various buns and breads (and cake) were delicious. I particularly liked the Soboro crust, with peanut butter, and the almond-​honey bar/​cookie. I wonder how much their pastries vary from day to day.
I have been to other similar bakeries (in Chinatown, H-​Mart, and within other Asian grocery stores, but what I like about this one the most is the atmosphere. It is nice that there is so much open seating and it is so quiet there.

One of the best kept secrets in the area. It’s the best place to study or get work done, as you can get free coffee refills and the WiFi is scary fast (like, online gaming fast). It’s also quiet because not many people know about it. It’s also extremely clean.
Food/​Drink:
The regular coffee is not too great, but the french vanilla and hazelnut flavored ones are okay. If you’re picky about your coffee, then you might be better off sticking with some of the specialty drinks, which are quite tasty. The lattes and bubble teas both come in the same flavors. The vanilla latte is a hit or miss, depending on who makes it (it is at times bland.) The caramel latte tastes much better, though my personal favorite is the green tea latte. I’d stick with the green tea one since you can’t normally find that at your standard American café. The bubble teas here are very sweet, but nevertheless delicious. However, they are not the typical bubble tea you would find in other places; rather it’s almost a frappuccino. Still, they’re really good in Mocha flavor or Café Latte.
Their wide array of bread and pastries are baked fresh everyday. After 6 pm on weekends, it’s 5 pastries or more for a dollar each. The cakes are good, but the tiramisu is best avoided; it used to be good, but lately it’s become too sweet, and the cream mixes poorly with the rest of the cake. The tiramisu is also layered really poorly. Try the chocolate or chocolate chip muffins, they’re some of my favorite things there. Overall, the baked goods are good, but there are definitely much better Korean bakeries in the Fort Lee area. However, in this part of North Bergen, this place is one of the best (Sook Pastry in Ridgewood is definitely superior though).
Décor/​Layout:
The café is spacious, and is usually not packed, making it quiet and an excellent place to get work done. The set-​up feels very Korean bakery-​esque, if that makes sense lol. Overall, the place feels pretty elegant. Also, the seats are mad comfortable.
Other Notes:
–The employees are always friendly and helpful.
–There are also free samples of bread available.
–Music is playing in the background so it adds to a relaxing atmosphere, though the Playlist gets stale after a while. Also, some of the kpop songs they play are mad depressing.
–The WiFi here is free, and is actually insanely fast: like, online gaming fast (I’ve tried it once to test the speed). That adds to the fact that it’s a great place to get work done.
Cons:
A major con is that driving there is a bitch, as the entrance into the parking lot from the highway is narrow, and in such a dangerous highway location since there are so many ramps leading into the highway right before.
Also, they sweep and mop a bit too much. Having a broom sweeping next to your feet when you’re sipping coffee or eating can be a bit annoying.

I was drawn to this place because it had bubble tea. I was very pleased with the tea offering as well as the pastry selection. However, I wasn’t truly amazed by the selection of bubble tea flavors as it was your run of the mill powdered slush blend. There is not much of a selection of sandwiches, paninis, or any other typical/​expected café foods — just a heavy emphasis on pastries. Nevertheless, the pastries were 50% off or $ 1 a piece after 7 pm, and apple turnover, and madelines that I chose were pretty good.
I was pleased that at the time I went the café was not overwhelmed with noisy loitering tweens as most bubble tea spots tend to be.
I would probably come back here if I were in the area — however, parking in the back can be a bit of a nightmare.

Not sure why people found Kook Hwa to be amazing when you can easily find superior bakeries in Pal Park, Fort Lee, and Edgewater. Overpriced baked goods (but that’s the same as any other Asian bakeries), but what a small selection. Could not find half the selection I found at any of the Korean bakeries in Pal Park.
But most importantly, THE BUBBLE TEA WAS A JOKE. First of all, it’s not bubble tea — it’s bubble slush. Secondly, you can clearly tell it’s made from instant powder — not an ounce of tea in the ‘bubble tea.’ The taste gives it away. Lastly, the tapioca pearls were horrifyingly dry and starchy. It was such a terrible drink that even though I paid $ 4.50+ for it I tossed it out halfway through. Unilocalers, if this is the only place you’ve ever gotten bubble tea from, I apologize and hope you will go to a legit place and give bubble tea another chance.
What a disappointment.

My Wife and i stopped in Kook Hwa last Saturday as we ventured down 17, for starters the place seemed very clean and inviting. All the pastries and breads were either prepackaged or in a glass cabinet. All products are labeled with all the ingredients noted.
I grabbed a peanut cream bun /​roll and my wife a cream bun. In addition i took a peanut butter (my cocaine) roll of some sort. While we were deciding on what to get a very nice Asian woman came out from behind the counter and told us all baking is done the same morning, they try not to make anything overly sweet to avoid using too much sugar, she was a sweet heart.