POP Champagne & Dessert Bar

I recently went to this place to celebrate my friend's birthday. We had heard about POP from one of our other friends. This place is located in Old Town Pasadena. I've probably walked by it countless amount of time, but never cared to stop by. Boy, I wish I found this place earlier!

Brachetto d'Acqui

We started with Brachetto d'Acqui, a bottle of sparkling wine. Majority of us prefer the sweet wine over the dry. This tasted a mix of various berries. It was so heavenly, we had 2 bottles.

Prosciutto-wrapped Shrimp

Cherry Heirloom & Roma Tomato & Basil Bruschetta

We started off with 2 appetizers or what they call "Beginning Bites". The bruschetta was amazing! The flavor of it just fills your mouth. They did not give us enough bread for it, so we took the bread from our cheese platter to finish it off. The shirmp dish comes with a roasted garlic aioli sauce. The shrimp itself was pretty good, but mix in that aioli sauce... and mmmmmmmmmm~....

Cheese Plate

 First off, I just want to say that I am not a cheese person. I would only eat cheese when it is on pizza. Since I'm not one to appreciate cheese, it's hard for me to judge this plate. On the plate, starting from the cheese slice on the bottom is a French cheese made out of cow's milk. The middle circle cheese is a French cheese made from goat's milk. The top slice is made out of cow's milk. It came with a handful of various dried fruit, and on the very top left corner is a block of blueberry mint tartar. The cheese plate came with a basket of bread. The top slice of cow cheese was probably my favorite, it tasted like the Laughing cow cheese. My least favorite was the goat's milk cheese, I was never a fan of goat's milk and that still holds strong today.

Margarita Flatbread Pizza

Truffle Mac n Cheese

 Our main course consisted of the pizza and mac n cheese. The Margarita Flatbread Pizza was extremely flavorful. The taste of basil and tomatoes filled our mouths and the cheese was so gooey. But my favorite dish of the night has got to be the truffle mac n cheese. The cheese flavor was not too strong, which I was grateful for. The fried onion on top helped to add a bit more flavor to the dish. The pasta used was not macaroni, but the seashell pasta.

Afternoon Delight

Vanilla Creme Brulee

Strawberry Nutella Crepe

 Now on to the dessert! We ordered 3 different things, and let me tel you, it was super hard to even decide on these 3 items. POP's dessert menu was huge! The Afternoon Delight consisted of 3 things: chocolate covered strawberry, vanilla creme brulee, and a mixed berry pavlova. A pavlova is basically a hardened meringue. The vanilla creme brulee was probably my favorite dessert from the 3. I usually don't like creme brulee, but this one had a good flavor and texture to it. My least favorite of the 3 would have to be the strawberry nutella crepe. I think it was the caramel that threw me off because I'm a huge fan of dessert crepes.

Birthday Dessert: Chocolate Sorbet

As a way to say happy birthday, the restaurant gave my friend a chocolate sorbet. It was tasty and nice way to end the meal.

I would love to come here again. The ambience of the restaurant was very chill. Our waiter was great and very helpful. He totally looked like James Franco... *wink wink* a total plus. If you do decide to come here, make sure to make reservations because they can get super busy!

Location:
POP Champagne and Dessert Bar
33 E Union St
Pasadena, CA 91103

Laters~
R