Trendy Bean Cafe

This place is no longer Trendy Bean Café. It is now called Bonto Chicken. We walked in the for the first time and tried to find at least one Unilocal review and was completely unsuccessful.
After talking to the owner he told us he changed the name of the place two weeks ago. No desserts served at all, and he was really nice.
The chicken wings were pretty damn good though :)

After grabbing some Italian food, I was thirsty for something light and refreshing. TBC came up on my friend’s iphone as the closest pearl drink café. This store is currently undergoing construction, so the ginormous menu was propped on the ground. I always order the same thing — Taro Milk Tea and my friend got the Green Milk Tea. There was no one in here on a Thursday evening, which was really surprising because these types of cafés in my area are always filled with teenagers.
The taro taste unfortunately was not as strong as other pearl drink places, like Lollicup, and thankfully was not powdery, like at Tap Ex. I actually like the fact that it really did taste like tea. Slightly bland — I would’ve liked it to be a little sweeter but definitely not a huge complaint. My friend said he loved his Green Milk Tea, but I wouldn’t drive all this way to have their drinks

Where were these desserts that people are talking about? All I saw were food and a list of pearl drinks.
I did get Gim Bap, which was good and they give you a lot.
As for milk tea, the coffeemate powder did not dissolve so I was drinking up globs. The pearls weren’t good either.
I’d come back to try other food items but no drinks from here.

2 stars for how it is now. I would have given 4 if I haven’t experienced what i’ve been experiencing lately and now reading new reviews of poor service… its a shame…
Past 3 times I’ve visited… no pancakes, no yogurt. Shaved ice… i go to Poko Café for that. When asked why no pancakes… owner says he’s just not making them… I asked him when he’s goin to make them again… he says winter… I’ve been visiting him through the summer… trying to introduce his desserts to friends (even from San Diego)…and no luck.
Seriously now… when you have a niche/​specialty item on the menu which you are popular for… don’t make them unavailable and force customers to turn around and walk away… its not the smartest thing to do.
Things change with time, with restaurants, normally for the better. Apparently Trendy Bean seems to have gone the opposite direction. This place has always been known to me as a dessert place, given their offerings of drinks, desserts and great service. Now they seem to be turning into more of a café/​restaurant type place which also serves alcohol minus the service from before.
As a dessert place, I always come here craving for sweets after a filling dinner. I don’t think its wise to suggest savory meals when turning down the request for pancakes or yogurt…
I hope things get better, but from now… till the next time i visit, it’ll be a while

Coffee, desserts and spicy food… what could be better? =)
I first came here when my friend took me here to get some Korean Shave Ice (I think it’s called Patpingsoo?). It comes with shave ice, red beans, fresh fruit, mochi, ice cream and condensed milk. I don’t really like red bean, so this isn’t my dessert of choice. But everything else in it tastes yummy! It’s not super sweet so you won’t go into a sugar overload. My FAVORITE thing to eat here is their Hodduk. They’re pancakes are filled with a brown sugar syrup. I LOOOOVE IT! They come warm and gooey!
They also have a huge selection of teas and coffees. The newest edition I just noticed is that they’re now serving White Coffee! White coffee is popular over in Asia. The bean used for white coffee is roasted differently and is not as dark as regular coffee beans. The coffee is brewed and served with hot milk and condensed milk. It’s a nice light coffee. Very yummy!
There are plenty of non-​dessert things to munch on, too. I like to go for their spicy rice cake dishes. You can get the rice cake combined with other goodies such as fishcake. These dishes are pretty serious in their heat. Some days are spicier than others.
The service here can be hit or miss, but I think the only people who work there are the owner and his wife. I see the husband hanging around a lot.
Too bad this place is out of the way for me. I’m totally craving a Korean pancake right now. =P

I’ve had this place bookmarked for next to forever and we FINALLY decide to test it out after dinner…
We show up at 9:40pm when their Unilocal page says that it closes at 10pm and their door says they close at 12 midnight… ummmm guess what? It’s closed! WTF???
There are only three things open in the whole strip mall, 7-​eleven, a restaurant next door, and Quickly… so we went to Quickly!
They still have the «People love us on Unilocal» clingy on the darkened window… bahhhh I think not!
I wanted to try the Korean pancakes and the oh so nummy looking yogurt conglomeration… boooo!

NEGATIVE STARS
i used to love going here, but this place seriously pissed me off last night — so 4 of us come here after going to Korean BBQ Palace and we were pretty stuffed and wanting something refreshing to wash our palates of garlic and meaty goodness — i was telling them how good this place was and none of them were that into shaved ice except for me, so i just ordered one shaved ice dessert.
The man gives me just 2 plastic spoons to eat the shaved ice, and I ask him for 2 more spoons. He gives me just one more spoon and says, «shaved ice just for 2 people, not 4» — i was like WTF — and i just stared at him for a second, incredulously and said, «Are you serious, you’re not going to give me one more spoon?» and he says, «no, shaved ice for 2 people only» I was so pissed. I ended up gettign a plastic spoon at Tobang, the korean restaurant next door to TBC.
You pissed me off old man… you fucking need to take a reality check — i thought you were this super nice guy but you were seriously pmsing last night — i will no longer recommend this place to my friends and will speak vehemently against it from now on — i am now searching for another shaved ice place — one that doesn’t LIMIT how many ppl can eat their desserts. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME.
UP YOURS, TBC.

My cousin is a HUGE froyo fanatic and she brought me here one weekend for a treat :) hm… I was a little confused about the name because it said Trendy Bean outside but something else inside… but I think Trendy Bean sounds cooler than the other name… … but, whatever about the name, I guess… because its all about the froyo… and my, oh my, what good froyo it is…
It comes in one size and one rightful size only — LARGE. A swirly edged white bowel filled to the top with light, TARTY, lip smacking sweetness served on a tray. We had strawberries, mochi, and kiwi nearly tipping over the edge of our bowl AND green tea powder to top it off. I’m a big fan of green tea but not so much the powder … it makes it look nice and smell nice! :) … but it’s not enough. My cousin LOVES the powder, tho. OH! And they have heart-​shaped spoons … now you have to go.
They also sell appetizer-​y food items like chicken and potstickers. I didn’t try any but maybe I will next time… cause there will be a next time! Another froyo café checked off my list … ONWARD to find the best froyo in the world! … or Northern CA… !!

I found this little Korean comfort food place tucked away in a little strip mall near my new residence.
— ample amount of parking spaces in the strip mall lot
— this place doesn’t seem to be too crowded (not like all the other new trendy frozen yogurt places)
— deco: nothing that matches the name «trendy», just ordinary
— food: I am going to give my reviews on the two items I tried:
— $ 6 frozen yogurt w/​4 toppings: the froyo is a very icy and blend, not enough of the creamy taste? didn’t really taste the tart part either, then again, it didn’t taste much at all. The 4 toppings are: Strawberry, Kiwi, green tea powder, and mochi… these are pretty standard, the green tea powder didn’t do much (then again, green tea doesn’t really taste like anything), and the other ingredients are pretty good, adds to the icy blend yogurt…
— honey brown sugar pancakes — is it the honey or the oil that’s flowing down? I’d give this one a 4 star because it tasted good despite the health factor. But they don’t sell them one at a time, they come 3 for $ 5 which is usually too much unless you have a group of 4−6…
while I was waiting, I saw another group getting the $ 11 duk bokkee (Korean rice cake w/​spicy sauce)? and it looked really good, steamy hot from the kitchen. I think I will give that a try, as well as the fried chicken next time… =)
so stay posted for my updates! [[ btw, because this place with so close to where I live, I am going to include it in my list of local comfort food places.]]

I read many of the reviews before checking out Trendy Bean Café and it sounded really good, though I didn’t think it was.
It’s at 1054 Kiely Blvd @ Benton, behind the 7 – 11 Store. Next to To Bang (a Korean restaurant) and Korean Spring BBQ.
I got:
Frozen yogurt — seems the guy is the cashier & cook/​server. Price is not on the menu, but it’s $ 6 for a huge bowl enough for 2 people to share. Tart frozen yogurt w/​diced up strawberries, kiwi, mochi balls, & matcha powder. It had a funky taste to eat & after a while had to stop. Kinda ice-​y too.
Korean pan cake $ 5– no price on the menu also, had to ask. Comes w/​the brown sugar that’s melted & they pan-​fry these pancakes. Too sweet & sticky, funny sour-​tasting dough. Not recommended.
#10 sauteed rice cake, veggie, squid w/​spicy sauce $ 12.99 — very spicy sauce, boring chewy rice cakes, didn’t see veggie, fried fishcakes, squid (didn’t try them if there were any). Huge bowl of it. Can’t recommend it either.
They take credit cards. Our total was $ 20 for those 3 items.
There were 21 chairs & 7 tables. One unisex bathroom w/​no paper towels when I used it. Cheap watered-​down hand soap.
One flat screen tv on w/​K-​Pop showing when we went.
Not recommended.

Fro-​yo girl here. Welcome to Trendy Bean, home of coffee beans, red beans, and Bean’s Berry frozen yogurt. This place is cute — they have a Hello Kitty wall clock! But of course I’m there for the $ 6 fro-​yo special: tart plain fro-​yo, chopped kiwi, strawberries, mochi balls, and green tea powder. I suggest sharing it because my tummy hurt after eating it for lunch. I have the feeling most people share the yogurt (she did ask me how many spoons I wanted).
The yogurt is soft, milky, and quite icy but not as flavorful as say, Café Aroma’s. It seems like there is too much water in the mix. It’s not tangy but is a little sour and flat. The fruit seemed like it had been chopped a couple of hours ago. I don’t think I would get it again but I do think that it is a good value given the size and number of toppings.
They also have coffee and tea drinks, including pearl tea. I felt like having a salty snack but all the dishes they have seemed quite large. For example, the fried chicken ($ 15) is a whole chicken. Herman N., they have five different fried chicken items. Besides fried chicken they have various rice cake dishes and dumplings. They sell mochi (rice balls) in the blue package (the same brand, from Korea, that Kukje carries).
I bought some frozen homemade shrimp dumplings (40 for $ 15 — twice as expensive as Asian American Food Co. but larger). The dumplings were good (better than the frozen Korean dumplings I’ve purchased from stores) but didn’t have much shrimp; they were mainly filled with scrambled eggs and chives. I’m sticking with Asian American Food Co.
They have a coffee roasting machine but it doesn’t look like it gets much use? I wonder if they roast their own beans.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-​yo girl.

Atmosphere and décor could be better but hey, it’s all about the food, right? After a big bbq meal, we were recommended to come here by our waitress for dessert. I was super excited because it was a first for me to come to a Korean dessert place. Our group of 6 got the frozen yogurt, Korean shaved ice (what they call «sharbet»), and korean pancake (the sweet kind).
It seems pretty pricey at first but then understandable when you see the portions, which are HUGE. You don’t choose the toppings or anything, it’s already set a certain way but it’s good. It’s all very generous and plentiful, enough to go around. I wasn’t too much of a fan of the froyo itself but I like it’s variety of toppings (kiwi, strawberry, mochi, and matcha powder!) but some of the actual fruits tasted a bit funky. I enjoyed the «sharbet» and pancakes more. The pancakes were hot and oozed of melty hot brown sugar. The texture reminded us of the Chinese green onion pancake but this was a scallion-​less, sweeter version. SO GOOD.
The sharbet is basically shaved ice with a buttload of toppings and tons of red bean. Super refreshing and definitely satisfies the sweet tooth, although some bits of it CAN get overwhelming but I guess you can pick and choose how topping-​ed out each spoonful of your shaved ice you want it to be.
Unless I’m all Korean-​fooded out, I will be back!

I thought after my experience at Café Aroma, I was definitely not a fan of tart frozen yogurt. Trendy Bean has made me rethink my position. I got the plain frozen yogurt with strawberries, mochi and green tea powder.
The serving was huge and so delicious. I couldn’t finish it but I really wanted to. I will be back. Probably today.

Trendy Bean is a huge advocate of Unilocal and State Farm Insurance. How so, you ask?
The first thing we noticed was the menu above the register that displayed photos of their «hotdduk» pancake, fro-​gurt and shaved ice desserts along with a Unilocal logo on top. SWEET! Hmm… was this approved by Unilocal?
Then, Irene instructed us how to eat these deliciously gooey, sweet and super hot (temperature wise) pancakes with the State Farm branded java jackets that were cut in half. COOL! I was looking for a new insurance agent!
Yeah, so the java jackets were kind of obscure, but they worked! Well, somewhat. I practically got a 3^rd degree burn from the sugary goo dripping down my hand. Beware, those things are HOT!
We also shared giant bowls of plain fro-​gurt topped with strawberries, kiwi, mochi balls and macha powder. I’ve had better fro-​gurt though. This one was not creamy enough for my taste. The flavor was not too tart. It was definitely a nice contrast to the the pancakes though, and those heart shaped spoons were too cute.
I took a peek inside their fridge and saw the homemade dumplings and mochi ice cream for sale. They also had a large selection of pearl tea and savory appetizers. Then there was a huge coffee grinder next to a casino game machine. On the other side of the room, there was a plasma tv playing clips of K-​dramas and music videos. Oh, and how could we not notice the bizarre photoshoot happening in the corner with a gorgeous Korean model and a cake. This place is RANDOM!!!

My mom once told me she drank ALOT of chocolate milk when pregnant with me,
Among many other artificially sweetened things.
Which explains why I’m probably the biggest sugar-​head ever.
I get anxious if I don’t get my daily dose. Start looking around. Unable to focus. My leg starts jittering. And before I know it, I’m cruising the work kitchen looking for my fix.
It’s one of the many signs that I’m turning into my mother, who enjoys telling everyone that she meets, that she suffers from low blood sugar (not true) and must therefore eat something sweet (usually something sweet that she sees one of her lovely children eating) every couple of hours.
So when the lovely Irene S. introduced this place to us…
all I really heard was «sugar. pancake. hot. honey. so. good»
I loosened the belt on my too tight pants, tied my hair back, and dug into the most delectable soft hot doughy triangles dripping with melted brown sugar, that I have ever come across. I purposefully ate slowly, looking around me to gage how my accomplices were doing with the dessert. Real women, like Fluffy Lombard (aka me) don’t scarf their meal. They savor it. So I made sure to count between each bite. Each pancake. I couldn’t and wouldn’t be the first to finish. It just wouldn’t be Lombardlike.
But in between careful bite counting, I was thrown off my two HUGE frozen yogurts topped with mochi balls, green tea powder, fresh strawberries, and kiwi placed on the table.
And. So. I placed down my gooey pancake.
I picked up my spoon.
And ever so daintily spooned pretty much both of those yogurts (I had some help — but really I ate most of that stuff) into my Lombard mouth.
And at the end of it all. I let down my hair, tightened up my belt, blotted my lips with a napkin, and swung my copy Gucci bag over my shoulder, real lady-​like.

Super-​Good-​Friend-​Coworker was telling me about how he went to get yogurt at this place recently. Since he knows I’ve gotten into the «Yogurt Craze» he’s been wanting to take me. Though every time I asked him the name of it he said he didn’t know. It’s just «a Korean place». I love how men pay attention to details…
Well we went yesterday and I made sure to take note of the Trendy Bean Café printed on the window even tho the sign on the roof was all in Korean. This place is behind 7 – 11 next to another Korean restaurant called ToBang (giggling like a Jr. High School boy).
This small café is basically a tea place. But they happen to sell little baked and fried snacks and shaved ice and frozen yogurt. Upon ordering at the counter Super-​Good-​Friend-​Coworker made the mistake of quickly pointing on the menu to what he thought he’d had last time and was excited to show me. We were so awed by what arrived that we didn’t even realize it was shaved ice and not yogurt until we took a bite! Smooth one, SGFC! He felt so ridiculous (since he’d brought me here to try the yogurt) he tried telling the guy at the counter:
«oops I meant to order the yogurt» — SGFC
«you order shave ice» — Counter Guy
«right, but I wanted the yogurt» — SGFC, possibly winking tho I didn’t look at him to confirm
«here…» — Counter Guy
Now I didn’t really think Counter Guy would remove all 57 types of toppings off our shaved ice, replace the ice with yogurt and pile all 57 types of toppings back on… but I was pleasantly surprised that he had produced 2 generous samples of yogurt for each of us in small cups. Thanks Counter Guy!
I have no idea if this is «real» yogurt but it certainly was tart. More sour than the types I’ve had at Harmony and Fraiche. At first I thought to myself that the yogurt was too tart to go with the sweet toppings, but then upon further discussion with SGFC we decided it was a nice balance TO the sweet toppings. A sign in the shop advertised Bean’s Berry Nonfat Frozen Yogurt so I’m assuming that’s what we were eating. Another Pinkberry poser me thinks?
The most exciting part was actually the toppings on our shaved ice (which I believe is called patbingsoo in Korean). You unfortunately don’t get to choose them like at these trendy yogurt shops I’ve been frequenting («May I have a tablespoon of granola and a tablespoon of strawberries please?») Instead, it comes piled high with «the works»:
strawberries
kiwis
fruit cocktail — peaches, pears, grapes, cherries
sesame powder I think
red bean paste
mochi balls/​Korean rice cake pieces (!!)
oh yes I said mochi balls! That was the BEST part! Mmmmm… I’d go back for the mochi balls and red beans on my yogurt any day! I suppose one could ask Counter Guy to leave off «x, y and z» and he would. But it’s not quite the same made-​to-​order experience as a true «Yogurt Shop». Still — I liked it and I’ll be back since it’s not too far from work!
3pm hit and young-​ish teens started swarming around the area. Junior High? Early High School? Don’t you all have homework to go home and do?
*Ahem* and with that — we headed back to the office…
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UPDATE 11÷27÷07:
Have finally been back twice now to actually try the yogurt. It’s very tasty and very tart. Though it’s a bit… icy. Not smooth and soft like other places. It’s great with red beans, mochi, strawberries and kiwi. And while it’s ~$ 6 a serving — it’s very large. I always split it with SGFC… especially now that he’s redeemed himself by finally ordering correctly! :)

Funny that every time I am by this place it isn’t packed, but yet it is one of the highest bookmarked places in the South Bay. Hmmm?
Okay, I tried it. But, I didn’t get it. Sometimes I feel so fricking boring white… and walking into Trendy Bean, well… yah, boring white chick, yep, that’s me. I ordered a frothy tea drink, and dang, it was good.
Couldn’t find anything on the menu about yogurt, so I didn’t try it, and after I paid, I saw the yogurt machine. Dang it! Okay, so now after reading the reviews, I’ll come back and try the Korean pancake. Not that I need another reason to add pounds to my white ass, but heck, why not?
Oh, and the owner is super friendly. That’s always a plus.
— — ~~~~ — –
April 08 = Bumped up to four stars from original three! Tried the frozen yogurt. They only have one size, and it is huge and around $ 6. Worth it though… comes with goodies on top… fresh fruit, mochi. Totally worth it.

What was the one discovery from Unilocal that totally made my summer?
It’s gotta be Trendy Bean Café. I luv hitting up TBC for their frozen yogurt with all the kiwi and strawberry and mochi goodness sprinkled on top. I usualy ask for the fro-​yo without the green tea powder as it tastes like chalk to me. The tarty– sweetness of the fro-​yo just made those hot summer days go by a little bit easier.
If you can afford the calories, you definitely should indulge on the korean pancake. It’s heavenly, a la loads of sugar, carbs, cinnamony-​gooeyness. Your tastebuds will be euphoric.
Five flying stars for TBC minus half a star for the wretched boba drinks and the perpetual state of remodeling.

YAY! I can finally get my frozen yogurt fix in a half hour drive.
It comes in a well-​sized bowl, with mochi balls, strawberries, kiwi, and green tea powder on top. It’s not nearly as amazing as Yogurt World (San Diego) because it’s less creamy and more sour, but… when you’re in the bay, it’ll do juuuust fine. And yeah, one bowl is big enough for two to share.
Okay, the Korean man who works here is so cute. Though I don’t think he could understand my English all that well, he sure did understand the happiness that danced in my eyes when I ate that frozen yogurt… mmm…
I was totally checking out what the guys at the next table over were having (shave ice with like, so many toppings!) and Korean-​owner-​man totally takes notice, and also introduces me to hotdduk — the fried Korean pancake with brown sugar. (3 for $ 5.) My friend and I got it to go, and we tried eating it in the movie theater… uhhhh it was so good but we also walked out of the theater with brown sticky syrup all over our sweatshirts/​laps. So hot. I know. Get napkins if you eat like animals.
They also have a variety of tapioca-​express-​esque drinks… all for reasonable prices… I want some yogurt nowww.
PS — owner says it closes at 10 every day. I think. Okay I can’t remember now, but I went there at 9:40 so definitely at LEAST 10… Argh I specifically asked him too so I could make note of it. I’m an idiot.
Update 9÷12÷07: Got the shave ice (it’s called something weird… like bean sherbert). Has plenty of fruit, azuki beans, and mochi balls for $ 6. Super delicious, and perfect for two to share too.

As soon as we stepped into the Trendy Bean Café, we can tell the place is slowly being remodeled with the walls not finished and some things out of place. Like other Unilocalers had mentioned, the Korean pancake and frozen yogurt were the top choices; however, I found the pancake to be too sweet and full of sugar and cinnamon. I was expecting a churro type taste but it became too sweet for my taste. The frozen yogurt, 3 toppings (set toppings of strawberries, kiwi, and mochi) was 6 bucks and it was pretty small. The taste itself was not close to other clones I have tried and the original of Red Mango and Pinkberry. The taste was very sour and did not have the tart taste to it. It had melted very quick and not that much toppings either. You can see my pictures in the photos section. A unique place for smoothies though but you can find better frozen yogurt elsewhere.