At work we started to have sponsored “Ladies Lunches” since there are so few ladies that work in the office. It’s a nice way to get away from the office and to enjoy tasty treats together! Our most recent ladies lunch was at T-Pop Desserts & More. I thought they were only a dessert place but I discovered they recently added ramen and appetizers and figured it’d be a good spot to check out.
The inside of T-Pop Desserts is super cute! I love that cozy, chic lounge area. Though I’m a little unsure exactly why they have two maps of the world, one that just says “World News” over and over again, haha.
I agree with this statement 100%.
Here’s the “real food” portion of their menu. The menu on the T-Pop Desserts website shows more options than what’s listed on the wall (and they also have actual menus which show all of their options).
If you desire all control in all aspects of your dessert, than this is for YOU.
They also have ice cream hot pots! I think it’s only called “hot pot” because it’s in a hot pot dish, but I still think that’s cool because I’m a nerd.
[kani-cheese croquette / deep fried kani-cheese croquette drizzled with tonkatsu sauce / $2.99]
The first thing I honed in on the menu were these “kani-cheese” croquettes. Yes, kani-cheese is in quote marks for a reason.
Mainly because I tasted NO CHEESE. Maybe it is an ingredient in there somewhere, but it was not discernible. It just tasted like a regular, slightly over-fried croquette. It also seemed underseasoned. The outside was a little too hard/crisp and the inside potatoes were just meh. I didn’t like that the sauce was drizzled on top, either. Not impressed.
[triple pork ramen / pork chashu, grandma’s pork belly, kurobuta sausage / $8.99]
Quick overview of what my co-workers ate! This one is the triple pork ramen in Tonkotsu broth.
[shrimp tempura ramen / $6.99]
Shrimp tempura with miso broth (they wisely serve the shrimp on the side).
[mega ramen / crispy chicken wings, gyoza, fried shumai / $5.99]
The mega ramen is kind of like “ramen with appetizers in it” though my co-worker ordered the appetizers on the side so they wouldn’t get soggy in the bowl (smart).
[dumpling ramen / pork dumplings, pork shumai / $6.99]
And another co-worker and I both got the dumpling ramen in Tonkotsu broth. It comes with a soft egg, green onions, bean sprouts, seaweed, and sesame seeds. The pork dumplings had a bit of an odd aftertaste to them but the pork shumai wasn’t half bad. Meaty little suckers. The broth was just okay. It didn’t have a deep, rich flavor for a Tonkotsu broth and the noodles were a bit overcooked. It was a meh bowl of ramen.
The best part about lunch was the DESSERT part. Hello pretty little plates of deliciousness! I love that they write out the name of the dish on the side, making the dishes look extra fancy and pretty. We decided to all get the Shibuya Honey Brick Toast desserts. They all looked so good, it was hard to decide which ones to try!
[i love ny / $7.99]
Two of my co-workers decided on this sucker: the “I Love NY”. It came with: cookies n’ cream ice cream, banana,
strawberries, nutella, oreos, crushed oreos, whipped cream, and signature custard sauce. I’m not sure what’s very New York about this but it looked gorgeous.
[paris / $7.99]
The Paris dessert came with lots of strawberry items! On top of the brick toast was strawberry ice cream,
strawberries, macarons, strawberry sauce, a French cookie, whipped cream, plus their signature custard sauce.
[rome / $7.99]
The one that I dug into was called Rome. It sounded like the most delicious one with vanilla ice cream, peanut butter, Ferrero Rocher, nutella, almond slices, a butter waffle cookie, whipped cream, and their signature custard sauce on the side.
There were instructions on how to eat these things but my co-worker and I didn’t even read them and decided to deconstruct the dessert by tearing all the toast “walls” down so we could get to the inside. Under the mound of ice cream are little cubes of toasted shibuya brick toast which were delicious! They were warm and slightly crunchy and tasted so good with the ice cream, peanut butter, and other little bits and pieces. I loved the warm toast with all of the other textures and flavors – so good!
My take on T-Pop Desserts & More is to stick to the dessert part and leave the “more” part alone.
T-Pop Desserts & More
8945 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
858-566-6494
I just saw them on Groupon again and was *this* tempted to get the deal. The dessert toasts look effing amazing and so dang grand. The Step 4 sounds terrible : Dressing Sauce. Maybe they meant Dessert Sauce. B/c now I’m imaging thousand island dressing on top of my shibuya toast.
The ramen broths don’t look all that great. That’s great they started putting the fried items on the side (in the mega and tempura).
I love the use of ‘air quotes’ when you eat something that’s not accurately described. That’s what I totally do on an everyday basis.
Hi Faye – I almost got that deal, too! But yeah… I never did and then forgot about it. But yay for work lunches. Haha… I didn’t notice the “dressing” sauce but that’s hilarious. Can you imagine? Ugggh, that would be so gross. Maybe they should just say “Sauce” and forget about it.
we just went here monday to take my brother out for his bday and we used the $20 for $40 groupon. i agree the dessert is the only thing that seems worthwhile here though. our post to follow in a week or two. maybe. =P
Hi Lynn –
$40 of desserts, you say? That sounds like a dessert FEAST! Looking forward to reading it (and uh, catching up). 😀
Great dessert photos! Their toast creations are massive and require a team of people to finish off just one, haha. Kirbie and I went here back in April just for dessert (she had the NY while I had the Paris). She had a recent post where she and a group of others had the ice cream hot pot. Ha, ramen with “appetizers”. This was a good overview for their food but I would stick with their desserts here.
Thanks, CC! Yeah, it was a pretty massive dessert but it was so good! I loved those toasted cubes in there. It was my first time trying this kind of dessert, actually. I’ve been hearing and reading about but haven’t tried it until now. I think I need to try other toast-y places!
Actually Kirbie had the Godiva.
You should try Up2you then. There are 2 locations, one in the Convoy area and the other in Linda Vista near K Sandwiches.
Ooo, thanks for the tip!
The Linda Vista location is bigger but parking still kinda sucks. That strip mall is always crowded but you could always park near K Sandwiches and walk it.
Hi CC – Thanks for the tip! Parking tips are always appreciated 🙂