8389 West Third Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Never underestimate the power of pictures. I'm sure most of you don't really read the drivel that I write on these blog pages. Blogging is so 2009, but I still like to express my thoughts on restaurants, for the three of you that still read my reviews. Even my mom doesn't read this anymore, and the only way I know this is that she hasn't said a word about my poor grammar in a few years now, and I know I haven't all of the sudden become a punctuation wizard.
I bring this up because pictures can be quite persuasive. I have been stalking Magnolia Bakey for years on their Instagram page. I find myself salivating over the pictures of their different versions of banana pudding and other baked goods a lot of the time. I finally decided a trip up to LA was needed to find out if Magnolia Bakey is just a collection of beautiful pictures or if their stuff is as delicious as what is depicted in those pictures.
Magnolia Bakery opened for business in 1996 in New York City. They are a scratch bakery, and everything here is made on the premises daily. In 2007 there was a change of ownership, which resulted in a pretty aggressive expansion, including spots in Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and India. Domestically there are seven NYC locations, along with one in Chicago and this one in LA, which opened back in 2010.
The number of offerings at Magnolia Bakery is a little overwhelming. They have plenty of cupcakes and cakes to choose from, along with pies, mini cheesecakes, brownies, cookies, muffins, scones, icebox desserts, and of course their famous banana pudding. There's also monthly specials and weekly cupcakes to consider as well. Way too much for someone like me that wants to try everything.
I enlisted my boss Melissa and her husband Kyle to meet us up in LA. After a very good meal at a nearby barbecue spot, we walked the three blocks to Magnolia Bakery. Due to covid restrictions Magnolia Bakery limited the number of people inside at one time, and there were no onsite places to eat what we ordered, so we decided to part ways and try our goodies at home instead and compare notes. I admit it was very hard not digging in while we drove south on the 5 freeway, but my lack of eating utensils helped to keep me from having everything finished by the time I got home. Let's take a closer look.
I'm not sure where I first had Hummingbird Cake ($7), but every time since, I'm compelled to try it when it's offered. For those of you that are not aware, hummingbird cake is a cake very popular in the south. It's a banana-pineapple spice cake, which I'd describe as carrot cake, but without the carrot and sweeter. This version at Magnolia was first-rate. Little bursts of sweetness from the pineapple, but not too sugary. It was a very light and moist cake, almost falling apart as I dug my fork in for each bite. Their cream cheese frosting was wonderful also.
Now for the real reason, most people come to Magnolia Bakery, including myself. I started off my banana pudding binge with the Large Classic Banana Pudding ($7.50). The classic comes with sliced bananas and pockets of vanilla wafer encased in the lighter than I expected banana pudding. This is not a dense pudding, but light and fluffy. The banana flavor was present but did not overwhelm. Each spoonful was a surprise as to what I was going to get since there was no rhyme or reason to the layering in this, which was an added bonus. Definitely the best banana pudding I've had, but I had two more to try as you will see as you continue reading.
Magnolia Bakery rotates their special flavors I think monthly. When we visited last month their special pudding was the Gone Bananas Pudding ($6.25). This was actually vanilla pudding with banana chocolate chip bread, Nutella, and sliced bananas in it. I liked this one too, even though I was skeptical about the bread being in here because I thought it was going to be all mushy. This was not the case. It held together nicely over the two days that this managed to hang around. This was a bit heavier than the regular banana pudding I had above, but that's probably due to the bread being in here. They could have added a bit more Nutella, but I'd still get this one again.
Now for my favorite version of the Magnolia Bakery pudding on this trip, the Chocolate Banana Pudding ($6.25). Full disclosure, I'm a big fan of chocolate, so that might be why I liked this one best. The chocolate pudding was rich but light enough to allow the chocolate wafer crumbs and sliced bananas to be showcased. Each bite was a delight and I was actually sad when I had finished this medium-sized version way quicker than I intended to. I'll definitely get a larger size on my next visit, and I've already been online trying to find copycat recipes so I can make it on my own in the meantime.
I'd say that Magnolia Bakery really lived up to the hype that I had built up for it. My go-to for banana pudding had been the one from Paderia Bakehouse in Irvine, which is good, but Magnolia's version is better in my book. It's a little sweeter, and I like that they have different versions. Prices were pretty fair when you consider how popular Magnolia Bakery is. I was expecting prices to be in the double digits, but that was not the case here. Service was very good, as the woman helping us answered all of my questions and indecision like a pro. I'm glad the pictures on their Instagram feed finally prompted me to make the trip up to LA. Well worth it.
Out of five beetles, (because Magnolia flowers are pollinated by beetles and not bees like so many other flowers), five being best to zero being worst, Magnolia Bakery gets 4 beetles.
For more information about Magnolia Bakery, head to their website here: https://www.magnoliabakery.com/
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