Restaurant Review: Jin Patisserie

By India Halsted, Contributer

In the urban and bustling environment of Abbot Kinney, the restaurants and stores embody the street’s character, yet Jin Patisserie provided a quiet escape. Quality desserts, homemade tea blends, and the café’s famous hot chocolate, were served in a little Japanese courtyard garden.

The experiences shared there were unique and extended over many hours and a plethora of desserts. Some of the more popular items offered were homemade chocolates, a green tea tiramisu, macaroons, eclairs, chocolate cakes, and lots of other beautifully presented desserts.

The ambiance of the restaurant, as mentioned before was beautiful and serene. The courtyard included a japanese fountain, bamboo trees and comfortable benches and cafe chairs. The service, however, was very slow. Although the food provided much satisfaction, the amount of time one waited for assistance was inexcusable. Not only was this because there was one server, but because the kitchen would become overwhelmed and wouldn’t produce such quality in such a short expanse of time.

Although it is sad to see this beautiful tea garden and pastry shop close, the wholesale and catering business of Kristy Choo has opened a new facility in Culver City. The owner, Kristy Choo, still provides the Jin Patisserie menu, through this outlet, it is just not served and enjoyed the same way.

The reason Jin Patisserie closed, as the owner told the LA Times, “Rent is going up like crazy on Abbot Kinney.” The restaurant stayed only until the landlord could find a new tenant. Although Kreation Kafe has replaced it now, the restaurants still takes orders through the website.

Overall, the restaurant provided a wonderful stop while shopping on Abbot Kinney, and still does through its new facility, just in another way. The consensus of dessert and tea lovers hope that this unique Japanese tea shop will reopen soon.