Valen Dolcé

Sadly, Valen Dolce’ has delivered their last cake.
Closed Jan 2012

The scene: It was late-​ish & the end of our night. Many other bakeries were closed or across town. Cheesecake covered partially with plastic lay beckoning on a table outside. The first cup grabbed had hair in it: ewwww!
We walk in and ask for cake.
Man behind counter: are u in the mood for chocolate cake?
*We shake our heads*
Man: Well if you’re in the mood for chocolate cake you should try blah blah blah
…more blah blah blahs, a mention of mousse and we walk out defeated.
We went to a bakery because we wanted some cake. Silly us, this was only a chocolate caketype bakery.
If he was out of cake I wish it would have been stated instead of a long speech on things that aren’t what we want. To this day (happened earlier this week) I’m still confused about the sequence of events that transpired during our time there. I’m not sure what exactly happened or why.
Every second the man spent speeching about things that weren’t part of our thriving late night desires, a bakery in the distance with yummy cupcakes closed. It felt like a high pressured sales situation that ended with us awkwardly dashing for the door with few words.

What a cute little place! I went here with my mom on a Groupon and the owners were the best. Very friendly and knowledgeable about tea (even though my mom tried to stump Howard!) plus they gave some great suggestions about mixing. The piece of cake that came with the Groupon was unexpected and delicious — definitely go for one of the fruit ones.
This little tea shop is totally worth a visit and both my mom and I will be back!

The owner, Howard, could be a nice guy, but he definitely doesn’t hire the best employees. With an elaborate menu filled with promising choices, my friend and I were excited to try out one of the many teas and latte variations they had to offer, but when my friend asked for an Early Grey Latte (a basic thing to make in the coffee world) we were told that they don’t make Latte’s, only coffee, and after telling her it was on one of the many menus they have across the café, the woman working replied with «well that’s not really OUR menu.» Needless to say my friend and I both looked at each other and quickly left the place.
Huge attitude, a disorganized set up of the teas available, bad service, and an obvious lack of motivation to work judging from the fact that she didn’t even get up from her computer to greet her customers, it’s no wonder the place was completely empty.
Maybe their selection is good, but this visit was enough to make me stay away from Valen Dolcé for good.

Really liked this place! I’ve never posted on Unilocal before (a long-​time member, and felt this place was worth logging into for)
My wife and I were walking to Starbucks after a dinner and drink at Father’s Office. I was going to go work at the Starbucks, when some staff stopped us to try some free samples. We saw that the Starbucks was overcrowded, and decided to turn around and patronize a local business. It was well worth it.
I got the blueberry cheesecake, which was great, and a hot chocolate with non-​fat milk. Both were really enjoyable. My wife tried one of the teas and enjoyed it too.
The previous reviews are spot on. It looks like the owners have mostly, but not entirely settled on their business layout, so were busy decorating. However, they were both extremely friendly and happy to talk to us. We felt very welcome. I did eventually settle into work, enjoying the free wifi.

I met up with a friend here after he had heard good things. We were meeting for a late night tea and I was also happy to learn that they had the most adorable cakes too. I arrived super early and the staff were very nice and offered me a seat until my friend arrived and they also did not pressure me to order right away.
It seems that this place specializes in tea, coffee, and Japanese/​French fusion desserts. We ordered the caramelized pear tea and the Dream cake, a mango and passion fruit mousse with marzipan cheese and a little bit of vanilla cake. The tea was very good. They brought it out in a French press and we let it sit for a long time because we both like our tea strong. The cake was delicious. The fruit was light and airy and the contrast/​combination with the cheese and cake was amazing.
Again, the staff were very nice. My friend and I were able to split the tea and cake combo for some savings. They made sure we had hot water and were taken care of. Before we left, we actually ended up talking with a couple of the staff members for about ten minutes about the area and other random things.
I do need to say that the establishment was a little disorganized. They were moving around some of their display cases while we were there and I felt like I was in the way a couple times. Also, one of the cases seemed to be leaking a little bit of water that the staff almost fell twice on. The décor and atmosphere were cute but I was very distracted with the flighty feeling I received from them moving around the cases during hours.
Overall, I would go back in a heartbeat to have more of those adorable little cakes. I feel that this place would be great for an after-​date snack or to meet up with a friend. Hopefully they figure out how to organize their furniture, but a very small retraction from a clever café.

I live just a few blocks away from this place, and I was excited to try them when they opened. I finally made it there about a month ago. And, well, meh.
When I entered, there were three workers all over me, trying to tell me everything about everything. I like friendly service and all, but I felt like I was on a used car lot, but with, you know, cakes instead. They were trying so hard to SELL me something. I really just wanted to browse and see if anything caught my eye.
I was trying to decide between two different cakes and asked which one they would recommend. Of course, they told me both were fantastic and it was just a matter of taste. Ok, but that doesn’t help me decide. Finally, I purchased one of their chocolate cakes. Their cakes are mostly single portions, which I really like. However, the cake was just not that good nor flavorful. For the price I paid, I expected something fantastic.
I was pretty disappointed and really wished I had just gone to La Monarca a few blocks away like I usually do. They let you sample ANYTHING before you buy so that you can make sure you like it before you hand over your hard-​earned money to purchase it. And even though it’s difficult to compare different genres of bakeries, I think La Monarca’s stuff is better and cheaper.
I don’t know… Maybe, I’ll give Valen Dolce one more try. I’d like to try their coffee at least.

This is the place to go for a cup of tea that will blow your socks off… you don’t have to add a thing. I am not one of those tea purists who enjoy straight up leaves in hot water. I am from LA with a British palate; meaning I tend to cream and sugar my tea to my perceived perfection. Surprisingly the owner allowed me to make my own concoction of flowering teas and rose and I drank the whole pot sans any added sweetness… I was speechless and a couple calories lighter to boot.
The owner is a gem… I sat there doing homework on free-​wifi (just sayin’) and he gave me samples of his amazing desserts, so much for being excited about the few calories I passed on with the sugar in my tea. I digress, I was delighted to find that he does indeed sell indulgent gluten-​free desserts as well as those with the «full monty».
This place is unique and quite an experience… although you pay more than Starbucks, you get what you pay for: great drinks and wonderful desserts. Instead of waiting in line for rancid sludge with the rest of the cattle.
Come try it you will not be disappointed.

I really liked most of the cakes I tried! We got 5 different varieties: The Romance (it has Lychee mousse of some sort!), the earl grey, a green apple gelee crème thing, the Chef’s Special, and a black forest cake.
This place is definitely Asian-​French fusion of some sort. I like it because the cakes aren’t as sugary. :) The owners are super sweet; the lady can speak Mandarin and Japanese. I wonder what their history with the bakery is?
I really liked the lychee dessert. It’s the epitome of asian-​french fusion. And it was light and sweet with a very pervasive lyche flavor. It’s rare that I see bakery goods that are lychee-​flavored.
The most underwhelming cake was the black forest. It didn’t taste much like your traditional black forest cake at all :(No cherry rum, not much cherry in general! It tasted more like a light cocoa cake. It WAS cute! But the taste wasn’t anything special.
Stick with the Asian-​fusion desserts; they’ll probably be better than the more Western ish ones. The shop owners are really nice! They both speak mandarin :)

Since moving to LA, I’ve been missing my fill of delectable Asian breads and pastries from Crème Pan (Tustin) and 85 Degrees (Irvine). Although these are still my favs, Valen Dolce is a good find for the west side. Prices are a little more expensive compared to similar Euro-​Asian bakeries, but it is located on the unnecessarily bougie Montana street in the heart of Santa Monica.
Walking in I’m greeted enthusiastically by a man (I would later find out to be one of the owners) whose first manner of business is to shove a jar of tea leaves up my nose and asks me to smell it. With no information about what I am smelling I wonder what the point of this rather in-​your– face greeting is. I believe he had good intentions, trying to be welcoming to his customers, but I think his approach may have been a little too over the top? Besides this incident, the shop itself has a chill, café-​like atmosphere with indoor/​outdoor seating and free wi-​fi. A nice place to stop by, eat something sweet and take a break from the day’s activities.
Their desserts are light, mild in flavor and are accented with delicate hints of whatever is the main component of the dessert, like lychee, taro, hazelnut, chocolate, earl grey, etc. They have a good selection of teas, I bought the lychee tea and I love it. The best thing I’ve tried here so far are the macarons-​not «macaroons» and its pronounced like «macaroni» without the «i”-people commonly get these two mixed up and butcher the pronunciation. The pistachio and raspberry were great.

Valen Dolce = Vanille on the west side.
one of the few bakeries/​dessert places open till the wee hours of the night. .free wi fi too.
had just finished dinner and decided to get our fill at valen dolce.
valen is an asian-​euro inspired café with desserts, breads, and drinks up the wahzoo. it’s got about 30+ different types of fruit, coffee, chocolate, and tea flavored cakes plus a few select macarons. for drinks, they’ve got about 20+ very original flavors of tea.
tea is their specialty here. they give you samples (tea leaves to smell) to make your selection. the most unique one was the passion fruit — vanilla (?) mix… but they range from sweet to subtle. our friend settled on green tea earl grey which oddly enough came in a french press. it was very good. subtle flavors that i usually don’t associate with green tea… earl grey must’ve mellowed it out. but it was perfect for a rainy night. share the tea, it’s great!
desserts are made from their central store in el monte and shipped here (they’re from the same place as vanille … in san marino). dessert is not cheap… about $ 3.35-$ 5/​slice depending on what you get. it adds up, but thankfully all were really good. got the earl gray vanilla, dream (mango), café au lait and a little chocolate cake that looks like a bundt.
favorites were definitely the mango + earl grey. smooth, fluffy, and not too sweet. mango had lots of fruit flavor. also liked their chocolate earl grey macaron… chocolate did not overwhelm the earl grey! they’re small and cost $ 1.85 each… didn’t want to get it cuz it was $$ but hubby encouraged me so i … of course did. =P
décor is really minimalistic… great for hanging out and chatting. =)
i really liked everything, but honestly can’t really see myself coming again only cuz it’s so expensive (and i can get similar items in san gabriel for cheaper).
street parking only!

Amazing place for writers or anyone looking to read/​studying etc.
The staff is great. Free WiFi. Lots of tables (unlike Starbucks which is always packed). Just a cool place to get work done.
Lots of great teas/​coffees/​desserts. They have a great Gluten Free dessert. I’m G free. My favorite part is that you can stay as long as you like!
Hope this helps. My new favorite place to work.

I’m a fan of discovering new bakeries since I’m obsessed with cakes. I recently found out about Valen Dolce and even though I live in Downtown LA, I decided to drive all the way to Santa Monica to order a cake for my fiancé and his friend’s joint birthday.
Valen Dolce is located in a very trendy area of Santa Monica on Montana and it’s surrounded by cute boutiques and stores like Whole Foods. This is the perfect place for a cute bakery like Valen Dolce. The store is cozy and quiet and it’s a perfect place to catch up with friends or get some work done.
Candie helped me with my cake order and gave me some great recommendations. She also offered me some samples of cake and I had a hard time deciding which one I wanted. I was honestly debating if I should just purchase 20 individual slices of cake so everyone could sample them.
I like that the cakes are very light and I can see Asian people really liking it. From what I noticed, Asian people prefer lighter, fruitier cakes as opposed to really dense cakes loaded with frosting.
I ended up placing an order for a light Mango flavored cake, but ended up changing the order later on because my fiancé sampled a chocolate cake that he loved. It wasn’t a problem to change my order and Candie was very accommodating.
I can definitely see myself coming back here for cakes! They are also going to be adding macarons to their menu soon so I will be back to try those! :)

This place is a dream come true for me. I’ve always wanted an elegant and cozy neighborhood coffee/​pastry shop that felt like a snap shot out of Paris or Tokyo. Ive been here four times and have tried a variety of the pastries and I am incredibly impressed! There is nothing I hate more than heavy, overly sweet pastries. At Valen Dolce, all the pastries have a wonderful light consistency because they do not use alot of butter, flour, oil etc in their desserts. I love that the use agave as a sweetener in the cakey parts. This really helps avoid the sugar attack I loath. I have brought these beautiful desserts to my picky father who is the biggest food snob I have ever met. Normally, my father hates the sweets I bring him because he doesnt like anything too sweet (more so than me). I brought him 5 different pastries and he was blown away by how good they were.
Another perk about this place, it is the only coffee shop on Montana open till 11!

A «wolf in sheep’s clothing» HENCE an Asian bakery that calls itself a French Patisserie 2.5 stars!
we were feeling dessert indulgent and headed over to Valen because they close at 10 pm SCORE. but this was the WRONG place to go to for that type of craving because their desserts aren’t very rich
we tried the FREE SAMPLES of their passionfruit cake and another one I didn’t get the name of. the cakes are very light and mild in taste (just as most asian bakeries in the SGV) so we decided to head over to Sweet Lady Jane up the block
however before we could even GET OUT THE DOOR. 3 workers BOMBARDED us with attention. trying to convince us to stay by shoving tea leaves in our faces so that we could smell them and such.(it was a turn OFF)
on top of their mini asian cakes in the display, they’ve also got sweet and savory asian breads for sale
NOTE: FREE WI FI

The stellar reviews are astonishing. Perhaps we went on the wrong night… but we were not impressed at all. The presentation is definitely chic and impressive. But the desserts themselves fell quite flat.
To make things more difficult, the lady at the counter was fighting with her boyfriend on the phone and could hardly make time to help us. On top of that the boyfriend kept calling back so the credit card machine wouldn’t work (it uses their only phone line, apparently.)

Delighted to see Valen Dolce add to the charm that is Montana Avenue! Inside, it seems to glow everywhere – from the chandeliers, to the glittery tiles… it’s gorgeous, and a step above your regular bakery. This would be a great place to end a date, pick up a dessert that will impress your guests, or meet a friend for coffee and chat. (They have free wifi too!)
Owners Howard and Candie are so charming and enthusiastic about their desserts… and with good reason. Took a friend here who raved about the Opera cake – something like 16 different layers of chocolate, that tastes surprisingly light. I, however, was crazy about the «Mystery» dessert, which was layers of mascarpone, chocolate, and crème brûlée topped with a teensy cookie and cream and little cake puffs. I was pleasantly surprised at how reasonable the prices were. For how fancy they look and taste, I would have expected a much higher price tag.
The presentation here is just awe-​inspiring! I don’t think I’ve ever seen more beautifully assembled desserts in my entire life! These are on par with the pricey desserts you get at fancy restaurants. And there is so much selection, it’s just really hard to decide on one thing…(Which is great because it gives me the opportunity to come back again and again). I’m pretty sure my eyes just glazed over with excitement and it took me a while to snap out of it and order something.
I also loved the pear tea which is served in a french press alongside their special sugar-​syrup. It was so yummy.
As an added point of excitement, they also bake fresh asian-​influenced pastries (in the style of my favorite Chinese/​Taiwanese bakeries back in Irvine). So thrilled that they are bringing something different to Santa Monica! The Asian girl in me is EXTREMELY happy about this.
Special tip: They always seem to be giving away free samples of something, so if you’re in the area just stop in and you can try a little sumthin’ sumthin’ at no charge :)

I have to admit I am confused by this place.
First it was open and then a week later it was closed for «re-​modeling» now it is open again. Not really sure what is going on.
I stopped by and tried a few samples; the desserts were good. However, I feel like this place belongs in Bellagio not on Montana ave.
The choices were way too complicated for my taste. I simply wanted a piece of cheese cake and they didn’t have any?!
This would be a great stop if you were buying a dessert for a special occasion but not for everyday goodies.

Grand opening of a new bakery? Thank you, Jenny S., for the head’s up :)
I had to stop by in the evening to see if all the fuss was worth it. The pictures I’d seen online reminded me of the Asian bakeries in my hometown, so I wanted to find out if this place was anything like them.
A greeter was at the door as we approached, a nice touch for their grand opening. The inside was quite fancy; it definitely fits their fancy image quite well.
In their display, they had small, 2-​inch cakes that you see in specialty patisseries. They had such a variety of flavors, I really wish I had several friends with me so I could sample them all! They also have medium size cakes (6-​inch) for about $ 20ish, and the large ones (8-​inch) are about $ 40.
I ordered a slice of green tea cheesecake as my first sample of this place, and it was very impressive. The matcha green tea flavor wasn’t overpowering, sublime without being overly sweet. All my previous encounters with cheesecakes, while not bad ones, felt a little on the sweet side. The crusts were distinct without being too thick; I didn’t feel my taste buds being burdened by dough. I only wish the slices were bigger!
I got to talking to Morgan, one of the servers behind the counter, and she was extremely helpful and friendly when I was browsing their selection and just taking all the sights in. I also got a chance to talk with Howard, the owner/​manager of Valen Dolce, and he was equally enthusiastic and approachable. Once the hullabaloo of their grand opening weekend settles, I want to come back and enjoy the tea shop experience they promised. They have a row of tables ready to seat customers who want to enjoy dessert & tea/​coffee with a friend or two.
Howard really wants to make Valen Dolce a nice date place, and his plans are to open early and stay open late (his ambition: until midnight!), at least for the first month of operation. I’m definitely coming back soon, and I’ll be bringing friends next time!
Now to the technicals:
Parking is not too difficult. There are meters along Montana Ave, and the intersecting streets (14^th and 15^th) have plenty of street parking.
** SPECIAL DEALS**
They have a grand opening coupon that takes 10% off your order!
Also, they also have a Buy 1, Get 1 Free coupon, but it can’t be combined with the 10% off coupon.
Both are valid until 1÷11÷11!

Minding my own business, walking up Montana to buy some shampoo, my plans of sensible eating were assaulted when I see a brand new bakery next to the beauty supply. Last time I was here, it was the closed down Coffee Bean.
A brand new bakery giving away free cake samples, no less. So, of course I had to wander in. Apparently Montana Avenue businesses encourage trick or treaters, so the sidewalks and the store were packed with my fellow sugar-​crazed maniacs.
Normally I avoid grand openings and crowds clamoring for free samples, but it’s a bakery. I was raised in a bakery. I adore bakeries.
I believe the pastry chef is French trained with Japanese influences. Lots of mousses, brûlée, and beautiful presentation. Most of the desserts were of the individual variety, but I saw a few cakes and I got the feeling they take custom orders. Everyone I talked to was friendly and helpful. They asked me what I thought of the place, let me take pictures, and insist I try more samples. Well, if you insist.
Sweet Lady Jane is opening up down the street, so is some bundt cake shop. It makes me kind of giddy that so much potential diet sabotage is close to home. While Sweet Lady Jane is a more traditional cake bakery, Valen Dolce goes the opposite direction. Little stacks of mousse and cheesecakes shaped like pyramids or hearts. They also appeared to have savory breads, brownies, and cookies, which I didn’t try. The samples of cake were light and perfect for someone like me that doesn’t enjoy cloyingly sweet confections.
I believe this was just a soft opening, catering to the Halloween crowd, so it will be a couple weeks until they’re helping to breathe some new life into Montana Avenue. So, everyone come buy some sugar and let’s resurrect this sad street back from the dead.