Aliya Lavaland — Restaurant in Monterey Park

Hopia to some, mooncakes to many more.

Passing by Aliya Lavaland, the signage proved too enticing to pass up. Unfortunately, Aliya Lavaland is closed Thursdays, so a repeat trip the next day became priority. Hopia (aka mooncakes), I'm quite familiar with. Lavacakes, I was not. Therefore, between Aliya Lavaland's options of mooncakes & lavacakes, a couple of lavacakes became the desired option.

Signature mung bean & ube lavacakes- Where is all that lava coming from? Eating lavacakes is a messy ordeal! The creamy salted egg yolk flowed from each lavacake. Both were flaky & non too sweet. Great treats to eat! The packaging had instructions on reheating, which weren't needed, because they were polished off within no time.

Service was good. The wait was minimal, if not quicker. No seating inside, there are a few tables outside. Parking is via a multi-level structure behind the building.

I lava Aliya Lavacakes! My first foray into lavacakes & I'm enamored by them. I'm planning to make another trip to Monterey Park, having a meal at one of the many Asian eateries, finishing my day in MP with another stop to Aliya Lavacakes. I'm going to try not to get salted egg yolk all over my hands this time, but don't hold me to...

This place was highly recommended by my friend but everytime I'm around this area, it is always closed. Luckily, I finally get around to this area in the afternoon and, wow, I should have visit this place earlier!

They have 2 types of Asian pastry: solid filling or liquid running filling. They also call it mooncake, but it's not the traditional type of moon cake. Anyhow, from their in-store posters, I thought these mooncakes will be too sugary for my liking. Well, it's actually the total opposite. The inner eggy filling isn't sweet at all. The crust is very colorful and with good texture. Each one is about $4 but a box of 6 is $19.

I'll definitely encourage everyone...

The lava cakes are really good! They're essentially flavored crusts around the leaky bun egg stuff you find in dim sum. It's probably a bit sweeter than the leaky bun stuff but it works very well as dessert.

The other mooncake style pasties are much more mild compared. Good for people who want less sweet. Not my favorite but still good for some.

Unfortunately, they're not cheap.

The service was good and I'd definitely recommend everyone try each of them!

I've had their cakes a few times and each time did not disappoint. Service was also good. The cashier was nice...