Nostimo Cafe & Tea — Restaurant in Westminster

We decided to check out Nostimo Cafe & Tea, a trending spot on social media, located in Little Saigon. When we turned into the plaza, I realized it’s just two doors down from a place I’ve been to before, Com Ga Nam An (famous for their Hainanese chicken rice). I have no idea how I missed it all this time! Like last time, we ended up circling the parking lot forever trying to find a spot!

The cafe itself is small, with around 6-7 tables. It’s got that classic Instagrammable decor with marble-patterned tables and a whitewashed, wave-shaped concrete bench along the wall. Having lived in Seoul for 12 years and visited countless dessert cafes with similar chic designs, Nostimo feels more on the minimalist side, but still cute and fresh.

As for what to order, the menu offers soufflés, Vietnamese coffee, regular coffee, and tea. Since we were already here, I had to try the much-hyped Ube Coco Soufflé ($15.75) and two cups of Cafe Sua Nong (Vietnamese condensed milk coffee, $5.25 each). The soufflé takes about 20 minutes to prepare, so our coffee came first. It was strong and rich—pretty good!

When the soufflé finally served, it did have that “wow” factor in terms of presentation! The highest compliment an Asian can give a dessert is “not too sweet,” and this soufflé was definitely not sweet at all. My sister and I tend to prefer a bit sweeter desserts, so it felt like we were eating a whole lot of nothing. In hindsight, we probably should have gone with the Matcha Red Bean Soufflé, which might’ve been a bit sweeter. On the side, they served five pieces of bánh da lợn (Vietnamese pigskin cake), and overall, the whole thing felt super light and healthy—almost too healthy for a dessert! If you prefer your soufflés less sweet, this could be worth a try.

📍 Nostimo Cafe & Tea 15568 Brookhurst St, Westminster, CA 92683 (Brookhurst...

This is my first time ever visiting this café, and was thoroughly disappointed with my experience. I ordered two Banana Pudding Matcha drinks as part of a promotion deal, but there were several issues. Firstly, the wait time was incredibly long; I had to wait at least 30 minutes, and I noticed that the customers after me had already received their drinks. Upon speaking with the barista, I was informed that the staff had forgotten to ring my buzzer, and both my drinks were sitting outside for a long time. There was no compensation for the drinks, but I tried to overlook it. However, the largest problem came next. Both drinks were filled with so much ice that nearly half the cups consisted of melted ice water, which diluted the flavor and made it difficult to enjoy. I asked the barista if a remake could be made, but my request was declined. As a first-time customer, I was disappointed by the unprofessionalism and lack of accommodation, especially since the issue affected the overall quality of the drinks. It’s really too bad, because the banana pudding was very delicious, but the service wasn’t that great.

Edit: So, the team reached out to me and were happy to remake both drinks. They said that wasn’t how their drinks are usually made and it’s simply because they were very busy. The drinks were customized so much better this time, with less ice, and the flavor was much much better. The manager, Phung (unsure if I spelled that correctly) was very nice and sweet. I’ll be sure to come back again...

Comments about each of the three souffle variations we ordered: Strawberry; "Mid-line." Ube: " Lightly sweet ube sauce, that's where all the flavor is." Nutella; "I don't know you could dilute Nutella, but they found a way."

On a Friday morning, the three of us came in for the famous souffle pancakes. Greeted by a downcast cashier who took our order and warned us it would be 25 minutes. We took our seats and waited about 30 minutes before the first two souffles were ready, and another 30 minutes before the last one was out. You know that awkward situation where some people at the table have their food but feel bad about eating in front of the people without, before their food gets cold? Yeah.

It appears they are unable to make and deliver more than two souffle orders at any time. It would be nice to be aware of that before ordering.

The souffles were mild in flavor, light, airy. Our consensus is that all the flavor was indeed in the sauces. Not that they had much of said flavor, but the overall effect was okay.

My main issue is with the lackluster service we experienced. Even aside from the timing of the food brought out, there was a general sense of no interest or friendliness from the staff. Nobody had to mention that the plastic utensils were just in a container at the pickup table, we could see that for ourselves. Nobody said much of anything to us at all, really. Not even a smile?

Oh well, now that our curiosity was satisfied, we won't...