This Taiwanese cafe was already line-worthy. Now there's a whimsical next-door ice cream parlor

Los Angeles Times

15-02-2025

Most days the line for Liu's Cafe stretches down a block of Koreatown, guests queuing for fresh dumplings, noodle bowls and pastries at the Taiwanese and Chinese restaurant and tea shop.
But lately, a line's been forming for something new next door: a Taiwanese-influenced ice cream parlor from the same team, where cilantro syrup helps replicate night-market flavors and nearly every component is made from scratch.
Liu's Cafe Creamery, the latest project from Long Hospitality, churns small batches of fresh ice cream and garnishes it with sweet and savory toppings: five-spice caramel, house-cured egg yolk, the cafe's signature chile crisp, candied sesame peanuts and beyond. Nearly everything is made in-house, including granola, syrups and butter cookie crumbles, with pastry chef Isabell Manibusan leading the charge.
'We were kind of throwing around ideas and went, 'Maybe an ice cream shop?'' Manibusan said. 'And I went: That would actually be really fun for me, because I've always dreamed of opening an ice cream shop.'
Manibusan already knew her way around from-scratch ice creams and sorbets — including at Long Hospitality's modern Korean restaurant Danbi, one of the L.A. Times' 101 Best Restaurants in the city.
But at Liu's Cafe Creamery, Manibusan was charged with matching the vibe and flavors of the group's more casual, adjacent cafe, where she also oversees whimsical pastries such as egg tarts, matcha pineapple buns and almond toast with osmanthus syrup.
At the no-signage creamery, she started by conceptualizing the bases: Manibusan makes multiple varieties but usually opts for a classic Philadelphia-style ice cream base where milk, sugar and cream (and no eggs) are churned with additional flavors until it all reaches a cold, smooth consistency.
The signature Taiwan-milk ice cream's base involves evaporated milk, condensed milk and whole milk — and for those with sensitive stomachs, Lactaid is available for purchase at 25 cents.
For a flavor like the honey toast, Manibusan wanted an eggier, richer flavor, so she uses a custard base before adding house-baked brioche crumb and honey.
The herbal, fragrant oolong is made using the same oolong tea served in the cafe, while a secret-menu flavor — the popular tea egg — replicates the aged-egg treat by adding classic braising spices, soy sauce and black tea into the ice cream base, then tops it with shaved house-cured egg yolk.
The seasonal sorbet, currently a ginger-and-pear number, will rotate more frequently.
There are build-your-own sundae options, but the house specials remain the most popular and riff on classic flavor combinations.
'Pineapple cake is super symbolic of Taiwan,' Manibusan said. 'It's like the No. 1 souvenir that people would think of when they visit Taiwan, so I wanted to translate that into our sundae.'
It uses house pineapple jam, cookie crumble and a cookie version of a classic flaky pineapple cake. This flavor alone takes three days to make.
The night-market special, another sundae, mimics a sweet-savory dessert of rolled crepe filled with ice cream, one often found at street stalls with cilantro and large shards of peanut brittle, but here it is reimagined as a kind of sundae with Taiwan milk ice cream drizzled with house cilantro oil, sprinkled with candied-sesame peanut powder and finished with a colorful chiffonade of fresh cilantro.
Co-owner Patrick Liu oversaw the aesthetic of the new ice cream parlor, which opened in late 2024, hunting for vintage furniture and antique books that would lend a more homey feel to this concept.
He and the rest of the Long Hospitality group wanted a more homespun design for this space, filling shelves with knickknacks. From a stack of cinderblocks, a Marshall speaker pumps out tunes to a space that feels a little like a grandmother's living room.
'We'd been eyeing this space for a little while, because we wanted to expand the cafe, but we weren't sure if we wanted to do an extension of the dining space or a whole new concept,' Liu said of converting the former hookah bar. 'We kind of settled on: Let's try something new.'
But the new ice cream shop also doubles as an expansion of the bakery and prep space for the Michelin-recognized Liu's Cafe; the team hopes it will facilitate eventual dinner service at the cafe next door.
They also plan on adding new sundaes and floats to the menu, and as they approach summer, to expand hours of operation beyond weekend service. Manibusan is especially looking forward to incorporating some of her warm pastries served at the cafe with her new ice creams for combinations no one's experienced yet.
Liu's Cafe Creamery is located at 3915 1/2 W. 6th St. in Los Angeles, open Friday to Sunday from noon to 3:30 p.m. and from 6 to 10 p.m.