Topline:
Yemeni coffee is one of the oldest cultivated in the world, and it packs a punch at this coffee shop near Cal State Fullerton. Equally impressive is the variety of desserts, including milk cake with pistachio, caramel, saffron or rose flavors, and kunafa (spun phyllo dough)- topped cheesecake.
How’s the coffee? Think Greek or Turkish coffee. Yemini coffee is finely ground, like espresso, boiled, and served in all its gritty, intense glory.
What’s milk cake? Like its Latin American cousin, tres leche cake, milk cake typically contains three types of dairy (condensed milk, evaporated milk, and cream), creating an incredibly moist, heavily saturated crumb consistency.
As a regular coffee drinker, I'm always looking for a new place to consume caffeine and do some work. So when LAist colleague Yusra Farzan told me about Qamaria Coffee Co., a coffee chain that has expanded from the Midwest to Southern California with a new location in Fullerton, I knew it had to be my next stop.
Yemeni coffee is said to be some of the finest in the world, but it is still rare in the United States, where most of the beans we see are from Africa and Latin America.
When we were discussing Ramadan coverage for Food Friday, Yusra mentioned that Qamaria is generally a big hangout for students from Cal State Fullerton who are looking for some downtime between classes — and, now for those fasting during the day, it also becomes place to gather and eat in the evenings. She added that the desserts, such as their milk cake and cheesecake, were just as good as the coffee.
When I arrived, four flavors of the milk cake were available in the pastry case: pistachio, caramel, saffron, and rose. Based on the recommendation of the gentleman working behind the counter, I decided to go with the pistachio.
The slice of cake was topped with a light vanilla frosting sprinkled with bits of pistachio with a delicate, highly moist green crumb on the bottom. The cake was airy and fluffy and had a wallop of flavor with each bite.
I was struck by how similar it was to another favorite cake of mine, tres leches, which made sense when I found out the ingredients. It seems tres leches and milk cake contain a similar dairy trifecta — condensed milk, evaporated milk, and whole milk or cream. The only difference is the milk cake comes in a variety of flavors.
In addition to the milk cake, I decided I hadn't met my daily dairy intake, so I grabbed a cheesecake slice to sample. (It's a tough life, I know). I opted for the kunafa (also referred to as knafeh) cheesecake. The traditional kunafa dessert is two layers of spun phyllo dough-like pastry between a helping of stretchy white cheese. This kunafa cheesecake was a perfect homage, with kunafa acting as an excellent topping to the cheesecake below, providing a layer of texturized sweetness.
I also grabbed a cup of the Marib coffee, a medium roast coffee infused with cardamom. Like Greek or Turkish coffee, it contains a certain amount of intense flavor, giving you a potent jolt with each sip. About halfway through, it made me feel like Superman, giving me the impression that I could fly down the 5 Freeway on my way home.
It was around 4 p.m., and it was time for me to leave; however, the crowd had increased significantly. Seeing a business with a new concept thrive amongst groups of young people from diverse backgrounds was an incredible sight. I can't wait to go back.
