Taiwanese bagels have arrived in Pasadena — and they're nothing like you'd expect

By 9:30 a.m. on a weekday, there's already a line outside Miopane's Raymond Avenue storefront. Open for just a few weeks, this new Pasadena bakery is the first U.S. location of a cult Taiwanese bagel chain that takes a wildly creative approach to the bagel format.

These aren't the dense, chewy New York-style rings Angelenos have been debating for decades. Taiwanese bagels occupy their own category — part breakfast pastry, part dessert. Miopane's bagels are thick, stuffed creations with inventive fillings: matcha with buttery cream centers, strawberry, chocolate hazelnut, mango cream cheese and even salted egg yolk.

Inside, the space is sleek and modern with natural wood accents and a long bakery case where you queue up to choose your bagels. There's a five-item limit per person, which feels restrictive when you're staring at more than 20 flavors.

A different kind of bagel

LAist's Gab Chabrán describes Miopane's bagels as having fluffy texture and adventurous exteriors. Here, he tries the chocolate hazelnut.

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Brandon Killman

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LAist

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The bagel itself is soft and airy, with a light, almost pillowy quality. It's similar to what you'd find in other Taiwanese pastries at 85°C or JJ Bakery, using the slightly stuffed format found at Calic Bagel in Koreatown.

With its fluffy texture and an adventurous exterior — the chocolate hazelnut arrives with a swirl of chocolate on top — it's a bagel in shape only; in spirit, this is something else entirely.

The blueberry cream cheese bagel strikes the right balance — tangy cream cheese hits first, then blueberry washes over at the finish without overpowering. The apple cinnamon, however, feels muted, with cream cheese dominating the fruit. The sour cream and onion bagel, coated with a caramelized onion topping, could use a more pronounced onion flavor in its filling. The exterior does most of the heavy lifting.

What customers are saying

Ron Rodriguez of Arcadia was enthusiastic about what he tried.

"I don't want to use 'unreal' so much. I want to use quality," Rodriguez said. "The food is quality."

His wife, Chris, loved the cranberry cream cheese bagel, particularly how the cream cheese was infused throughout.

Christina Chu and Sean Simpson praised the "soft and fluffy" texture and the drinks.

Building something new

Miopane's Old Town Pasadena storefront has been drawing lines since opening in early January.

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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Beyond bagels, Miopane offers pastries and sandwiches worth the trip.

The sticky bun — a beast loaded with cinnamon glaze and pecans — might be the most indulgent option. Then there's the elusive maple glazed green onion croissant, which has been sold out every time I've visited.

"We really focused on making sure we're doing the best we can for our customers," says Austin Lynn, part of the management team.

That commitment is what drove Mia Cucina, the well-established Italian restaurant group in Taiwan, to start making their own bread in-house — they wanted complete control over quality rather than relying on outside suppliers. What began as an effort to serve better bread at their restaurants eventually grew into its own operation, and opening a standalone bakery made sense. The Pasadena location was chosen because the team has local ties.

Lynn's personal favorites include the burnt onion with garlic butter and cream cheese bagel — which takes so long to make they can only produce limited quantities daily — and the roasted tomato focaccia sandwich, which, Austin says, tastes "like a bite of pizza."

Two Basque burnt cheesecakes are coming soon, made with "really high quality matcha straight from the farmers in Japan."

The main menu item at Miopaneisn't trying to be a New York bagel, and that's the point. For Angelenos used to debates about schmear and lox, this requires a mental reset. The question isn't whether it's a "good bagel" by traditional standards, but whether you're willing to meet it on its own terms.