Cream Pan

Over the course of many years since its 2002 opening, we’ve revisited Tustin’s Japanese bakery Cream Pan too many times to count, with fewer (but equally happy) visits to its newer Fountain Valley location, which opened in 2020. Specializing in French-style baking with decidedly Japanese execution and precision, Cream Pan became locally famous – and deservedly so – for its ethereal and healthy-tasting strawberry croissants. Despite being made from pastry, sugar, and cream, they somehow feel so delicate and fresh that eating just one dessert seems like an unforced error; find a second one and correct it before you leave regretting your mistake.

The word we once used to describe the Tustin location, “incomparable,” has only become inaccurate because of the 2018 opening of a similar but smaller competitor, Okayama Kobo, in Anaheim. Both chains tend to have lines out their front doors during peak hours, at least at the smaller Tustin Cream Pan. And both serve iconic items from Japan, notably including Curry Pans – addictively savory, golden panko-crusted buns divided into longer baked chicken and more circular beef versions. Slightly crispy on the outside but pillow soft on the inside, they’re ideally heated for 30 seconds in Cream Pan’s on-site microwave for maximum flavor. When heated, they’re better than the best versions we’ve had in Japan, and we regularly seek them out when traveling abroad.

Cream Pan has an even wider variety of food choices than Okayama Kobo, and at the larger Fountain Valley location, Cream Pan’s wider selection (and patrons) have breathing room to spread out. That means you can spot their locally uncommon pastries through the packages of cookies and refrigerators full of fruit tarts and cake slices.