Le Mirage Pastry
Famous for its Middle Eastern ice cream, though it wasn't the first in California with the concept
After we learned about the charms of Persian ice cream, which is actually uniquely textured due to the use of mastic, Gum Arabic, or a similar elastic edible resin, we began looking for Orange County options beyond the two LA-founded chains we’d visited (Saffron & Rose and Mashti Malone’s). That’s how we came across Le Mirage Pastry, an Anaheim-based shop that says it brought “the Middle East’s most famous ice cream to California” using a recipe with mastic and an orchid root flower, sahleb.
(For calendar fans, it’s worth noting that Le Mirage Pastry’s version of Middle Eastern ice cream debuted around 2007, several years after the bakery first opened in Little Arabia. Saffron & Rose has been serving its version in California since 1974, and Mashti Malone’s since 1980. Le Mirage touts its Syrian roots, while the others are Persian, so there may be difference in what’s regionally “most famous” on opposite sides of the Persian Gulf.)
Provenance aside, Le Mirage’s version isn’t exactly the same as the others. When we ordered under Le Mirage’s name Bouza (also spelled booza or buza, Arabic for “ice cream”), there weren’t multiple flavor options or a traditional scooping process. We received a bowl with stacked slices from what looked and tasted like a vanilla ice cream log rolled in bright green pistachios. Unlike scoops, which easily show off the characteristically doughy, stretchy texture of Arabic ice creams, the slices had very little obvious elasticity. Here, the high pistachio density was far more compelling.
We also sampled Le Mirage’s Knafeh, which was solid, and a couple of its cakes, which were fine, though not particularly moist, a sign that they’d been baked well before our visit. Today, the bakery is chasing another trend – Dubai chocolate bars – with outrageous $20 price tags. If you visit, our recommendation is to stick to the bouza, and even then to set your expectations to “mid.”
Stats
Price: $-$$
Service: Counter
Open Since: 2007
Addresses
100 S. Brookhurst St.
Anaheim, CA 92804
714.491.3855
Instagram: @lemiragepastery