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    Kemi Dessert Bar

    4.6 (42 reviews)
    Special Hours 10:30 am - 5:00 pm
    Updated 1 month ago

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    Lilian X.

    Everything here was so delicious! The mango Rice Krispy was absolutely worth the hype--so good and super addictive, already planning my trip back. I'm still thinking about the ube basque cheesecake it was so rich and creamy. Wish this place was closer to me because I'd be coming back all the time.

    Screenshot from their IG yesterday (5/10/26)
    Marie B.

    I'm late to the party, but decided to visit on Sunday morning for my Mother's Day treat and celebrate AANHPIHM* (5/10/26). Traffic bit on I-5S from Shoreline, but no problem detouring onto surface streets from the UDistrict to Capitol Hill. I managed to snag a nearby parking spot right at their 1030am opening, score! I had heard about the pastry chef/owner of Kemi Dessert Bar hailing from NY and opening her shop here last year. This weekend she & her team were celebrating their first year, so I wanted to purchase some items featured on their IG. Pocket retail & production kitchen featuring signature matcha beverages and a lovely pastry case. There's also other merch available for purchase. No onsite seating except a bench off to the left. Healthy foliage. I appreciated the welcoming counter person. Great demeanor and packaged the items nicely in a signature box. I ended up purchasing to go: two slices of their celebratory cake (vanilla cake, yuzu creameux, berry shiso compote, vanilla buttercream) and one Vietnamese Coffee Toffee cookie. Cake was a bit rich & decadent, but lovely composition. I would have preferred the compote to have gone through a fine mesh sieve due to the seeds, but that's just me. Cookie was definitely Viet coffee (robusta phin) forward. Terrific to see the surge of next gen bakers/pastry chefs/indie business owners (pop ups, farmers markets, brick & mortars) in the greater Seattle area. Distinctive evolution versus the baking scene 20-40 years ago. *AANHPIHM = Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month

    Soy sauce caramel cookie
    Sophia W.

    Super interesting dessert concepts, but also a little pricy. I don't think I can justify myself buying a $6 cookie, though the caramel and crunchy texture was unique. I like that the desserts rotate each month, I'd be interested to see more of the cake and cream puff flavors another time!

    Spring Fling and Salt Bread
    Generous Y.

    This lowkey shop has been on my radar for a while and we happened to stumble upon it one day when walking around the neighborhood. Decided it was fate to go in and get a third drink for the day. It's a small shop and they kindly request the amount of visitors inside to be a limited capacity (it's listed on the door, I can't recall the exact number). Very grab and go oriented, there's a waiting area but it's not meant to be sit down to relax. That could be an area for improvement because I can see Kemi being a full cafe, but long term future thinking. Salt Bread - On one hand I get the hype and on another hand I don't get the hype. It's bread with salt. Tasty, but nothing too special for the hype. That being said, Kemi makes a solid one that's fluffy on the inside yet crunchy on the outside with a balanced salt throughout. Spring Fling (Matcha) - oat milk base by default for all matcha which is great because it really is the perfect blend. The Spring Fling is specifically an earl grey matcha which was super interesting! I believe the vanilla and orange do help balance the flavors, but the key flavors are earl grey and matcha. Each sip starts with a smooth, grassy undertone and ends in a sweet, floral tea taste. The stark contrast is uniquely inviting yet shocking to the taste buds, feeling like a 2 for 1 as a drink. Highly recommend (for tea enjoyers)!

    Sesame ball salt bread
    Hanna K.

    We love Kemi!! Kemi has lovely Asian-inspired desserts that change seasonally. The flavors are unique and the treats are not too sweet, which really lets the ingredients shine. The staff is super friendly, and street parking was very easy to find. So far, I've tried the mango sticky rice crispy treat (which was served at a different pop-up store) and the sesame ball salt bread, which was a Kemi's own pop-up item that they were also selling at their main store. I know they're known for the rice crispy treats, but I loved the sesame ball salt bread so much more - it was as if a red bean sesame ball like that ones you get at dim sum had a baby with salt bread, which I thought was super creative, and the salt bread itself was very well-executed. The mango sticky crispy treat was also great - light, airy, but still maintained strong flavors. I will definitely be back to try more of the menu!

    Inside
    Vince P.

    Kemi Dessert Bar is an awesome local bakeshop serving up some unique Asian-inspired pastries and drinks. Street parking will be your best bet to get here and there is a good amount of it around the area. Inside, they have a cozy interior with limited seating. Wifey and I ended up trying the Golden Hour drink and a Mango Sticky Rice Krispy. We really enjoyed all the flavors and supporting an AAPI-owned business. All of the staff here are very friendly and welcoming. Definitely come stop by to check them out if you are ever in the area!

    Pandan crumble cookie
    Vinh M.

    A friend kept telling me about this place, and it had since been on my list to try for the longest time. On a Friday afternoon I decided to power walk it here around 3:30pm before they close at 5pm... it was more like I didn't want to get there and not have anything be in stock. Thankfully, I came in to a view of this place's kitchen, and some bench seating and minimal decorations and merchandise to the immediate right-hand side. All kinds of cake and cookies were displayed up at the front counter, most of them being crumble cookies and cheesecake. Servers answered some of my questions regarding popular flavors and recommendations from others, and it was pretty hard to choose especially for someone with an insatiable sweet tooth. I eventually got their pandan crumble cookie and a slice of their black sesame mochi basque cheesecake: - The pandan crumble cookie had a nice crumble to it, and pandan taste was quite strong. Not too sweet, either. - The black sesame mochi cake was a little too much since I'm not a fan of cheesecake, but surprisingly the cheese didn't take over the black sesame mochi layer on top. This is one of their monthly flavors at the time of this writing, and it did not disappoint. They have a good handful of pastries they offer as a dessert bar, so I'll need to make a return trip here to give them a try!

    Carolyn D.

    I absolutely adore this dessert bar! Their use of Asian flavors in their desserts is so unique and very well executed. I believe their menu is rotating so I would love to come back to try other desserts that they have. It was already so hard to decide what to order this time. For pastries I got the pandan cookie crumble, Vietnamese coffee cookie, and the Japanese sweet potato basque cheesecake. All of them were not too sweet -- the best compliment an Asian person can give for a dessert. All the cookies were very soft! Pandan cookie crumble - so delicious!!! I love a good pandan dessert and the flavor really comes through. Usually when I've had pandan desserts it is more vanilla or coconut forward, but this cookie was so pandan forward. The coconut flakes are a nice touch. Vietnamese coffee cookie - you can taste the espresso grounds in this one. It's very strong on the coffee, however it wasn't giving Vietnamese coffee to me. Maybe some condensed milk somehow? It was still good though. Japanese sweet potato basque cheesecake - I'm not an expert on basque cheesecake but this was good. I liked the subtle sweet potato addition to it. My friends got their drinks and I got to sip on a few of them. I found their flavored matcha drinks to be light and refreshing, yet the syrups did not overpower the matcha. The group of people behind us did not following the limit of 5 people in the store unfortunately. It is a very small space and my friends noticed that when the group came in and ordered after them, the workers were getting orders confused. Not their fault at all! Please follow the instructions written outside. I can't wait to come back to try their other desserts and get myself more pandan cookies.

    Angela V.

    Such a cute little Place for some sweet treats! We parked to go to lunch around Cap Hill and randomly saw a sign for this place. We recently just saw an episode on Evening Magazine about it! So when we saw the sign, we're like "let's try it out!" And we're so glad we did! We were immediately greeted with smiles! Everything looks super yummy! They have a cool twist on rice krispy treats, such as ube, black sesame and mango flavors!! And each one of them are sooooo good! The black sesame was our favorite...usually black sesame flavored things are so subtle you can't taste it, or it's just not that good. But this, was exceptional! And oh my, I loved their classic salt bread!! Crunchy on the outside and savory gooey-ness on the inside! It was such a pleasant surprise how yummy that was. I will be coming back, for sure!

    Wasn't much of a selection. The mango sago box cake was decent, but I didn't care for the black sesame Rice Krispy treat. Pandan cookie was just okay. Cool fusion concept but execution didn't deliver.

    Alexa Z.

    Friendly and fast service. Street parking only. Slim to no space to sit and enjoy your treats but a short walk to Cal Anderson so you can have a little picnic. Everything here is unique and delicious! Love the rotating menu and the interesting flavor combinations. Highly recommend the blueberry jasmine matcha drink if they still have it.

    Merchandise case
    Wendy K.

    Have been to Kemi pop ups leading up to the opening of the shop. i actually first heard about Kelly on a trip to NYC a few years ago before she moved to Seattle. I was on the wrong side of town during her NYC pop up so was excited when she started doing pop ups in Seattle. And here we are today! So happy to see how far she's come. I actually had been here when the space was Coping Cookies is so wonderful to see how she has made it her own. Bright cute shop with lovely live plants and merchandise shelving. Service was friendly and quick. Most people probably come for her bakes but the beverages are unique and delicious. I had the Golden Hour a refreshing and delicious beverage,Mandarin Osmanthus Honey Yakult Sparkling water. I was going to get the get the special Peach Matcha but my friend ordered before me and got the last one. Actually glad it happened cause I wouldn't have got to experience this drink. My friend also got the last mango sticky rice crispy. I went with the black sesame rice crispy, vegan yuzu crinkle cookie and the Vietnamese coffee cookie. The black sesame was everything I wanted salty nutty and roasty how can you go wrong with brown butter? The cookies were on the softer side but not cakey I'm not a fan of the sweet cakey cookies that seem to be popular in other shops. I enjoyed the yuzu crinkle I love anything yuzu the candied yuzu peel really brightens it. Well I definitely need to go earlier next time. I was a little worried getting there a few hours before closing that some items would be out and that's what happened but that's a good thing for the shop. Congratulations Kelly! Glad I finally got to visit.

    Miso sesame cookie
    Yen D.

    Quick service. Only take away. Miso sesame cookie was good and $5. It was very good. Black sesame rice Krispy treat was excellent. Only street parking. Would come again.

    Salted chocolate chip cookie

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    Ask the Community - Kemi Dessert Bar

    Does anyone know what kind of gelatin is used in the rice crispy treats?

    It’s pork based!

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

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