Somi Somi – 붕어빵 Bungeo-ppang Restaurants in Las Vegas Tayaki Soft Serve Frozen Yogurt
So funny how I was looking for 붕어빵(Pronounced Bungeo-ppang) here in Las Vegas for a long time, and this whole time it was here at Somi Somi 5 minutes away from my house. I have heard of Somi Somi from before. It’s been open here in Nevada for a while now, and for like 4 years in Los Angeles.
Originally I was craving Frozen Yogurt, or something cold at least when we left the house. Of course my first choice was pinkberry, but there are no more around here. Yogurtland is almost (Not Quite) as good as pinkberry, but we had that a few days ago. So we drove to Somi Somi and decided to give it a try.
To our surprise, they had 붕어빵! (Pronounced Bungeo-ppang). It is called Taiyaki here, and they actually have several different fillings you can get. Of course the traditional 붕어빵 is just with Red Bean, so this is what we ordered. We are probably going to try some of the other fillings next time. The people behind us did mix and match. As you can see from the Menu picture above, they sell them for 2 for $3.95, and 5 for $8.70. As someone who used to be a business owner for years, I’m sure if you factor in the cost of rent, material, labor, etc etc….it is not that expensive. But, most people from Korea know that they normally go for 4 or 5 for about a dollar. Maybe even 2-3 for a dollar with the price increases. Since we were here already, we decided to try their signature Upside Down Ahboong, which was another $10 or so with tax and tip, so again this place is not cheap to say the least.
Next step after ordering, they start making your order. That part I liked a lot. None of the food was premade, no matter how many orders there were. I saw the person ordering before us, and the person ordering after us. All made to order. A huge plus. Secondly, the person who was working here was very helpful. Especially after I told her that it was our first time and did not know what to order.
As I mentioned earlier, the 붕어빵 we ordered traditional style, with just red-bean. Our Upside Down Ahboong, we asked the person working here to recommend a flavor for us. She gave us Ube and Strawberry Swirl, with Custard Filling. Yes, both were delicious.
Frozen Yogurt in 50 degree weather, is always good. In my honest opinion though, it is the bread mix and how they cook it that makes everything so good here. The ice cream and the Taiyaki both had a chewy, perfectly cooked outside bread that both items taste really good. It was a perfect match to the red bean and the frozen yogurt alike, which kind of made me think that it really wouldn’t matter what flavor you put on the inside, it will taste good regardless.
So to sum it up, do I recommend Somi Somi? You bet I do! It is delicious!! But…..of course there is a but……
Again, it is not cheap….and of course probably based on the ingredients not something you should eat everyday. The Upside Down Ahboong, and the 5 piece Taiyaki ( Slightly smaller than your traditional 붕어빵 ) came out to about $20 U.S with tax and tip. I am really happy that I can fill my Taiyaki cravings now though. I probably won’t go running here again today or tomorrow, however I am pretty excited to go again next time and try some of the different flavor combinations!