Lunara, a Thick Yogurt Shop, Opens Inside Kara Bento in Rosemead

Fro-yo girl here. Thick yogurt — the strained, spoonable kind that’s become a popular snack across Asia — is still surprisingly hard to find in the United States. Let Eat Yogurt in Buena Park, Orange County, was the first thick yogurt shop to open in Southern California back in 2020, and since then several thick yogurt spots have opened in the San Gabriel Valley. Lunara is the newest place to join the scene.

Lunara operates inside Kara Bento in Rosemead, CA, and specializes in Asian style dry/thick yogurt bowls, chia yogurt cups, and protein bowls. The menu isn’t very descriptive, so you’re mostly relying on the photos and the names of the bowls to figure out the contents of each bowl. It looks like they offer different yogurt flavors, though there’s no build your own option listed. They did accommodate my request to leave out the bananas, which I appreciated.

Ordering is done by scanning the QR code at your table or using the self-serve kiosk. The bowls are made to order.

Ocean Yogurt Bowl ($15.99): I wasn’t sure what would be in it, but I ended up liking the combination of fresh blueberries and blackberries with crunchy chocolatey cereal (similar to Cocoa Pebbles), coconut pieces, and chewy oat pearls. The big scoop of yogurt was thick, creamy, and plain, but a pretty shade of blue — likely from butterfly pea flower. Because it’s strained, the yogurt wasn’t sour; it had a mild natural sweetness. I’ve had thicker, drier versions elsewhere, but I liked that Lunara’s wasn’t quite as dry. The mix of textures and flavors worked well.

It did feel a bit pricey at $16 plus tax and tip, especially since it’s something you could easily recreate at home. Still, it’s nice to have another thick yogurt option in the SGV.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl

* LUNARA. 3365 Walnut Grove Ave, Suite B, Rosemead, CA 91770

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

New Handmade Chinese Yogurt Shop Opens in Alhambra

Strained pull yogurt

Dry swallowing yogurt

Milk skin yogurt

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve been seeing more Chinese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley offering handmade yogurt on their menus. Recently, a new Chinese yogurt shop opened in Alhambra, CA.

Lingyun Milk Fun makes a variety of types of yogurt (stretchy, milk-infused, strained, dry), fruit yogurt smoothies, yogurt purple rice drinks, fruit stuffed with yogurt, yogurt bricks, yogurt bowls, etc. I haven’t seen another yogurt shop that offers that many types of yogurt.

Naipizi yogurt (milk-infused yogurt, $3.99): milk skin yogurt features a rich layer on top like cream and a creamy, velvety, lightly sweetened yogurt underneath. It’s a pleasant sweet treat. This was my favorite item. It’s like a milk custard.

Dry swallowing yogurt ($6.99, called plain dry yogurt on the menu): crazy thick due to straining. It was almost too dry. I’m sure it’s sweetened. The taste was almost cheesy. It wasn’t sour but had a little tang. I would spread this on toast and top it with fruit and nuts.

Strained pull yogurt ($4.50): bottled and not as thick as the dry yogurt, it’s like the yogurt you’d expect in a drink. It’s thick, sticky, and lightly sweetened. I think strained pull yogurt is like sticky or stretchy yogurt.

The plain yogurt is lightly sweetened. It also has live and active cultures. Of the forms that I tried, the Naipizi milk skin yogurt was my favorite.

The shop is sparse with no seating, so it’s set up for takeout.

* Lingyun Milk Fun, 1308 Garfield Ave, Alhambra, CA 91801

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.