It should serve as no surprise that Glendale, which houses more Armenian immigrants than all but Dearborn, Michigan, contains numerous Armenian pastry shops. I’ve eaten at most of them, and I’ve enjoyed several, but I haven’t found a better combination of quality and variety than what I encountered at Oasis Pastry & Cafe.

The Lebanese-owned bakery re-opened after renovations in an otherwise drab strip mall on July 22, 2003. Most people who visit the bakery are local, but I could easily understand if someone decided to drive a half-hour out of the way to sample Oasis’ delectable products.

The countertop featured six pedestals, each decoratively stacked with a different variety of mamoul. The exquisite Lebanese cookies are especially popular around holidays. Formed in wooden molds featuring different designs, the cookies contain either date paste, ground pistachios or ground walnuts.

I ordered one piece of each mamoul. The top row featured a semolina cookie filled with dates, a powdered cookie filled with crushed pistachios, and a sesame-studded ball filled with crushed walnuts. The bottom row contained a powdered shell filled with crushed pistachios, a melt-in-your-mouth cookie clearly made with a lot of shortening, filled with dates, and a cookie filled lined with powdered pistachio and filled with crushed pistachios.

I cut each mamoul in half, to expose their nut and date fillings.

This four-tiered shelf holds a wide variety of baklava. The top shelf was devoted to traditional square-shaped baklava filled with crushed walnuts or pistachios. The second level showcased fingers, mini roses, birds nests and almond pastries. I’ll get to level three in a minute. Level four contains more mini roses, Swar Alsit - a pastry hoop filled with crushed pistachios - and more birds nests.

Baklava and cookies are typically sold by the pound at the area’s Middle Eastern bakeries. I filled my carry-out container with assorted baklava, clockwise from top left: Osmalie, Ballurie, Bassma, Namoora, and cashew fingers. Osmalie and Ballurie involve kataifi, whisps of shredded filo similar to shredded wheat. Osmalie contain a center of syrup-bound crushed walnuts. I didn’t just like the Ballurie because it has Lurie in the name; I liked them because they contained crushed pistachios. Bassma featured knafee dough fortified by clarified butter, filled with pistachios. Namoora was kind of like a macaroon, with shredded coconut and a golden roof studded with a single almond. Everything was exemplary.

These palm-shaped cookies aren’t for eating. They serve as Oasis’ logo, and serve as a beacon of store pride.

Related Posts

1. Maral’s Pastry - Van Nuys, CA - May 15, 2007
2. Carousel – Glendale, CA – October 16, 2008
3. Papa Cristo’s Taverna - Los Angeles, CA – October 28, 2007
4. Bashan - Glendale, CA - November 18, 2007
5. The Peach Cafe - Monrovia, CA - October 5, 2007

This entry is filed under Armenian, Bakery, California, Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, Southern California.