Courtesy of SomiSomi.

The popular Los Angeles-based soft serve chain known as SomiSomi Soft Serve & Taiyaki will be opening its first location in Long Beach thanks to a newly minted lease in the tiny space next to Ramen Hub & Poke in Bixby Knolls. Ramen Hub is located at 3900 Atlantic Ave.

Having built up a cult-like following after opening in Koreatown in 2017, the franchise has quickly expanded to locations throughout the Southland.

Ah-boong, a soft serve ice cream that is a popular street food in Korea, is the shop’s specialty. It is the result of brightly-colored, perfectly smooth, soft serve ice cream filled in a fish-shaped pastry called boong uh bbang in Korea or, as SomiSomi’s subtitle teases, taiyaki, which is the Japanese name for the same pastry. These golden-brown, waffle-like pastries are then filled with sweetness—most often a red bean paste, but SomiSomi also offers a creamy custard or Nutella as an option—before being filled with soft serve ice cream.

Staple flavors always include True Milk, a vanilla-like, pure white concoction, a bright green matcha flavor, an equally bright purple ube flavor and a dark grey black sesame offering. However, shops around the region offer special flavors throughout the year like horchata and coffee.

SomiSomi has yet to return comment as to when the shop will open.

Brian Addison is a columnist and editor for the Long Beach Post. Reach him at [email protected] or on social media at FacebookTwitterInstagram, and LinkedIn.