I too was sad to see Golden Bakery close. But Koko could prove to be a suitable, if not better, replacement.
The decor is super bright and cheery... and CLEAN. Something some of the china town joints lack. I was quite surprised when I walked in. Really nice.
I opted for a rice flour bun thing. It was flaky on the outside and on the inside, some kind of glutenous rice filling. It was OK. I was gambling with this one. It was just too sweet for my taste. I also got a Thai Bubble/Boba Tea. Unfortunately, it was disappointing. The tapioca pearls were soggy and falling apart. Bad bubbles! Something I experience with about half the bubble teas I get from various places around town. Seems like a lot of places pre-make the pearls and they sit all day in water. The pearls cannot sit for long or they turn to mush. I also thought the tea itself was a bit too sweet. I usually make my own bubble tea at home. Pacific East has great bubble tea as well as Mint Cafe (it's frozen, but oh so good... especially on a hot summer day). The nice thing about Koko is that they have a pretty big selection of flavors. I will give them another chance with this.
I didn't get to meet the infamous owner lady that everyone raves about. Instead, I got a hard-to-understand, emotionless teenager. Ah well, she's young...
I got a coconut cream bun and an egg tart to go. It was nice because they individually heat seal each item in a plastic bag to keep everything fresh. Both were really good, pretty much the same as what the other bakery used to carry.
Even though I got bad bubble tea, I won't hold it against them...yet. I will definitely give them another try. I would like to try their lunch offerings. The meat filled buns looked really good!