The present invention provides crystals of L-phenylalanine monomethyl sulfate which have low solubility compared to L-tyrosine and D-phenylalanine. The L-phenylalanine monomethylsulfate crystals are obtained by subjecting a solution containing monomethyl sulfuric acid and phenylalanine to crystallization.Further, the present invention also provides a process for recovering L-phenylalanine from a water layer by neutralizing the esterified reaction, extracting an ester of L-phenylalanine therefrom with an organic solvent, and recovering remaining L-phenylalanine in the water layer as L-phenylalanine monomethylsulfate. L-phenylalanine monomethyl sulfate is obtained by esterifying L-phenylalanine and methanol in the presence of sulfuric acid, neutralizing the esterified solution with a base in the presence of water, extracting the produced L-phenylalanine methyl ester from the neutralized solution with an organic solvent, and then crystallized the resultant water layer under acidic condition.