Is This 'Chika' Worthy?

Pastry Shop: ChikaLicious

Website: www.chikalicious.com

Location: 203 E 10th Street

Phone: N/A

Price Range: $$$$

Choices: White Chocolate Mousse Napoleon with Pistachio Wafer and Concord Grape Sorbet; Fromage Blanc Island "Cheese Cake"; Warm Chocolate Tart with Pink Peppercorn Ice Cream and Red Wine Sauce; (And wine pairings)

For this week, I chose this destination because when I first created this blog ideally I wish to learn all I can learn about pairings of desserts with coffee, and/or wines. ChikaLicious is a dessert bar, which offers this unique service of coupling flavor combinations of desserts with wines. Their menu gives you the option of ordering single dessert choices or ordering the prix fix, which is $16 (+$8 with a wine pairing).

My friends and I had difficulty finding our way there; making our way around streets and avenues we finally found it. It was hidden on a quiet street, with a small signage engraved on the door indicating we were at the right place. We stepped into a very intimate, modern, clean, chic restaurant with an organized open kitchen. In the background you can hear Jazz music and the low mumble conversations of the guests, chefs, and servers. We were not greeted immediately; first we had to seat ourselves. We sat next to the entrance to the kitchen, which was the only table available at the time out of the three tables. The table was set for two. Chef Chika noticed right away that there were going to be a third person, she then came over and set the table for three and to place down the menus. This shows her attentiveness towards her guests. Minutes after, one of the chefs came over, introduced himself and asked if we had any questions regarding the menu. We went ahead to place our orders.

Before I go ahead and describe the flavor components of the Amuse, I would like to take this opportunity to define it for those who are not aware of what it is. A amuse is a pre-appetizer prepared by the chef to appease the guest while waiting, usually it consists no more than two bites. The individually prepared delight is a Bourbon Molasses floating on Espresso Jelly. It served its purpose with its light and refreshing taste, tickling our taste buds making us look forward to what was coming.

The White Chocolate Mousse Napoleon with Pistachio Wafer and Concord Grape Sorbet was my dessert entrée. When it arrived I was a bit a taken back by the plates used. However, the plating itself had balance amongst the colors. Overall the fruity flavor combinations along with the creamy white chocolate, and tart pistachio wafers mingled well with the fruitful Moscato d’Asti, Bricco Quaglia 2010. When it came to fruity flavors I think the Concord Grape Sorbet takes the win. It was the epitome of grapes with its sweet and flavorful juices.

Due to the excessively small portion size, I was not able to fully taste any of my friend’s menu choices therefore I entrust them to give their honest and most professional opinion with their review. My friend’s review is as follows, “As for the Fromage Blanc Island “Cheese Cake” it was light, airy, and had a very bold cheesy flavor somewhat like a French cheese. The heavy cream that surrounded the cheesecake was an unexpected pairing; it cut through the richness of the cheesecake and gave it a tanginess that it needed. The plating was fun and unique. The wine Alvear Pedro Ximenez 2008, was sweet and have flavors of molasses, when combined with the cheesecake, it gave a dark tone to the lightness of the cheesecake. I wanted more, there was not enough.”

My best friend ordered the Warm Chocolate Tart with Pink Peppercorn Ice Cream and Red Wine Sauce. “The peppercorn ice cream very sweet, had a hint of peppercorn but not so much that it would overwhelm the sweetness of the ice cream. The chocolate tart was very warm and crispy, but there was too much chocolate sauce. The richness of the chocolate was too overpowering for the thin tart. Overall the chocolate tart did go very well with the peppercorn ice cream. It was a warm and cool feeling in your mouth.”

Shortly after the server cleared our entrée dishes, we were served the petit fours. There were three varieties; first was the coconut marshmallow, second was the chocolate genoise with chocolate whipped cream and chocolate crochet, and lastly is the gooseberry mascarpone. The gooseberry was very refreshing binding well with the buttery sweet cookie and the richness of the mascarpone. The toasted coconut shreds added a tropical uniqueness to the light, fluffy homemade marshmallows. The chocolate genoise was heavily punched with simple syrup to give it intense moisture. The dark chocolate whipped cream was a great addition to the cake because it evened out the levels of heaviness.

Overall, my friends and I came to a conclusion that the dessert bar was definitely worth a try but we probably will not be going back. The varieties of plates used for each dessert was indeed unique. Although, it was clear the designs of the plates had no connection to one another. As I have mentioned before, the portion sizes were not ideal. There was just not enough for the three of us to share our entrées with another to admire the wonderful artistry that she obviously worked hard on.

Mishii’s Rating: 7/10

Best Chocolate "Cake" In The World

Pastry Shop: The Best Chocolate Cake In The World
Website: www.thebestchocolatecake.com/
Location:   55A Spring Street
Phone: 212.343.2253
Price Range: $$ ~ $$$
Choices: Tasting Menu (1/2 Traditional & 1/2 Bittersweet); Pastel de Nata; Vanilla & Espresso Gelato Shake; Affogato

For this blog, I wanted to post about something different, something special. At last, we discovered a wonderful little shop in the Soho area called The Best Chocolate Cake In The World. Looking into the petite bakery, you get a sense of modesty in its design. There were elegance and comfort where it was needed without one dominating the other. It also offered a historical feel from the brick white walls and gold plated furniture. When we walked into this bakery we were greeted kindly and welcomed. We were seated at the last of the four tables for guests. After looking at the menu, we decided to order the Tasting Menu which consists of ½ Traditional & ½ Bittersweet slices with whipped cream, fresh fruit & choice of two scoops of gelato, and a Pastel de Nata; and for beverages we ordered a Affogato (Vanilla gelato with a shot of espresso), and a Vanilla and Espresso Gelato Shake. The wonderful young lady answered any and all questions we had genuinely.

The first pastry we tried was the Pastel de Nata, a Portuguese egg custard tart. Even though the puff pastry tart was a bit soggy due to the length of time it has been exposed to air, the rim of the tart still gave a bite of crunchiness due to the brulee. Taking a lick of the egg custard, you feel the smooth creamy texture coating your palate with the perfect amount of sweetness and a hint of vanilla as a last lingering note.

Next, we tasted the Tasting Menu. There will be a breakdown for each component of this menu item. First, there were the Vanilla gelato, and the seasonal Pumpkin gelato. Both flavors had creamy and smooth textures. The vanilla had strong tastes of vanilla bean while intense flavors of cinnamon spice was evident in the pumpkin. The flavors when combined complemented each other flawlessly.

Following, we tasted the homemade whipped cream. It was light and airy but lacked sugar. Lastly, we tasted the traditional and bittersweet slices. The composition of the slices has layers of flourless crispy chocolate meringue, airy chocolate mousse, and a thin layer of chocolate glaze. From observation, we thought the chocolate cake was a cake but upon taking the first bite we discovered the cake was infact what could only be described as a malt. Remember eating a Whooper; how the malt on the inside melted instantly onto your tongue. The texture of the chocolate mousse and chocolate glaze reminded me of a light, and a heavy ganache. After my second bite, I realized that each bite melts together creating a gracious smooth chocolate mousse. The only two differences we found amongst the slices is that the bittersweet had stronger bitter chocolate flavors and it has four layers while the traditional had three.

My friend ordered the gelato shake. His review is as follows, “It was refreshing and cool. The vanilla and espresso flavor went wonderfully together. It was smooth and luscious. And if it weren’t so expensive I would’ve gotten another one.”

The Affogato was very intense with coffee due to the shot of espresso. With the first sip, it hits you with a strong bold taste then the gelato comes in with a smooth finish. Highly recommended for coffee lovers!!

Overall, we had an amazing experience here not only because of the great desserts but the service was impeccable. It definitely made my night unforgettable.  If you decide to come and give this place a visit, I recommend everything I ordered.

Mishii’s Rating: 8/10

A Buttercup Batter Makes For A Better Batter...?

Pastry Shop: Buttercup Bake Shop

Website: www.buttercupbakeshop.com

Location: 973 2nd Avenue

Phone: 212.350.4144

Price Range: $

Choices: Caramel Pecan Cheesecake; Hummingbird Cupcake; Lemon Cupcake; Chocolate w/ Chocolate Icing Cupcake; Buttercup Golden w/ Chocolate Icing Cupcake; Red Velvet Cupcake; Carrot Cake; Devil Dog Cupcake; Lady Baltimore Cake; Banana Pudding

**First off, before you continue reading on, I would like to apologize to my dedicated readers for not being consistent with my updates these past two weeks. I understand that having a busy life is not an adequate excuse, if so I should not have started this blog. On that note, I will try my best to keep consistency for my loyal Savory Desserts NYC readers. :D To make up for last week, this week I have updated with two postings; one in honor of the Mid-Autumn Festival and one on a new pastry shop visit.**

This week a couple of friends and I went to pay a little visit to a bakeshop called Buttercup Bake Shop. When you first enter the cute little bakeshop, you see a wide range of cakes, cupcakes, and other sweets in closed display counters. For pastry lovers, it felt like you died and went to heaven. All the way in the back there’s a window that allows you to view the bakers and the kitchen at work. Despite its small area, they still offered a few tables and chairs for the guests to sit and enjoy their sweet guilty pleasures. Typically before we taste any of the desserts, we would organize the order of tasting from lightest to heaviest in richness. This time due to the lack of space on our table, we chose to taste according to which was the easiest to cut and clear up space.

Our first victim was of the Caramel Pecan Cheesecake. The texture of the cheesecake was drier than most; it was stiff but had lots of creamy flavors. What I usually look forward to in a cheesecake is the crunchy graham crust. Sadly, the crust was a bit soggy but had a nice added taste of pecans and walnuts. There was a garnish of caramel pecan on the top of the cheesecake but the sour cream flavor was so overpowering you could not enjoy the toppings of the cake.

The first cupcake we tried was the Hummingbird cupcake. The cake was a bit dry, balancing well with the vanilla frosting giving the cake more moisture. In the cake, I was able to taste primarily bananas, and pecans. When I took a bite of the cake, I felt a texture resembling pineapples and saw swirls of cinnamon but the flavors were not enhanced enough to be tasted.

One of my all time favorites is lemon pastry. At Buttercup Bake Shop we ordered the Lemon cupcake. At first glance, you get a bright yellow color coming from the frosting. Once the cake was cut, you instantly get a burst of lemon aroma. When I took a bite, I noticed that the cake was moister than the first one. It had strong flavors of lemon; most likely produced with lemon extract. One of my friends said, “It just tastes like lemon pound cake, nothing special.” As for the frosting, there were not any lemon flavors nor vanilla flavors to enhance the cupcake further.

The Chocolate with Chocolate Icing cupcake, I would say is not for us. The flavors of the cake reminded me of a brownie however it was much moister. This cupcake is very sweet and is highly recommended for intense chocolate lovers.

The following pastry we tasted was the Buttercup Golden with Chocolate Icing, recommended by the employee. For some reason, it didn’t contain any flavor characteristics that distinguish it was a cupcake, it tasted more of bread.

The Red Velvet cupcake is one that was most recommended in their reviews. It was also the one that I look forward to most. It was a vanilla based red velvet with cream cheese frosting, as told by the employee. Upon tasting the frosting, it struck us there weren’t hints of cream cheese at all rather that it tasted of buttercream. Product knowledge much?

With the first bite of the Carrot cake, you instantly get bursts of nutty carrot flavors. The moisture of the cake was on point. However when taking a bite with the icing, the icing’s overpowering sweetness completely wipes out its refreshingly earthly flavors.

Taking a look at the “Devil Dog” cupcake gave us all a toothache. It was composed of a very dark chocolate cake; with a very sweet marshmallow spread sprinkled with blue sugar crystal cubes, all this equals to an unpleasantness to the palate. It felt like I ate an entire bar of dark chocolate with roasted marshmallows all at once. However, I should add that this was actually a moist cupcake.

The last cake we tasted was a slice of Lady Baltimore. The cake was vanilla based with fillings of shredded coconut, apple-oatmeal cookie crumbs, finely chopped toasted almonds, candy cherries, and almond extract. Although, the composition of the filling was said to have this many ingredients, after tasting we were not able to identify all that was stated. From the tasting, we were only able to extract flavors of coconut and candy cherry preserve. This preserve had just the right amount of sweetness balancing well with the light vanilla cake and marshmallow spread.

Half way through our tasting, an employee came by to offer us two samples of their puddings. The first one was Lemon Raspberry pudding; it was delightful and refreshing with a sour kick at the end. The second one was Chocolate Truffle pudding; it was delicious!! The level of sweetness in the chocolate was on point. It had a light smooth fluffy texture. Once in your mouth, you feel the cake dissolving slowly into the pudding giving you the “melt in your mouth” feeling.

The highlight of this dessert review would be the Banana Pudding. Quoted from the three of us, “OMG, this taste so good!” I must say it definitely did not look appetizing even when it was displayed in the counters. It was pastel yellow in color, and did not present any aromas of bananas. However, this was a sent from heaven “melt in your mouth” pudding. In the pudding, there are slices of banana and pieces of vanilla wafers. Because the wafers were soaked in the pudding for a period of time, it becomes a nice soft addition to the smooth creamy texture pudding.

As for beverages, one of my friends ordered a hot chocolate. His opinion states, “The hot chocolate tasted of hot steamed milk mixed with NestleQuik powder. It was very generic.” I enjoyed my regular cup of Joe with milk and no sugar because of its bland flavor I was able to balance it with the intense sweetness of the pastries. My other friend ordered the apple cider. She stated, “I only ordered the apple cider because I don’t drink coffee but it was good because the sourness helped balance the sweets.”

One additional detail I must include regarding all the cupcakes was the extremely intense sweetness of all the icing and spreads. First, all of the icings and spreads were sprinkled with little sugar cubes. They were very thick in texture and you can actually chew the icing and feel/hear yourself biting down on sugar.

Overall, I really liked the service I received from the girls working behind the counter. They were very helpful voicing their recommendations, very pleasant and kind. The baked goods were not awful but it was not what we had expected. We highly recommend the Banana pudding, the Chocolate Truffle pudding, and maybe the Hummingbird cupcake.

Mishii's Rating: 5/10

A Moon Made of Bean Paste

*Took a picture of the bakery with my phone but its currently not sending so I decided to upload a picture of all the moon cakes.*

Pastry Shop: TaiPan Bakery

Website: N/A

Location: 194 Canal Street

Phone: 212.732.2222

Price Range for a Moon Cake: $$

Choices: White Skin Single-Yolk with White Lotus-Seed Paste; Single-Yolk with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake; Taro with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake; Green Tea with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake; Sesame with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake; Orange with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake; Coffee with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake; and Strawberry with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake

Mid-Autumn Festival is on the 15^th of August of the lunar calendar, typically in October on a Gregorian calendar. It is a special day when Chinese families get together and admire moon cakes, which symbolizes family reunion, family culture, and the embodying spiritual feelings. In ancient China, moon cakes were used as an offering to Chang E, the celestial being of the palace of the moon. If you would like to learn more on the history of the Mid-Autumn Festival, click on the following links. History of Mid-Autumn Festival. Celebrating the Harvest Moon.

I’ll be covering eight varieties of moon cakes from a popular Chinese bakery located in the heart of Chinatown, called TaiPan Bakery. The varieties are White Skin Single-Yolk with White Lotus-Seed Paste, Single-Yolk with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake, Taro with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake, Green Tea with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake, Sesame with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake, Orange with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake, Coffee with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake, and Strawberry with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake. The difference between a Snowy Moon Cake and the Traditional Moon Cake is the outer layer. A Snowy Moon Cake typically has components of bean paste and a soft gluey skin made of cooked glutinous rice flour called Koh Fun in Chinese.  A Traditional Moon Cake consists of bean paste and an outer layer of dough. This dough can be prepared in three ways, chewy, flaky, and tender. Here’s a link if you would like to learn more about the different ways of preparation.

The White Skin Single-Yolk with White Lotus-Seed Paste, and the Single-Yolk with Bean Paste Snowy Moon Cake tastes very similar. Both have compositions of sweet bean paste with a salty yolk to keep the palates balanced. The paste had a good consistency, a great combination with the smooth chewy outer layer. The outer layers acted as a container, holding the paste and yolk together giving you the opportunity to really experience the flavors melding.

Taro Snowy Moon Cake and Green Tea Snowy Moon Cake were my favorites. Both outer layers were chewy with just enough taro, and green tea flavors. You can tell flavored powders were used to give each outer layer of snowy moon cakes their distinctive flavors. The smooth bean paste was not too sweet blending well with the lightly flavored skins.

The next two snowy moon cakes I’ll be covering are the Sesame Snowy Moon Cake, and the Coffee Snowy Moon Cake. These two delicacies are a little different than the previous ones. It is evident the skin of the Sesame moon cake were made of black sesame seeds; biting into the skin gives you a nice crunchy texture. Unusually, my mom did not like the sesame moon cake; she said, “It tasted like I was drinking a bottle of sesame oil.” The specialties are also in the sweet bean paste. The sweet bean paste within the coffee moon cake had strong aroma and flavors of espresso while the paste in the sesame moon cake had an infusion of blended sesame seeds. These two moon cakes are distinctive because of the additional details added to the paste.

The last two moon cakes I tasted were not for me. It was the Orange Snowy Moon Cake and the Strawberry Snowy Moon Cake. One bite into these moon cakes instantly gave me a reminder of my childhood days when I was sick and had to take cough syrup. The pastes had its original flavor. The skins were profound with unnatural flavors. The positive end of these two flavors is the smooth consistency of the sweet bean paste and the chewy out layers.

Moon cakes are very filling and it is not recommended to eat more than one in two days. You will definitely need a nice hot cup of oolong tea to help digest the heavy pastry. Overall, I quite enjoy this modern twist to the traditional moon cake, offering more options in flavors that appeal more to the new generations. I didn’t get a chance to enjoy the delicacies in the bakery because it is always crowded. 

Mishii's Rating: 6/10

A Taste Of Old New York

 *Photo obtained from Yelp.com* because I forgot to take one.

Pastry Shop: Venieros Italian Bakery

Website: www.venierospastry.com

Location: 342 East 11^th Street

Phone: 212.674.7070

Price Range: $$

Choices: Cannoli (Vanilla), Red Velvet Slice, Frangipane, Cheesecake NY Style w/ Strawberries, Tiramisu Pastry, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Slice; Latte

Veniero’s Pasticceria & Caffé is an Italian Bakery established in 1894. It was not difficult to find this bakery, although it was far walk from any train station. Looking at the front of the shop, you immediately feel you have stepped back in time to the mid 1900’s which was the time of their last renovation. Every detail of the interior design from the tiles on the floor, the furniture used, and the lightings looked as if it hasn’t changed; kept in its old-fashioned ways.

When my close friend and I walked in at first, we were not greeted; it was possible that it was because we looked as if we were lost. We were actually wondering if there was a room in the back for us to dine in. The waiter found us and led us to a table. His name is Raba, and looks well in his 40’s. Hint hint – turnover rate is probably very low. He was attentive, giving us just enough time to look over the menu before asking if we were ready to order. After about 20 minutes of debating, my friend and I decided to pick our desserts this time and ask Raba for his recommendation on the beverage pairing. In the end we ordered a Vanilla Cannoli, Red Velvet Slice, Frangipane, Cheesecake – NY Style with Strawberry toppings, Tiramisu Pastry, and Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Slice; Raba recommended the Latte to pair with our selections.

The way we start our tastings is always from light to heavy so that the heavier pastries will not overpower the lighter pastries. We started off the day with a Vanilla Cannoli. The shell was crispy with proper browning. Within the shell was a thick, creamy, smooth filling prepared with bits of fruits and crunchy chocolate chips. This palatable filling gave the overall pastry just enough sweetness.

We chose the Red Velvet Slice because I had recently baked my own Red Velvet cake not too long ago and wanted to compare it to one of the oldest and best pastry shops in New York. It was apparent from first taste the frosting is a cream cheese recipe with a hint of white chocolate aftertaste. The slice composed of strong vanilla flavors. The texture was grainy, stiff, and crumbly although you can still feel some moisture. This slice was garnished with a small piece of white chocolate and crumbs alongside the cake. It definitely isn’t recommended with coffee. We don’t need you here Joe!

Frangipane was one of our first selections because my friend is fanatic about it! I’m not too sure why… Here were his thoughts, “Fantasizing about the Frangipanes we made in school, I couldn’t help but to order one …” When it arrived, we instantly noticed that it was completely dry. Sadly, we couldn’t taste any of the almond paste either. The candied raspberry fruits and raspberry jam did it no justice due to its excessive sweetness. We believed that if this pastry was made perfectly it would’ve been delightful with our latte. “…but it was a total disappointment,” with these last words we moved onto our next delight.

 

With the first bite of the NY Style Cheesecake it instantly coated the inside of your mouth. The texture was thick, luscious, and creamy with strong flavors of sour cream and cream cheese. The cheesecake was paired amazingly well with the fresh strawberries; however it was noticeable that these fruits were soaked in sugar before used for garnish. The fresh strawberries gave a wonderful balance to the heaviness of the cake. The body is soft and fluffy with perfect browning along the circle surface of the cake.

The Tiramisu Pastry was a small layered cake garnished with a small piece of white chocolate. It was supposed to be composed of sponge cake soaked in coffee with coffee flavored cream and dusted with bitter cocoa powder. To my surprise, the cake was not properly soaked with coffee rather it contained a hint of alcohol in its taste; it was dry and not flavorful, quite the disappointment. On the other hand, the cream had a very strong coffee flavor and was unbearably sweet. The bitterness of the cocoa powder counteract the sweetness of the cream giving the overall pastry somewhat of a balance.

Our last pastry was the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. From the looks of it, we already knew it was going to be the heaviest of all. This slice consisted of a moist chocolate sponge cake soaked in Kirsch, raspberry jam, very rich truffle, a thin crumb layer of chocolate butter cream, and heavy ganache completely covering the outer layer. This is an intense chocolate lover’s cake. Extremely sweet to the point where it feels like you’re about to have a toothache. If you would still like to order this cake, you might want to ask them for a glass of milk.

The experience at Veniero’s was quite unexpected. I suppose we had higher expectations of the pastries from one of the oldest and best pastry shops in New York. I must say the service we received from Raba was just as unexpected. He was attentive to our needs, applied the 50/50 rule when we asked for knives (remember dining room class?), also it turns out that he goes out to the bakery section of the shop to retrieve our orders from the shelves and personally prepares our lattes. If you get a chance to come here with a friend, some must-haves are the Vanilla Cannoli, the NY – Style Cheesecake, and if you’re chocolate lover the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle slice. The overall experience was enjoyable.

Mishii's Rating: 7/10

Changing the World, One Pastry At A Time

Pastry Shop: Birdbath Bakery (little sister branch of City Bakery) 
Website: http://www.birdbathbakery.com/
Location: 35 3rd Ave @ 9th Street (East Village)
Phone: 212.201.1902
Price Range: $$
Choices: Pretzel Croissant, Blueberry Scone, Summertime Mixed Berry Tart, Raspberry Bran Muffin, Chocolate w/ White Chocolate Cookie; Arnold Palmer (half Iced Tea & half Lemonade)

How often do you walk pass a restaurant or a pastry shop that captures your attention? As I rushing home with a friend after a movie one rainy evening, a lovely place made me stop in my tracks to gaze upon a curious creation. In the windows you see six strands of flower pots connected together with cups and tubes linked to what looked like a hydro pump. This hydro pump waters the plants by pumping water into six tubes which are linking the pots together. You’re probably thinking “that’s an experiment easily composed by a 5^th grader Mishii”, but I had never see anything like it. It fascinated me. I shifted my gaze pass the plants and realized there were pastries in there. Searching for a sign, I realized this fascinating experiment resides in Birdbath Bakery: Neighborhood Green Bakery. I thought to myself, “a green bakery?” Upon doing research on this shop I knew, I had to launch my first blog with this bakery. For those who are thinking the same question I was, here are a few key points explained by Andre, a very informative and friendly employee. The shop is wind-powered. Their countertops and shelves are made of recycled products such as recycled paper. One of their display boards is made of recycled items from the navy yard. The cups are made of corn, which I learned, are biodegradable. Also, the ingredients they use are organic from the local area, which makes the majority of their products seasonal. 

As my friend and I stepped into the shop, we saw that it was designed for clients who are on-the-go. There were no tables in sight, with only a few short stools lined up against the window. Looking around I can see that they are putting the idea of “green” across well. Plants were hung all around the doorway and their front windows, and recycled shoeboxes are lined up to mask the walls of the counters. As I started to look at the pastries, I was greeted by Andre. Because there were so many options, I did not know which to choose so I decided to go along with his recommendations. He was very attentive and always offered to answer any questions we might have. In the end, we left the bakery excited to taste what this bakery has to offer. 

The pretzel croissant was recommended as one of the most popular items, to be honest I’m not exactly sure why. The outer layer of the croissant was by far the saltiest pastry I had ever tasted. It was so salty I felt like my tongue was having a spasm!! It was so overpowering that even the moist, tender inside could not redeem it. If I continued eating the croissant with the flaky crust, I wouldn’t be able to write anything good about it. I peeled off the crust to enjoy its soft butter roll resemblance texture and taste. 

I haven’t tried a scone before this one, and my first is the blueberry scone. I’m pretty sure you’re thinking “wow Mishii, you don’t know what you’ve been missing out on”, because that's what was going through my head as I took my first bite. It was delicious. The body was very moist, baked with fresh blueberries and cranberries giving the pastry a hint of sweetness, enough to satisfy your taste buds. It would be a lovely pairing with a cup of joe. Cup of joe? How old am I? 50?

The summertime mixed berry tart is half the size of your palm; actually my palm. Without any hint of corniness, I would like to inform you that taking a bite of the tart gave me a refreshing feeling that reminds me of summer. Hence it's name, duh! The sweetness of the fresh blueberries balances well with the luscious lemon curd. The sugar studded flaky tart tasted of sweet butter; the flavor meshing well with the sweet and tanginess of the fruit flavors. A nice cup of medium roasted coffee would do wonders with this pastry.

Andre’s first recommendation to me was the raspberry bran muffin, their most popular item. It was noticeable that a lot of fat was used to produce it because you can see the oil seeping through their paper bag which is made from recycled paper. With every bite, you get the right amount of sweetness, with a few crunchy bites from the fresh raspberry seeeds to balance with the butter flavor. This muffin is great for breakfast because of its heartiness.

The last goodie we tried was their chocolate with white chocolate cookie. The cookie reminded me of a brownie with very heavy chocolate flavors. It was very soft and moist with a harder crust giving the overall cookie a nice crunch. I would enjoy this cookie with a shot of espresso. Because my half of the cookie didn't have much white chocolate in it, I had to get some feedback from my friend who had the chuck of white chocolate. Apparently, my half of the cookie got ripped off! Feedback is as follows, "The white chocolate was blended in perfectly, almost like the layers of a cake. Every bite that I took, I had the strong chocolate flavor and then a hit of white chocolate to lighten the overall bite."

When I asked Andre to recommend me a drink, he chose to mix the unsweetened Iced Tea and Lemonade in equal portions. I later learned from a close friend that this drink is actually named after a golfer, Arnold Palmer. If you don’t like sour, tangy drinks then this drink is not for you. The first sip you take, you instantly get kicked with a pungent sourness, but once your taste buds get used to it you find it to be quite refreshing.

The pastries from Birdbath Bakery were enjoyable. I recommend the summertime mixed berry tart, blueberry scone, and the raspberry bran muffin. I just wished I had a nice cup of joe to compliment the pastries. The overall experience was delightful with one downfall that we couldn’t enjoy the wonderful pastries within the lovely green shop.

Mishii's Rating: 6/10