Blackbird, Bellevue

During my recent business trip to the Seattle area, I took advantage of being in an area that actually has a Lady M, and indulged in fabulous crepe cake.  I'm still relatively new to this trend, but, so far, I'm a fan.  There is a reason the Lady M brand is so famous, and it was hard for me not to just keep ordering more crepe cakes from there.  But there are a relatively large number of places that carry crepe cakes in the area, most as part of bubble tea cafe offerings, and I took a gamble to try another highly rated one, Blackbird.

Blackbird has two locations in the area, I ordered from the Bellevue location.  I didn't visit in person myself, but opted for delivery from DoorDash.  Ordering was easy, customizations were available, and they did allow special requests ... however, they did not honor mine.

Since Blackbird also is a bubble tea and related drinks shop, I also added a drink to my order, to enjoy right away, as it was a hot day, and a refreshing fun drink sounded appropriate.  I was pleased with my order, but I'm not sure I'd return, just given other places I'd love to try.

Drinks

Blackbird has a range of tea based drinks, starting with classic milk teas (hot or cold) and fruit teas, cheese foam crema milk teas, and ice blended cheezo topped tea.  They also have yogurt drinks, sparkling juices, and ice blended fruity drinks for those not wanting caffeine.  

It was a really hot evening, still 85* or higher, so I wanted something icy, and something refreshing.  Since it was later in the day, I didn't want caffeine, which sadly ruled out most of the offerings.  I wished the lychee or mango ice blended cheezos didn't have caffeine, but alas, they used tea in their base.  Thus, an ice blended drink it was.   

Ice Blended: Paradise Smoothie. 0% Sweet. $6.80.
Add snow ball ($0.75), crema ($0.75).

From the Ice Blended series, there are only three options: peach coconut, berry blast (strawberry and blueberry) or "paradise" (grapefruit).  I wanted something refreshing, so I went for the later.  Sweetness options were: 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100%.  Again, not wanting something cloying or sweet, but rather, refreshing, I went for 0%.

Topping choices are boba, "snow balls", or brown sugar snow balls, lychee or mango jelly, and crema only.  All $0.75.  I opted for the snow balls as they sounded exciting.  They turned out to be crystal boba.  I also opted for the crema, because I love cheese foam, and hoped it would be that (and they do have a cheezo series, so I assumed it was the same topping)..  I did ask for the toppings on the side, but alas, they did not honor that request.

The drink was well made, nicely blended, no hunks of ice.  It was fairly refreshing as I hoped.  It was still a bit sweeter than I expected, given how tart grapefruit can be, but wasn't overly sweet.  The snow balls definitely made it sweeter.  They were good crystal boba, not too hard nor soft, nice chew.  

The crema helped give it a bit of creamy quality and more rounded flavor.  It didn't taste particularly cheesy, but had a nice consistency.  

Overall, a fine drink, not remarkable, not bad, and definitely appropriate for the hot day.  ***+. 

Desserts

Besides the crepe cakes that I was after, Blackbird also carries macarons and cheesecake, Japanese soufflé style, either plain or with passionfruit.  I was tempted by the cheesecake, but opted for two crepe cakes instead.

Durian and Black Sesame Crepe Cakes.

The lineup of crepe cakes made it hard to pick just two.  There were plenty of tea options (matcha, earl grey, hojicha, or thai tea), chocolate choices (oreo or chocolate), and fruity (mango, durian), or the classic hokkaido milk.  

My first pick was durian, just because it is more rare.  I was really tempted by the hojicha or earl grey, wanting to try a tea flavor, but couldn't resist the black sesame, given that it was my next pick at Lady M, and I was still a bit sad not to get it there. 

They came packaged together in a nice cake box.

The slices were much bigger than Lady M, prices about the same.

Durian Mille Crepe Cake Slice. $12.40.

I started with the one I was most excited for.  Durian.  Yup, I'm one of those people who actually likes and appreciates durian.  It did not make the whole box smell, but once I got it close to me, it was certainly, um, fragrant.

My first reaction to this was, "wow, so much cream!".  The ratio of cream to crepe on the Blackbird version was higher than any other crepe cake I've had.  Now, I love cream, don't get me wrong, but it did make for a different eating experience.  It was far creamier, and actually, came across as *heavier* rather than lighter, as the cream was thick, rich cream, and it weighed it down.  The crepes were honestly fairly lost.  They were soft, and just blended right in.  So the delicate layers were barely noticeable.  They were there, for sure, but, took the backstage.

The durian flavor however did not hide.  It was pungent, but also sweetened, and actually just a pretty robust flavor.  I liked it.

I had mixed feelings on this overall.  I did want to appreciate the crepes more, and experience more of the contrast between the crepes and cream, but, as a cream forward, well flavored dessert, this was good.  I think I just prefer to taste the crepes a bit more, and for them to have a bit more crispness.  

**** flavor, *** eating experience, so, ***+ overall.

Black Sesame Mille Crepe Cake Slice.. $12.40.

Next up, black sesame.  Another large slice, cream forward, crepes secondary.  Lovely garnish with gold leaf.  Good layering.

The black sesame flavor was strong, lightly nutty.  Sweet but not too sweet.  Definitely sweeter than other brands of crepe cakes, but not an overly sweet dessert.  But again, so cream forward.

I again had mixed feelings.  The flavor was good, the cream was tasty, and I love cream, but, I wanted more texture from the crepes.  It did taste fresh, so no qualms with anything else about it, just, not quite highlighting the crepes as much as I wanted.  Another ***+ overall, I might have slightly preferred the durian, just because it is more novel to me, but both were good.