Auvers Cafe, Darling Square, Sydney

Update Review, March 2023

Auvers Dining has been on my short list of places to visit again in Sydney for ages.  I had only been once before, just to get a pastry, a massive, downright incredible, ube cream filled croissant, and I've wanted to return for real ever since.  Brunch is really what Auvers is all about, and the menu for brunch is rather incredible (in my mind), but I still haven't been for brunch.  I did however get to go for dinner, when I picked it as a casual option for a work group.

I made a booking in advance for my group of 6.  We were seated inside.  Service was ... well, basically nonexistent.  And pretty slow.  The wait for our cocktails was so long I had actually forgotten we ordered them.  And when they came out, 5 of us got our drinks, but the 6th did not.  Getting a server to take our order took effort.  Etc.  

That said, the venue worked well for us.  It was a nice atmosphere, and although we were indoors, there was no wall to the outside, so it was still open air, and quite pleasant.  It was mildly lively, but not loud, and since this was a work dinner, we were able to chat and hear each other quite easily, which can be a struggle in a louder restaurant.  So, I think it was a reasonable, mid-priced, pick.

And the food?  It was actually quite good.  Very unique, innovative fusion dishes, beautiful plating, and, actually seemed backed by a kitchen that could pull it off.  I enjoyed my meal, and the others seemed to as well.  I'd like to return for brunch sometime.

Place Setting.

Places were set with menu books, which each contained several different pamphlets, in addition to the regular menu.  One was a cocktail lineup, another was specials of the month.  

The water glasses were perched on an angle, which looked cool, but, once you filled them, they needed to sit normally upright anyway.  We were offered house sparkling or still, both of which had a charge.

I had scoped out in advance, and knew it was full of things I was interested in.  The starters (entrees) included tempting items like bone marrow with shiso garlic butter and brioche, but alas, no one wanted to share something like that.  I was also drawn in by the XO seared scallops, with coral bread, but ... no one wanted starters, only mains.  I decided to still order an entree, but have it as my main course, along with a side.  

Side choices are the only basic part of the menu: bread & butter (granted, it is shiso garlic butter), a salad, chips, and fried brussels sprouts.  Mains are kinda all over the place, ranging from a simple sounding chicken sandwich to fairly high end wagyu steak, with signature dishes like the XO Mulluscs Spaghetti and Wagyu noodles along the way.  I really wanted someone to get either of those dishes, as I wanted to try them, but alas, my group went pretty simple.

I appreciated that the menu also included the dessert lineup, so I could plan accordingly, and I most definitely planned for dessert.

Hidden Dragon. $21.

"Fenjiu Red, pear liqueur, fig balsamic, pear nectar, biters."

Auvers has an extensive cocktail (and mocktail) menu, but in the month of February, they had an additional Chinese Fenjiu special menu, with 3 cocktails, plus two flavors of alcoholic ice cream, all featuring Fenjiu. I decided to try one of the cocktails, mostly just for novelty.

It was ... fine?  A bit hard to describe, but mostly that is because it all seemed pretty muddled together.  I did not taste any clear alcohol, nor pear flavors, and definitely not the balsamic.  Just ... a cocktail.  Not too sweet.  Not too fruity.  But pretty generic.  The dried piece of pear was too chewy, as in, I tried to bite it, and couldn't.

Definitely not a particularly compelling drink, nor worth $21.  The only disapointing part of the meal for me.

Entree: Sparrow Baby Octopus. $18.

"Baby Octopus • Squid Ink Crackers • Mayonnaise • Tobiko • Aioli Slaw • Bonito Flakes."

Rather than a main dish, I opted for an entree as my main, knowing it was a portion meant for sharing as a starter, and that I was on jetlag time, and my body wasn't particularly calling for more food yet.

The plating was a bit funny with the extensive negative space, and it was a bit hard to eat, but I actually did quite like it.

The squid ink crackers were crispy, and although difficult to pick up with a fork, made for great finger food, and I gleefully topped them with the other element, and just ate them that way, nacho-style.  A nice base, once I figured out how to best navigate them.

The slaw and thin slices of pear (apple? were they pickled?) added lightness and freshness, and a bit of acidity.  The slaw also brought in a creamy component as it was heavily aioli based, as did the additional mayo.  Tobiko added pops of texture, saltiness, and a bit of ocean flavor, as did the bonito flakes.  All very nice accompniments.

And finally, the baby octopus, five whole babies (each with a slice of fruit to pair with).  Very nicely cooked, not rubbery in any way, tender, succulent.  Light char on it.

This was a dish full of interesting components, components that all went well together, and was fun to eat.  I enjoyed it, and would get it again.  ****.

Side: Fried Brussels Sprouts. $12.

"Brussel Sprout • Almond Flakes • Balsamic Dressing."

Side dish options are a simple salad, bread, chips (fries), or fried brussels sprouts. I ordered the later for the group, as I wanted a vegetable, and really do like brussels sprouts.

They were a different style than I was expecting, fried whole, with their leaves kinda sticking out.  Reasonably crispy, not too greasy, but ... not particularly interesting.  Good salt level.  The drizzle of balsamic was fine.  I didn't see, nor taste, any almond flakes as described on the menu.

This was a fine, but rather boring dish, and the only one that also looked kinda "meh".  ***.

Main: Truffle Mushroom Risotto. $30.

"with runny Onsen Egg • Tempura Enoki • Cocktail Onion • Truffle Oil."

My two vegetarian companions both opted for the risotto, which was a showstopper with tempura fried enoki, big juicy grilled mushrooms, and a lovely gooey egg.  I'm not sure where the cocktail onions were that were listed on the menu, and the tomatoes seemed a bit random, but both seemed to enjoy their dishes.

One other diner got the well regarded chicken sandwich, and he enjoyed.  Another got the pork roulade, I wish I had gotten a photo, as it was another show stopper.  The final member got the burger, which looked slightly underwhelming compared to the other dishes.

Overall though, everyone seemed pretty happy with their food.

Dessert: Tropical Bread and Butter Pudding. $18.

"Coconut Bread and Butter Pudding •Lychee Sorbet • Mango Anglaise."

I love bread pudding.  I love warm bread pudding with a frozen component (usually ice cream).  But I'm also super particular about my bread pudding, as I like a certain style (crispy exterior, distinct hunks of bread, really custard-y, etc), so I was hopeful, but also a bit fearful, of this dessert.

I did not need to be worried.  I really enjoyed this.  The bread pudding was exactly the style I like - super moist, super custardy, but not a thick dense homogenous blob.  I didn't really taste the coconut, but I did not mind that.  A large portion, definitely good to share with someone else.  

At the base was mango anglaise, which added a fruity component and also additional custard/cream, along with popping boba and whole lychee.  Sweet, fruity, tropical, all fun elements, and all went together well.  The shards of ... something sweet, maybe coconut brittle? added some crunch and additional sweetness.

On top, a generous size scoop of lychee sorbet.  While I'm not generally one to pick sorbet over ice cream or gelato, this fruity component worked, and since there was so much cream in the anglaise and custard base, I didn't actually need more.  I liked having the cool component alongside the warm bread pudding.

So overall, definitely a success. The right style of bread pudding for me, unique elements, and definitely in harmony.  Good textures, good flavors, just, well, good.  I'd get it again, and would love to try more desserts here.  ****.

Dessert: Auvers Pancake. $25.

"Matcha pancakes with red bean paste • premium Matcha glaze & raspberry sorbet."

My companions got the signature Auvers's pancake, an item that is available at all times of day, brunch, lunch dinner.  It was a substantial dessert, a stack of 3 full size pancakes, with lots of extra bits around it.  Like many of the dishes, beautiful plating and vibrant colors.

Since it was clearly quite matcha heavy, with matcha glaze and matcha in the pancakes, I skipped it, as I avoid caffeine at night.  We weren't entirely sure what the orange cake was, I think maybe a mango sponge?  There was also fresh berries, edible flowers, and the red bean paste and raspberry sorbet.

Original Review, March 2020

Auvers is a French village.  It is also the name of a popular cafe in Rhodes.  And now in Darling Square.  In Sydney, one of my favorite cities on earth.

It is also the home of one of the most delicious things I've ever consumed.

Oh yes.

But let's back up.  The philosophy at Auvers is simple, the 3 pronged focus is on coffee (to have the best), food (quality ingredients, farmer sourced), and atmosphere (what's good food if the place isn't nice?)  They are open daily, serving brunch until late afternoon (yes!  daily!), dinner, and also quick grab cafe offerings like pastries and coffee.

Darling Square Location.

I can't comment much on the atmosphere as I didn't dine in, but they have both indoor and outdoor seating and it looked quite inviting.

I've been eyeing all areas of the menu, from the beautiful taro coconut sago brunch dish, to the taro lattes, to the flaky beef rendang pithivier, to even the side of cassava fries.  The menu is unique, seems loaded with flavors and interesting twists, and, well, I've wanted to visit forever.

But I never had a chance.  And then one evening, after dinner, after a very big dinner, full of fried fish and many other things, I set out to take a walk in the area, to find something light for dessert.  Light.  Just a little something to finish my night, as it had been full of decadence.  I was not hungry, but I just wanted one more last thing.

And then I remembered it was Wednesday.  And when I had stopped by at Auvers earlier in the week to browse the pastry case, and almost even purchased a ridiculous looking black sesame cream filled massive croissant, the staff mentioned that on Wednesdays, they usually had a taro version too.  I figured I could just walk by and at least see it ...

Pastry Case.

Um, yeah.  The pasty case was filled with housemade goodies, including the epic croissants.  Including the taro one.  Given my love of baked goods, and of taro in particular, it seems pretty likely that you can guess where this story is going.

Side note: the staff here are amazing.  Really, really amazing.  Both times I stopped by they were extremely friendly, personable, and actually seemed interesting in chatting.  I loved the place just because of them!

Massive Croissant.

Now, I said these were massive croissants.  They looked insane in the display case.  But it was even more dramatic when the barista attempted to box it up to go for me.  This box was not a tiny pastry box. This is a full size entree box.  She knew there was no way it would close, so so added a little tape to it so it would at least stay together somewhat.  

Uh, yeah.  Proceed with caution.

I did mention that I was looking for just a little treat, had a huge dinner, and was alone right?  Yes.  Danger, danger.

Taro Croissant.

Ok, so, yeah.  This croissant.

A massive croissant, stuffed with taro cream (more on this soon), and topped with hard taro white chocolate.

I'll be honest, I was excited for the taro, but kinda expected it to just have a little taro cream inside, expected the purple topping to just be kinda sweet white chocolate with barely any taro flavor, just really about looks, and, since they aren't actually a bakery primarily (but do make these in house daily) I had no hopes for the croissant itself, particularly given that it was late in the day.  I thought I'd likely try a few bites, scrape out the cream if it was tasty, and move on.  Light bite acquired.

But .... my expectations were all wrong.  This thing was good.  Very, very, very good.  Every element to it.

The croissant itself was well made, nicely laminated.  Not the flakiest I've ever had, but honestly that was nice, as it didn't make a mess in that way.  The ends were pleasantly crispy, the inside moist.  It was not dried out nor stale, even with the late hour.  It was a very rich croissant, clearly made with plenty of quality butter.  A very good croissant, actually.

Then, the topping.  This was an extremely generous topper of taro white chocolate.  It tasted strongly of taro, although yes, it was sweet.  It was solid, so a bit odd on top of the croissant in such quantity, I couldn't cut through it, but I could break it off, and then eat it later (which I did with glee).  A very tasty element, but, a bit hard to navigate on the croissant.

And then, um, the filling.  Somehow, it wasn't obvious quite what lay within, until I cut into it.

Taro Cream Filling.

Um, zomg.

I've already told you how ridiculously large the croissant itself is, and I know the barista told me it was "stuffed with tons of cream", but nothing prepared me for the quantity that was inside.  Seriously.  Several cups of taro cream. 

The taro flavor was so ridiculously strong.  I couldn't get over how intensely taro flavored it was.  And also quite sweet.  And fluffy.  And rich.  So. Much. Cream.

The cream was fantastic.  Honestly, you could, and I did, eat it just by the spoonful, like a very sweet, very rich, taro pudding.  You could also dunk pieces of the croissant into it.  You could alternate bites with plain croissant to tamper the sweetness overload.  I did all of these things.  I enjoyed them all.

In my initial sitting, I devoured about 75% of this thing.  I kinda couldn't believe it.  How had I, full, just wanting a light treat, just done that?  I had no idea.  I walked back to my hotel fairly weighed down and feeling a bit worse for the wear.

And then I walked into my hotel room, and polished the rest off.  I wanted "just one more bite", after all.  I can't explain it.  Besides that it was just way, way too good not to finish on the spot.  Sure, I had visions of waking up to a small chunk of croissant, or maybe using the rest of the cream on some kind of creation, but alas, there was nothing left.  Nothing.  Every. Last. Bite.

Now, I don't actually recommend devouring one of these alone after a huge meal.  But I do recommend going to get one.  And if taro isn't your thing, they make matcha, black sesame, and chocolate versions too ... or you can get them as part of a brunch desk, the Eggs Benedict comes inside a toasted croissant rather than English Muffin (and, um, has ponzu hollandaise, pulled pork, and pork floss ...), and the crab omelette comes with one too ...

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The Gallery High Tea Buffet, Sheraton Grand Hyde Park, Sydney

I think I can count on one hand the number of high teas I have been to.  Likely one for a baby shower at some point, one my first time in Sydney where I learned it was a thing, and perhaps 1-2 others.  While I do like sweets, and nibbling on lots of things, somehow high tea hasn't really been a way of life for me.

But in Sydney, I suppose due to the British influence, high tea does exist, at least more than in SF.   The hotel I always stay at, The Sheraton Grand, has a venue just for serving high tea, The Gallery.

"Try our indulgent new high tea at The Gallery. Enjoy a selection of sweet and savoury delights, served alongside your choice of tea or champagne. Dine on rose water pavlova, with fresh berries & cream and fairy floss raspberry buttercream macaroon while overlooking the endless views views of Hyde Park."

The "High tea experience" comes as a three tier stand with scones, a quiche, 4 types of mini sandwiches, and a handful of sweets, for $79, plus rose or prosecco for $10, or Champagne (Penfolds) for $20.  For special occasions (and previously, all weekends), they do a full buffet.

My visit was mid-week, but for a special occasion, so it featured the full buffet.

Nigella Speaking.

The special occasion I was there for was part of Nigella Lawson's book tour, and I was invited as a special guest of the hotel (I am a regular, they know I'm a foodie, and they likely had a few seats to fill).  I was thrilled by the opportunity, both for the culinary experience, and to get to meet Nigella and here her speak too.

The event was really intimate, truly a small group of us there, and it felt like, well, having tea with Nigella?  She talked about the book, answered Q&A, and mingled with guests.  Most guests were there mostly to see her of course, and thus, that meant I had pretty uninterrupted access to the dessert buffet.

Venue.

The setting is a bit odd, located off the side of the lobby of the Sheraton Grand.  It is not an enclosed restaurant, nor on another floor like the main restaurant (Feast), but rather, just on one side away from the main lobby.

That said, it does have one whole side with light filled windows overlooking the park, the chairs are plush, and it does feel somewhat isolated and posh.

Place Setting.

Since I was there for Nigella's book tour, our places were all set with standard high tea settings, plus a copy of her signed book.

So. Many. Sweets.

To say the buffet was generous is an understatement.  For a dessert lover like me, it was overwhelming.  I tried many, many things.

Sweets, sweets, sweets.

It was totally glorious.  I took great notes.  And then I had to get back to my actual job, as I was in Sydney for a business trip after all.

When I went back to write this all up, I discovered I had lost most of my notes.  I'll still present what I have, but alas, mostly lacking details.

Decaf Long Black.

To go with my sweets, I was offered coffee or tea, I went for a decaf long black, since it was afternoon and I didn't want caffeine, and I wanted something bitter to help with all the sweet.

It wasn't great.  It tasted a touch stale.

Plate #1 ... of many.

I'd like to pretend that I had just one little plate of goodies, but who are we kidding?  I think I had ... 6 plates of sweets, plus a break for savories.  I wanted to try it all.

Plate #2: Candy Break!

Oh, and, uh, a break for candy and pops.  So yes, 6 plates of real desserts, several plates of candy, and a few savories just to be "responsible".

Because no one else was going for the jars of candy and pops, someone had to.  It made me really wish they had candy bags to fill up to take as parting gifts!  Such great lollies.

Savory

The savory lineup was minimal, as I expected.  Tea sandwiches, cheese, and a couple hot items.  About halfway through I tried a sandwich out of guilt that I wasn't eating protein.

Roasted Beef, asparagus, sundried tomato with horseradish cream on charcoal bread.
Shrimp, crab, rocket with marie rose dressing on rye bread.

The sandwiches were similar to the ones we see in the Executive Club Lounge in the evening, although considerably more fresh.

Points for using different breads, and having interesting spreads on them.

Brie, grilled zucchini, capsicum relish on white bread.
Smoked Salmon, cucumbers, cream cheese on charcoal bread.

The ladies next to me loved the vegetarian sandwich, the capsicum relish really amazed them.

Shrimp, crab, rocket with marie rose dressing on rye bread.

I tried the seafood salad option, with a mix of crab and shrimp, in a creamy sauce.  No surprises here right?  Of course I'd go for crab, and mayo!

The sandwich was fine, the bread soft and fresh, much better than the bread we see in the evening canapes lineup that often seems a bit hard and stale.  The rocket was fresh and crisp, and added a nice freshness to it.

The filling was good, a bit of shredded crab and chopped up shrimp.  Well cooked seafood, not rubbery, not fishy.  Not that you could really tell, given the generous dressing, creamy marie rose dressing, that really did just taste like mayo to me.

Overall, this was fine, but a sandwich, and not what I really wanted anyway.

Onion & Bacon Quiche / Vegetarian Sausage Rolls.

The warm savory offerings were a quiche and sausage rolls.

I never like quiche, so that was an easy skip, and I've had these vegetarian sausage rolls before in the Executive Club Lounge, and found the flavor pretty strange, so that was another easy skip.

Cheese, Crackers, Fruit.

When you needed a break from all the sweets, there was a decent line up of cheese and crackers, the same offerings we see every night in the Executive Lounge.

The fruit salad was beautiful, and I wished I could pluck out some fresh passion fruit, but, alas, there were cubes of watermelon, and I'm allergic.

Warm Sweets

The majority of the offerings are cakes, candies, and the like, but there were also a few warm sweet offerings.

Scones (Plain or Raspberry), Denonshire Cream, Strawberry Jam, Berry Jam.

Starting with scones, of course, as this was high tea after all.  Two varieties on offer, plain, or raspberry.

I've had the Sheraton's scones many times before, as they used to be served at Afternoon Tea in the Executive Club Lounge every weekend.

I was never blown away by them, but always enjoyed the Devonshire cream and jams.

I skipped these my first few rounds up at the buffet, since there were just far too many new things to try, but eventually I wanted something a bit less sweet, so I tried a scone.

The clotted cream was standard rich clotted cream, perfect with the scone, and, as always I adore the strawberry jam they have.  I'd love to take home a jar of that!

Raspberry Scone.

I was excited to see the raspberry scones, my past scones had always been either plain or currant in the lounge.  I liked the raspberry more, bits of berry and seeds throughout.

The scone was fine, but not very special.  I don't know if this is an Australian style, but they mostly just seemed like fruit dinner rolls, not a crumbly style scone like we have in the US, and not a biscuit style scone as I've seen other places.

It was nice to have something simple though alongside all the elaborate sweets, it helped reset my palette.  1 point for being served warm as well.  Probably my 7th pick overall.

Crêpes Suzette Station.

If there weren't so many other amazing things, I most certainly would have gone for the crêpes suzette station, with a chef making crêpes to order, with a big bowl of cubes of butter, orange zest, and a bottle on Grand Marnier on the ready.

The same berry jams and clotted cream from the scones, plus Nutella, mango coulis, nuts, and banana chips were also available to top as you pleased.

Warm Egg Tarts.

The egg tarts were served alongside the made to order crepes, kept warm under a heat lamp.

They were ... ok.  I'll give a point for serving warm.  The pastry though wasn't very flaky, and the custard a bit eggy, very thick.  The slightly burnt top was nice.

Overall, fine I guess, on par with most dim sum places, but, I went to Lisbon and had pastel de nata  at Pastéis de Belém, and well, they were life changing.  I can't look at another egg tart the same way again.

I'll give these 1 point for being served warm, 1 point for the top, and they were my 5th pick overall.

Sweets Tables

And then the insanity started.  Tables and tables of cakes, bite size sweets, and candy.

OMG.

Table #1.

The first table was filled on all sides with mostly cakes (full size or slices), tarts, and mini sweets.  There were also jars of chocolate bark, biscotti, and mini cookies.

On this table alone, there were probably 25 different items.

ZOMG.

Sweets Table #2.

The second table had more bite sized items, plus macaroons, cake pops, marshmallows, and jars and jars of candy.

Like I said, ZOMG.  Why didn't they give us candy bags to fill up to take as parting gifts? #jokingNotJoking.

I'll break each category into sections to review, but they were not laid out in this format, instead, all were artfully arranged among each other.

Bite Sized Sweets, Mini Tarts, Slices

The bite sized items were the least special to me, as we see many of these in the Executive Club Lounge, and I've tried many over the years.

Pate de fruit Macadamia Wheel.

How's that for a mouthful?  I don't even mean to eat, I mean to say "Pate de fruit Macadamia Wheel"?

I tried this one mostly because I was confused it was.  It was fairly boring and odd.  And, actually, hard to eat.

There were two cookie layers, basic sables, perhaps macadamia in them?  I'm not sure.  They were hard and crispy, and you couldn't eat with a fork, thus, you had to pick it up.  Which is fine, except them the insides came mushing out.

Inside was a slice of pate de fruit, I believe passionfruit (meh), very, uh, fruity, and a thick vanilla ganache, that was a strange texture and flavor to have alongside the pate de fruit.  It had a really heavy mouthfeel.

On top was the best part though, a really light, fluffy, chocolate whipped cream.  I really liked the cream.

I'm still not entirely sure where all the macadamia was here.  Perhaps in the sable, perhaps in the chocolate cream?

1 point for that excellent cream, making it my 8th pick overall.

Chocolate Supreme Passion Tart.

These were beautiful!  Shimmering!

But I skipped, because 1) eh to tart shells, 2) eh to passionfruit flavor, and 3) I was limiting caffeine.  There were just far too many that I wanted to try more than this.'

Strawberry Tart (front)
Chocolate Bark / White Chocolate Bark / Chocolate Biscotti / Pistachio Biscotti (back).

I skipped the strawberry tarts too, again eh to tart shells.  They looked filled with a strawberry cream, and topped with assorted berries.

Behind here you can see jars with assorted chocolate barks (dark and white, studded with candied citrus zest), and biscotti (chocolate and pistachio).  I recognized these, as they are both served in the Feast Restaurant seafood buffet.

Matcha Tea Opera.

Another beauty that I skipped, a layered matcha cake with edible flowers on top.  I've had this before in the lounge, and again, limiting the caffeine.

Peach.

Finally, a new one for me: a peach!

This was incredible!

A little "peach", perched atop a chocolate disk.

The  peach was actually a fluffy light peach mousse, wrapped in peach gelee, with a tiny chocolate "stem".

It was not only adorable, it was also totally delicious.  Fruity, light, sweet.  I loved the mousse, I loved the really fruity gelee, and it was perfect when popped into your mouth in one big bite.

1 point for adorableness, 1 point for fluffy mousse, 1 point for sweet fruity gelee, 1 point for a great flavor choice ... yeah this was my hands down favorite.  I adored it.  It seemed to be a crowd favorite as well, all of us remarking on just how delicious it was.

Bird's Nest Cup Cake.

These were another adorable, and tasty enough, item.

The cupcake was a standard moist white cupcake, the frosting a good buttercream piped on in thin lines to look like a nest, and the "eggs" were mango popping boba.  Slightly above average cupcake, and lots of bonus points for presentation.  I was pretty happy when they appeared in the lounge a few days later too.

Guava Cheese Cake.

This looked much like items I had in the lounge before, so I skipped it.  If I had the desire to eat even *more* sweets though, it was on my list of "next ups", but alas, after ... 20? different items, I had to stop.  It looked like a really fluffy style.

Coconut Berry Cake.

I lost my notes on this, but I think I tried it ...

Sachertorte.

For my one chocolate item, I went for the sachertorte, when I heard my neighbor raving about it.

This was rich.  Very, very rich.

Layers of a thick chocolate ganache and chocolate cake, slivered almonds, and a smoother ganache on top.  Decorated with chocolate disks.

So much chocolate.  So much dense and rich.  I wanted some whipped cream to cut it.  It was just ... too much?  Maybe I would have felt differently if I wasn't consuming it as part of an epic meal of sweets though.

I liked the crunch from the almonds, and I really liked the chocolate ganache on top.  So, 1 point for that top ganache, but otherwise, actually just too rich for me.

Full Size Cakes, Tortes, Tarts

The lounge rarely has full size cakes/tarts/etc, so these were a treat for me.  I tried most of them, but sadly, lost my notes.

Passion Fruit Flan Torte

Banana Caramel Entremet.

Banana Caramel Entremet: Side View.

Apricot and Almond Cake.

This cake was a classic almond cake, topped with custard and baked halves of apricot, studded with pistachios.  I skipped it because I just couldn't try *every* thing, and even by round 5, this didn't make it to the top of the list.  Perhaps it would have been in round 6?

You can see jars of mini cookies, likely shortbreads, in the back here.

Pistachio Strawberry Cheese Cake.

Pistachio Strawberry Cheese Cake: Inside.

Puddings, Mousses, Cups. 

As you may know, I love puddings of all kinds (hence the label on my blog for them), so I gleefully tried all of these.  But again, sadly, lost the notes.

Champagne Gelee Wild Berry Yolk.

Lime Foam and Yogurt Semi Fredo.

Creme Brulee.

Lemon Polenta Cake.

I had a very similar item the night before in the Executive Club Lounge, a mini polenta cake, the exact same shape, exact same format, except, passionfruit.

I skipped this one because I had too many other things to try and it looked like much of a repeat to me, but the passionfruit one was dense, sweet, and a unique texture (which I now know was likely from polenta).  These were also beautiful, more edible flowers.

Triple Chocolate Brownie / Fig and Nut Slice / Lemon Slice (front)
Macaroons / Gelee Pops (Back)

I skipped all of the slices, but they are exactly the items we often have in the Executive Club Lounge in the evening.

I also skipped the macaroons, because I never like them.  They had 4 varieties available, the two here, plus two others, all brightly colored.

Candy Jars / Cake Pops.

Candy jars were filled with all sorts of goodies, hard candies, chocolates, jelly beans, maltezers, candied citrus zest, marshmallows, and more.  There were 4 kinds of cake pops, all unlabeled, decorated in pastels and covered in sprinkles.

I've had most of these candies in the Executive Club Lounge in the afternoons or evenings, and always love the jelly beans in particular.

Cake Pops & Gelee Pop.

There were 4 kinds of cake pops, but I think all were likely the same vanilla base with colored white chocolate shell, and different types of sprinkles on them.

I started with the pink one, and found it pretty unremarkable.  Inside was more dense and harder than most cake pops I've had.  It wasn't particularly sweet nor buttery either.  Almost dry actually.  But a dense form of dry.  It had no real flavor.  Eh.  The white chocolate coating was fine, it had a nice snap, but it too was just plain.  I liked the crunchy sprinkles on the outside!

The middle pop here was really odd.  I have no idea what they called it, as it wasn't labelled.  It was like a pate de fruit rolled with a soft fondant, on a stick.  It was sweet, fruity, chewy but not too chewy, and actually just kinda good.  But an odd one, no question.  My 6th pick overall.

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