macarons Archives - DOT on her way

It was not just One Cupcake | Bloomsbury

September 26, 2016 No Comments

Passing by dozens of beautiful cupcakes by the front display at Bloombury Abu Dhabi made me do a double-take! I took a look at the menu and was pleasantly happy they offered afternoon tea special which gave me a choice of any of the eye-catching cupcakes!

For 55 AED the afternoon tea set features a hot drink, a cupcake of choice and a variety of little nibbles which include a strawberry tart, a macaron, a chocolate tart, 2 brownies, 2 almond cakes, 2 scones with clotted cream/jam and 3 sandwiches – salmon, chicken, cheese.

This set was able to feed 2 people as an afternoon snack, you could purchase drinks/other cupcakes additionally.

Seating

The storefront of Bloomsbury in Al Wahda Mall itself is very nice and welcoming. Passerby-ers could peek in and take a look at the cupcake offerings. They do dine-in and take out. You will find that this location offers a very welcoming vibe as it is a large kiosk in the mall. There are a few tables in the middle of the kiosk which provides more privacy to the guests. I did opt to sit in the open area where you could see the other stores and other people who walk by. I picked this area since it had the most natural light.. and I love people watching.

Afternoon Tea

This set was a great deal however they only offer this deal from 2-4pm. Regular price for cupcakes are priced between 12-16AED. Some of the notable tea set items were the sandwiches! I had all 3 sandwiches and they were fresh, savory and light. I enjoyed the smoke salmon one the most. Out of the sweet nibbles, I enjoyed the chocolate macaron the most. Macarons are my favourite tho! The brownie I found to be too sweet and the almond cake too dry. The cupcake of choice I had was the key-lime cupcake, mainly because of its amazing memorizing look I chose it! The meringue was wonderfully made! It had a key lime center which was a great balance of sour and sweet!

DOT

What a Sweet Afternoon – Luxury High Tea Experience

September 14, 2016 No Comments

I’ve been craving sweets all week and today I am fully satisfied! I went to Cafe Essence for afternoon tea. We sat in the lobby area as I really enjoy the natural light but they also have ample seats in the cafe area.

There are menus on all the lobby tables for browsing for passing-byers. We started looking through it and I was pretty set on having the afternoon tea set. My hubby already had a full lunch so he opted for dessert and coffee. The afternoon set does take a maximum of 30 minutes to prepare which the server had notified me ahead of time. For us it took maybe 15-20 minutes, the wait did not seem very long at all. There are a total of 3 options for afternoon tea which takes place between 3-6PM, there is the traditional afternoon tea set which I ordered, the chocolate tea set which is mainly sweets without the savory sandwiches and last the arabic afternoon tea set.

Drinks

After ordering, our server came with welcome drinks. It was a pleasant refreshing surprise! The drink was a fruity mock tail which tasted like Sprite with cranberry juice. Soon after, they came out with our hot drinks. I ordered a black loose leaf tea and it came with milk and sugar and a full pot. My hubby’s coffee also came with a full pot. The pots were rather large and neither of us finished our pots. For the black tea I ordered, I preferred it to be more rich and bold but this one was a bit light. One small note was that there was no strainer in the pot so I did get some leaves in my cup. Nonetheless, the China it came in was beautiful!

Sandwiches & Sweets

I was super impressed when the main afternoon set came. It came in a large 3 tier afternoon set which was beautifully presented. Each item came in a pair and there were at least 11 items. In total 22 items for 1 person was more than enough! Each item was so delicately made. I cannot believe this full set is for only 1 person. Ensure you have at least 2 people for 1 set for afternoon tea at this place. The set came with 4 types of sandwiches – asparagus, salmon, salami, egg. It comes with scone, a strawberry cake and a brownie and the top layer has macarons, a cone pastry, a pudding and a blueberry tart. These selections may change overtime by the cafe.

Some of the noteworthy items are the macarons covered in gold flakes and the strawberry/raspberry cake also have gold flakes dusted on top. The asparagus sandwich which was light and appetizing and the scones come with clotted cream and jam. Service was impeccable and the price was great too.

It’s 135AED for the full set including the drink. But in reality, this set serves 2 people though!