It was another from duty day for me. My friend and I decided to meet up somewhere in Quezon City since my work is within the area and he has to go to Trinoma afterwards. I've been bugging him about tasting different cronuts/ croughnuts/ cronutz that are sprouting like mushrooms within the district. So we opted to try Dolce Latte, a cafe and gourmet bakeshop along Quezon avenue.
Upon entering the cafe, I was greeted with high technology sensor doors. Not many cafes offer this type of techie stuff. But I got to understand why as I went inside. The cafe / bakeshop is enormous. It even has a second floor. The place is good for dinner with friends, even ten of them in a long table, or even a meeting / conference over lunch / dinner since Dolce Latte offers function rooms for such affairs. But I found it appealing that their tables for 2-4 people are really spacious and comfy. We're only looking for seats for two but they offered us a couch type instead, that would seat around 6 people.
Before rushing into non-stop gabbing and talking, my friend and I ordered. The first thing that came to mind was, "What time would you offer the croughnuts?" The waiter immediately said that they're for reservation but they usually have pieces available around after lunch, maybe 3:00pm or so. We came there around lunch. So I figured, we really have to do some serious blabbing to get to wait until 3 pm!!!
What's the craze about these croughnuts anyway? Well, maybe it has become a fad since it's new and interesting. Who wouldn't be interested in a merge of a croissant and a doughnut? As a "bread" person, I surely went gaga when I heard about this bread trend. Anyway, so we ordered. We had salad Caesar Salad, Cheese burger, and Club sandwich. For their food, I'm sure I would've been more impressed if I've tried some of their entrees. Given that we wanted a light lunch for a big big dessert, we settled for these meals. The salad was really refreshing. It was tossed for us by the waiter and served us on each plate. I specifically asked the waiter to cut the burger in half since I like sharing my food. Notice that it was not forgotten. The burger is reminiscent of an old style burger wherein they'd put some margarine or butter on the buns. Side dishes of coleslaw and fries came with the burger and sandwich. The fries were heavenly! Crisp outside but soft inside. Perfect! The club sandwich is really good if you like wheat bread and healthy stuff... though as a wheat lover, um, I wasn't too pleased. I ordered a dolce latte (espresso with caramel). Gosh, was it utterly sweeeeet! I was really glad that they serve unlimited water to drown such taste. Sabi na eh, bitter talaga peg ko.
We're not even finished on the food and talk, we noticed that the servers are carrying boxes and boxes of croughnuts! I immediately asked our server to let us choose among the available ones. We opted to have Apple cinnamon, Chocolate caramel, and Peanut butter crisp. Apple cinnamon was my top favorite among the three since it was refreshing and just the right mix of tangy and sweet. Chocolate caramel is my friend's favorite one. For me, a darker chocolate would've done it justice. Peanut butter crisp is another like like like! It's topped with Reese's peanut butter crushed cups. Yum! The pastry itself is a consistent mixture of the layers of croissant with the chewy goodness of doughnut.
As for their service. Bow. Super attentive servers. Maybe because of the service charge, but it's all worth it.
Price? I must say, I need to try their other food choices. Because given our light lunch, we chose simple usual food that are not that extraordinary for the 3-digit price range.
Ambiance: Hands down, perfect. Nothing to add more or to lessen. The yellow mellow light is conducive to a relaxed mood. Adequate for talking and catching up. I must say, I need to know whether yellow light is still used for the function / meeting rooms.
Croughnuts? I love them. However, I find them a bit overrated. They're still pastries. We just have to try them to get to know them better. But I've had better pastries, believe me. "Bread" person nga diba. But, I want to try their other flavors.
Parking: Good spots in front and there's a parking lot rental at the side.
Wifi: Check!
Verdict: 7/10 Craving for more... why? I think there are really a lot of food choices to choose from, this may need to be modified once I've tried all their croughnut flavors and their entrees.
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| Upper left: old-style cheese burger; Upper right: Dolce latte, iced; Lower left: croughnuts!; Lower right: Club sandwich |
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| Upper right: Apple cinnamon; Front: Chocolate caramel; Upper left: Peanut butter crisp |
You can easily browse through their website: http://www.dolcelatte.ph
The site offers a fool-proof way to reach the cafe through commute or car. It also showcases their menu and facilities. One click away to knowing more about dolce latte!
