With its minimalist décor and unpretentious facade, you can easily miss Crema Café And Pasticceria in the bustling hub of restaurants at Beverly Centre, but the regulars at Crema swear by its quality and taste. With simple white and grey furnishing and lots of natural light seeping through the two glass walls, Crema makes for the perfect place to hang out with friends, stop by for a cup of coffee, ravish Macaroons, or even have a full meal.
IT TASTES BETTER THAN IT LOOKS
Crema opens its doors at 8.00 A.M and we decided to try out their breakfast. As we entered, the divine aroma of coffee wafted through the air. After some deliberation, we chose their Eggs Benedict and Feta Omelet and on the staff’s recommendation, Hot Butterscotch Cap and Doodh Pati. For desserts, we opted for their popular New York Cheesecake and two Macaroon flavours; Salted Caramel and Chocolate.
We were served the eggs first. The Eggs Benedict looked fantastic and tasted the same. The presentation was click-worthy; the eggs were warm and cooked to perfection. The yolk oozed out when you cut through and the Hollandaise sauce was just the right consistency and not overly heavy on the vinegar. The tomatoes were cut a bit thick for my liking but complimented the dish. However, the lettuce and vinaigrette on the side could have been left out as they served no purpose.
The Feta Cheese and Baby Spinach Omelet tasted better than it looked. As much as the combination of these two sounded tempting, it was lacklustre and could have done with a side of Sausages or Turkey Bacon instead of the bland thimbleful of Baked Beans. However, the serving size was ample, and there was a generous amount of Feta Cheese in the omelet and the eggs were well-seasoned (which is normally not the case at most eateries serving cooked eggs). Again, the salad on the side did nothing for the dish.
A HAVEN FOR TEA ‘N COFFEE LOVERS
Moving on to the beverages, we went with the staff’s recommendation. The Butterscotch Cap was smooth with the Butter Caramel undertone and a gentle kick of Espresso. The Doodh Patti was true to its name with the right proportion of milk and the tea, which was sublime.
NEW YORK CHEESE CAKE
We sipped our tea and coffee with the desserts, which were the real treat. The flavor of the New York Cheesecake was on point. The base held together when cut. I can’t stand a crumbly biscuit base which usually happens when the proportions aren’t correct. The topping was a perfect balance of sweet and sour.
What lacks at Crema is the presentation, and the picture shows how. It was served without any efforts to spruce up the appearance. Instagram image-worthy it was so not!. Having said that, what took the cake, were the Macaroons!
MACAROONS – The Pièce de Résistance!
We were served, hands down,THE BEST MACAROONS IN TOWN! Macaroons are very hard to perfect and these were divine. They had the smoothest egg shell-like covering, full, fluffy body, a slightly chewy interior and the right proportion of filling. The taste and texture were pure perfection. But again, the presentation could have been better. We were simply served the Macaroons on a plate, whereas … they should have been treated like royalty.
I would definitely go back to try out more of their selections, especially the desserts. Another winning factor for me was the soothing ambience, and unlike many joints that play extremely loud music, we could actually hold a conversation over a cup of coffee. I would also like to try more flavors from the coffee selection, as recommended by many regulars. I hope they ‘up their game’ on the presentation front, and add better sides to their main dishes. But all in all, they are on the right track with quality food and a helluva dessert chef.
Visit their Facebook page at Crema for more.
Mona Wahid holds a Bachelors Degree in Law and Political science. She runs a Facebook group called “Reader’s Lounge” and is also the moderator of her Islamabad-based book club.
Mona is an avid reader and a mother of 3.
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