Trafalgar's Bistro - Dessert Review

Mango Coconut Roulade

Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake


Restaurant: Trafalgar's Bistro - Dessert Review

Cuisine: French/Eclectic/Desserts/Bakery
Last visited: October 22, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (Kitsilano)
2603 W 16th Ave
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2.5 (for the 2 desserts we tried)
Service: 3.5
Ambiance: 4.5

Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Cozy French bistro
• Casual fine dining, pretentious atmosphere
• Eclectic/International influences
• Parent restaurant of Sweet Obsession bakery next door
• Serves same desserts, but more expensive at the bistro
• Attracts 40+
• Well lit/comfortable/intimate
  

** Recommendation: n/a

I've been meaning to try this place for ages and finally made it. The atmosphere was a bit pretentious so next time if I'm going just for dessert I'd probably just have it at Sweet Obsessions next door rather than at the bistro. They offer all the same desserts at both. Sweet Obsessions is for younger people and the bistro is for older. Everything is a couple dollars more at the bistro because you pay for the plating, ambiance and service, which is reasonable and expected.

We were here just for dessert so this review is only based on the 2 items we had. One dessert was a hit and the other a miss. I did like the portions of their dessert though, not overwhelming, but just enough. I haven't tried enough to make a fair judgment, but this is my review on what we ordered. I'll still go again to try other things.

On the table:

• Mango Coconut Roulade 1.5/6
• This was basically a mango mousse rolled in a sheet of coconut cake served with raspberry coulis $8.50
  

• They covered the whole thing with what looked like meringue, but it was "buttercream". The buttercream on this was awful and tasted like icing sugar and shortening. I didn't eat any of it. It must have been there for decorative purposes because it didn't taste good at all. It was too thick and it created this hard exterior shell that just fell apart as you were cutting into it with your fork. It wasn't soft or icing like at all. It would have tasted better if they used butter instead of shortening.
  
• 
• After removing the layer of inedible buttercream I was left with a very small piece of actual cake. The cake was moist, but mostly because the buttercream shell kept air out and it created condensation inside. The cake was almost wet so I knew it was sitting in a fridge for a while.
• There was also hardly any mango mousse or mango flavour, and I couldn't taste the coconut at all. There were no real bits of mango and they should have included some dried shredded coconut to absorb the moisture. It was too wet and mushy overall and the flavour was nothing special.
  
• I prefer the mango mousse at St. Germain's or any other Asian bakery any day.
• Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake 4/6
  
• This was their special for the day. I'm not a fan of cheesecake and I really liked this one...but maybe it's because it didn't taste like a cheesecake $8.50
  
• It wasn't a heavy cheesecake, but more like a melt in your mouth maple pumpkin mousse. They did a great job!
  
• It was creamy, light and fluffy in texture especially for a cheesecake, and also rich in flavour. It wasn't too sweet and the pumpkin and maple really stood out. It was served with a pumpkin puree sauce which had a strong maple syrup flavour.

• 
• The reason why I gave it a 4 is because there was no crust! A cheesecake should always have a crust and this one didn't have one, or at least they should have warned us. It did have a walnut rim around the edge but it needed more texture and a crust would have been a great contrast to this mousse-like cheesecake.