Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop

The Fat Corner was warmly invited to an afternoon tea tasting event at the Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop. What started as a tasting session turned out to be an unforgettable experience of the works of Pastry Chef, Wita Girawati.

Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop has always been known for its range of best-selling desserts; from its famous Cronuts to its cakes. Given that it’s an all-you-can-eat dessert event, we just could not say no to this exclusive invitation!

A short yet impressive background on Chef Wita Grawati: This talented pastry chef started her career as a Commis at the Dharmawangsa Hotel in Jakarta. With her hard work and culinary flair in pastry, she was promoted as Demi Chef de Partie at the Pastry and Bakery Department in 2006.

4 years later, she received her bachelor degree in hotel management and started working in Maldives as she helmed the position as Chef Departie at the 5-star Kanuhura Spa and Resort.

After which, she was accepted at Mandarin Oriental Jakarta as Assistant Pastry Chef on May 2011. In just a short one year, she received the title of the Pastry Chef, heading the Pastry and Bakery Department.

 

 

Mandarin Oriental Jakarta is a perfect nestle for Chef Wita Grawati’s delicious creation. Blending the warmth of Indonesian hospitality and the level of service which Mandarin Oriental is internationally renowned for, this hotel, located smack bang in the heart of the city is the perfect for both business and social events. View their variety of award-winning restaurants and bar here: www.mandarinoriental.com/jakarta

This tasting event features their new menu; Matcha Goma, Emeraude Cake, Piemonte Hazelnut Cake and Chocombroise among others. Every month, the Cake Shop will also introduce several eclairs with new colors and flavors.

Matcha Goma Cake is a white chocolate mouse topped with matcha powder, green tea biscuit that looks like macaroon skin and  sesame seed jelly.

Although the sweetness was just right, the cake lacks the green tea kick that I was expecting from it.

The presentation of the Piemonte Hazelnut Cake was impressive.

Inside the cone is chocolate caramel mousse with hazelnut bavaroise on hazelnut biscuit. This has both the combination of chocolate and hazelnut, a taste very similar to Ferrero Rocher.

Despite the amazing taste, I was slightly disappointed by the sogginess of the cone.

Its Emeraude Cake is visually appealing; a panacotta-looking jelly on top of a biscuit topped with raspberry and gold leaf.

The texture is exactly like panacotta, and this panacotta is a winner. The taste has a nice balance to it, complemented by its low sweetness level. This cake is definitely one of my favorite so far.

Personally speaking, I am not a big fan of chocolate cakes such as the Chocombroise; though black forest lovers out there might adore this one.  

For this month, Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop released a new addition to its eclair choices; Blueberry Eclair.

One thing I love about this eclair is its exciting taste: While most eclairs are just plain sweet, this has a bit of balancing sour taste to it.

I will definitely come back to Mandarin Oriental to eat more of these.

Alliance Apricot also deserves a place in my most-delicious list for today’s tasting event. The appearance may misleadingly insinuate citrus/orange but the flavour is actually all apricot. An uncommon dessert flavour here in Indonesia.

A delightful blend of apricot and mascarpone mousse, place on top of a thin biscuit for texture.

The next dessert is the Lime Macaron: fresh raspberry and lemon curd sandwiched between crisp yet chewy macaron shells, which gives it its sour punch.

Easily the best looking dessert I have seen in Jakarta. Warning: my review of this dessert might be a tad bit biased as I am a sucker for macarons.

This ‘Bolu Tape’ or Cassava Cake with Cheese  is definitely friendly for the Indonesian tongue, including mine. You will be sure to receive raving comments by the locals offering this delicious mix of Tape and Cheese in your pastry shop.

Not foreign to many people is the fact that the best cronuts in town can be found in Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop.  The Chocolate Cronuts sold here is definitely a must-try though the cronuts are generally on the sweet side.

There are also Vanilla Cronuts available.

The latest flavor addition is the Blueberry Cronuts: friendly for those of you who steer clear of cronuts due to its high sweetness level. The sweet and sour blueberry icing accentuates the taste of its base: cinnamon and sugar coated fried croissant/donuts.

Hands down the best cronut in town for me. Try it before the flavor is gone!

To end, Mandarin Oriental’s afternoon tea set comprising a selection of the above newly introduced cakes and sandwiches is priced at a reasonable Rp 230k+, with a choice of complimentary coffee or tea.

For all the cronuts fans out there, a little bird told me that there will be Nutella Cronuts available sometime this year. Drooling? Me too. Wait for it to make its debut appearance only at the Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop!

Afternoon Tea is available daily at the Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop from 3PM to 6PM, so don’t miss your chance.

Thank You Mandarin Oriental Jakarta!

Food: |**** |          Ambience: |****  |         Price: |$$   |

Opening hours: Everyday 8 am-10.30 pm

Location: Jl. M.H. Thamrin, Jakarta, Indonesia

Telephone: +6221 2993 8820

Posted by FidoDido