Just the name Pastries N Chaat inspired wide eyes at last week's Chow Bella staff meeting, and it was determined that the first thing to try at the north Phoenix spot was dessert. We'll save chaat -- savory Indian street food -- for later. This time we were all about the pastries.
See also: Baklava at Middle Eastern Bakery & Deli in Metro Phoenix
We asked for the most popular cakes at Pastries N Chaat,and received pineapple and Black Forest. We decided mango needed a tasting too, because well, it's mango, and for $2.99 a piece we couldn't resist ordering several desserts.
Mango was the most unique of the three. The layers of cream to cake were equally balanced and created a clean flavor of mango. Everything was just right about this cake from the nicely whipped filling to the perfectly moist cake. There was depth to the flavor as some kind of spice, that wasn't easily identifiable, lended itself to the interest here. It wasn't too sweet which was nice and surprising considering the layers of filling. Even the cake hater in our group had to admit this one was wonderful.
Pineapple, on the other hand, was perfect. The pineapple probably lended to the moisture in the cake, but it was so well prepared and layered that we wanted more of this one. It was not as pretty as the others, but certainly had the most flavor. We can see why this was recommended as a favorite.
The black forest cake was our least favorite. The cake was dry and the filling had very little flavor. The small pieces of cherry in it were nice, but couldn't make up for the overall lack of interest we had in this cake. It was beautiful in presentation, though.
Pastries N Chaat has a good thing going on with their sweets, and we look forward to heading that way again to try the chaat. A small warning though, they are closed from 2:30-4:30pm so if you try to arrive at 3:30, like we did on our first try, you will be disappointed. Call ahead for hours.
