Crowds had been seen bustling outside Sweet Jesus since their first day of operation, however it wasn't until after Instagram had witnessed several hundred hashtagged photos (and after blogto brought the social media phenomenon to light) that lineups spanning 20+ people began to form outside the small espresso / soft serve retailer.
In the course of the 15-20 minute wait, I learned that majority of customers had made use of their lunch time to line up outside the shop, yet had no knowledge of what Sweet Jesus had to offer. The ladies in front even turned around to inquire about the options on their menu at one point.
"I just want to see if this soft serve is really that good!" exclaimed a suited businessman to his dress-donning colleague.
"I just want to see if this soft serve is really that good!" exclaimed a suited businessman to his dress-donning colleague.
I'd like to praise the entire team for their efficiency though: menus were first handed out to customers while they were waiting in line, and orders were taken on the second round (while still in line). The menus were to be placed back onto the countertop once making it inside the shop, and the cashier would tend to eager coffee- and soft serve-goers individually. Drink orders, as well as pastries, would be handed to customers immediately after paying, whereas "Pimped Out Cones" and Specialty Soft Serves were relayed over a sweets bar.
Despite decked-out creations whizzing me by, my stomach just wasn't prepared yet. Instead, I opted for their Espresso Shake. While the Vanilla soft serve in the description could be switched to Chocolate (or even a Vanilla/Chocolate swirl), the option of switching in one of their flavoured soft serves (such as Banana) was not available.
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My initial perception of the Espresso Shake was that it would resemble a sweetened ice coffee and be topped with a small squirt of swirled Vanilla/Chocolate soft serve. This, unfortunately, was not the case, as the soft serve had been placed into a cocktail shaker to blend thoroughly with espresso before serving. However, the barista was extremely nice about it, and offered to top the drink with a bit of Vanilla.
A Burnt Marshmallow Soft Serve was also ordered, though I'm not too sure I can comment on its flavour profile as I did not try it.
Please excuse my partially-sipped Espresso Shake - it was seriously too good to hold back on! It was a wonderfully concocted drink, with the creaminess a milkshake, viscosity of a latte, depth of a high-quality ground, and sweetness of a mocha. The few bits of crushed ice were also a nice finishing touch.
Please excuse my partially-sipped Espresso Shake - it was seriously too good to hold back on! It was a wonderfully concocted drink, with the creaminess a milkshake, viscosity of a latte, depth of a high-quality ground, and sweetness of a mocha. The few bits of crushed ice were also a nice finishing touch.
Price-wise, both items were on par with Starbucks, with the Soft Serve and Espresso Shake ringing in at $4 and $5.50 respectively. I hadn't tried a mix of espresso (made in-house) blended with soft serve ice cream before, but in terms of taste and quality, I have to admit that this single Sweet Jesus item is enough to convince me to come back and try their other morning pick-me-up choices.
On another rather hot day, my feet somehow just naturally trailed along King St., and I found myself in front of Millie Patisserie & Creamery before I even knew it.
In my previous post about the sweets shop, I declared my resolution to try their crepe cakes once again to conclude their worth in my books. The fact that there was no lineup during lunch hour was also factored into my decision. A slice of Tiramisu Crepe Cake was set onto to one of their simplistic square plates and handed to me with a smile.
On another rather hot day, my feet somehow just naturally trailed along King St., and I found myself in front of Millie Patisserie & Creamery before I even knew it.
In my previous post about the sweets shop, I declared my resolution to try their crepe cakes once again to conclude their worth in my books. The fact that there was no lineup during lunch hour was also factored into my decision. A slice of Tiramisu Crepe Cake was set onto to one of their simplistic square plates and handed to me with a smile.
Prior to taking the first bite, an exhaustive visual inspection was conducted. The resulting observations indicated an unnecessarily high cream to crepe ratio, in addition to nonuniform crepe thicknesses and crepes that had failed to be as dainty as the ones produced at N9 Cafe.
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No references to coffee liquor-drenched ladyfingers had been made, though the cake did indeed include all the flavours of a standard tiramisu; it was characterized by a very rich mascarpone cheese-esque cream filling and a generous dusting of cocoa powder.
As with my original encounter with Millie's crepe cakes, the verdict was still the same: the filling was much too rich for my liking, and the cream layers were too thick, causing the individual layers of the cake to separate once pressure was applied at a specific spot. There was little that was enjoyable about it. I always seem to think I'm stuck in this loop where I fail to comprehend why such an extraordinary number of customers feel the need to repetitively rave about Millie's (non-)paper-thin crepes, and I don't think I'm getting out of it anytime soon.
As with my original encounter with Millie's crepe cakes, the verdict was still the same: the filling was much too rich for my liking, and the cream layers were too thick, causing the individual layers of the cake to separate once pressure was applied at a specific spot. There was little that was enjoyable about it. I always seem to think I'm stuck in this loop where I fail to comprehend why such an extraordinary number of customers feel the need to repetitively rave about Millie's (non-)paper-thin crepes, and I don't think I'm getting out of it anytime soon.
Strangely enough, my curiosity got the best of me the next day, as I wound up in front of the pastry shop once again. This time around, it was time to try their much-posted Matcha Azuki Cheesecake.
The cheerful 50's girl was here again (I guess she works Thursdays?), though I don't think she could recall my face. She had told me before that the Matcha Azuki and Strawberry Shortie were spongecake-cheesecake hybrids - tasting of something resembling a cheesy sponge cake. And she was right.
The cake was incredibly moist, almost to Uncle Tetsu standards. Honestly speaking, the cake portion tasted exactly like Uncle Testu's Matcha Madeleines, but just without a hint of green tea flavour. Needless to say, it was a disappointment.
But let's backtrack a little, as I haven't even discussed the red bean frosting.
The cheerful 50's girl was here again (I guess she works Thursdays?), though I don't think she could recall my face. She had told me before that the Matcha Azuki and Strawberry Shortie were spongecake-cheesecake hybrids - tasting of something resembling a cheesy sponge cake. And she was right.
The cake was incredibly moist, almost to Uncle Tetsu standards. Honestly speaking, the cake portion tasted exactly like Uncle Testu's Matcha Madeleines, but just without a hint of green tea flavour. Needless to say, it was a disappointment.
But let's backtrack a little, as I haven't even discussed the red bean frosting.
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My first forkful set off an internal alarm for water - it was severely sweet. The colour of the frosting deceived me into thinking that it was red bean-flavoured, but my mouth had tasted nothing but sugar. The sweetness actually drowned out the rest of the cake, so I had to separate the frosting from the cake to actually distinguish between the levels of sugar contained.
Had I not emptied $6.75 from my wallet into their till, I probably could not have brought myself to finish the sugary abomination. (Yes, it was that sickeningly sweet.) I should confess that, towards the end my painstaking journey, I did manage to find a hint of red bean flavour in the frosting. Soon enough, though, it was drowned out by sugar, and all I wanted was to do was to refill my water bottle. Ick. Not going to order this again.
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