Piccadilly Circus: Kahve Dünyasi

After a conversation with a colleague at work about coffee and her description of Turkish coffee (very strong with the coffee grounds still in the cup- my kind of coffee), my quest for Turkish coffee in London brought me to  Kahve Dünyasi: a chocolate shop in London that also has a range of delicious cakes.

Score.

Where?

3, 200 Piccadilly, London. Nearest underground station Piccadilly Circus.

What?

A chocolate shop/ café with a Turkish twist, the first thing you notice on walking in is the very, very tempting counter of posh-looking chocolates.

Then there are is the rainbow of macarons:

And then, of course, there is the cake.

Kahve Dünyasi also serves a few light savoury things such as baguette sandwiches, which are great for lunchtime. Or if you really, really want cake and have to drag a friend along with less of a sweet tooth.

During my first visit, since I was after Turkish coffee, this was what I ordered once I had been seated at a table: along with an iced Turkish coffee, since I was curious about what that would be like.

The waitress smiled when I ordered both coffees in one go. "You really like Turkish coffee?"

"It's been one of those days," I joked.

She asked how sweet I wanted my normal (hot) Turkish coffee. I faltered, not really knowing how it was supposed to be drunk- so the waitress said she'd get me one with 'regular sweetness'.

Soon my coffees arrived, along with a chocolate to go with the normal Turkish coffee (to my delight), and a traditional glass of water for cleansing the palate- I found this interesting because this is also an Italian habit.

Take a closer look at the crema on the coffee!

It was like a little shot of heaven. It was strong without being bitter, and just the right sweetness for me. It's served black like an espresso, but with the coffee grounds still at the bottom: so you have to be sip carefully when you approach the bottom of the cup or else you'll get a mouthful of them (I'm glad my colleague had warned me about this beforehand, and the waitress reminded me too). The chocolate was lovely too- mine was marzipan, but I don't think that you get the same chocolate every time, necessarily.

As for the 'iced Turkish coffee', it was quite different- more like a frappé.

It was a pretty hot day that day, so I followed the hot coffee with this beauty. As you can see, it was pretty epic, and laced with chocolate sauce. Yum, yum.

I also noticed a drink called 'salep' on the menu, and vowed to order it on my next visit once I'd done a little research (in other words, once I'd Googled it).

Salep is a hot milk drink traditionally thickened with the root of a particular type of orchid, and is like a thin white custard. Unfortunately the orchid is a little on the endangered side now, so exporting it out of its home country is now illegal- salep anywhere else is now usually a mixture of cornflour and flavouring.

On my next visit, I also ordered a slice of their chocolate caramel cake along with a mug of Salep.

The salep drink came with cinnamon dusted on top, and was served with an adorable chocolate spoon.

As I mentioned before, the salep was like a thin custard, only without the vanilla or eggy flavour. It was very pleasant, although I regretted my choice quite quickly because it was another hot day when I visited, and the thickness of the drink has quite a warming effect. On that note though, it'd be a brilliant drink for chilly winter days.

As for the cake, I want another one. Right now.

Thin layers of fluffy cake, a thick layer of chocolate brownie, a thick layer of creamy caramel mousse and even more caramel on top. This was one decadent cake.

I can't wait to visit Kahve Dünyasi again, and the prices aren't too bad for Central London. They also do some amazing-looking ice cream sundaes, judging by their menu:

Since the cold weather is setting in though, I don't think I'll be as interested. Luckily enough, they have enough cake to see me through the winter, including a hot chocolate one.

Golden Gate Cake House Revisited

It's been a while since I last visited the Golden Gate Dessert House, even though their rainbow array of cakes calls out to me like little sugary sirens every time I'm around in Chinatown. Luckily for me, my friend Siu Yen visited today, and was game for a colourful cake session there.

To the left we have the mango mousse cake that my friend chose, and to the right the strawberry mousse cake I (eventually) decided upon.

Look at how pretty they are! I could make a collage out of pictures of Golden Gate's cake slices. Just like last time, the sponge was so light it was like eating a cloud, and the mousse was refreshing and not too sweet. I was also rather amused that the plastic wrapping around the cake was unchanged from my last visit, which was in December (see my last post about Golden Gate for pictures)- they're still using the Christmas stuff. Waste not, I guess.

To drink, Siu Yen chose iced soya milk, and I chose a matcha smoothie over a milkshake, thinking it'd be lighter. We were served our cakes, which we eagerly started off, and in a few minutes our drinks followed.

This is what I was presented with.

Ah.

There was a moment of horrified silence as the waitress set this monster down and my friend and I stared at it. Had I just been given an ice cream sundae challenge?

Thankfully it wasn't a horrifying pile of ice-cream: it turned out to be snow ice flavoured with matcha latte, sort of like a green tea frappucino with extra ice. But it was still a pretty horrifying pile of snow ice flavoured with matcha latte. I'm also pretty sure you shouldn't have to eat any smoothie with a spoon. It was refreshing, and had it been a hot and sunny day (and had it been the only thing I'd ordered), I'd have quite enjoyed it. Alas, I was having this on top of cake, and it was cold and rainy outside. In the end, I only managed to battle through half of it before succumbing to a combination of liquid overdose and severe brain freeze.

Defeated.

I'll be coming here again for more cake, but next time I'll beware the monster drinks and stick with a cup of tea.

Afterword

I only just noticed something about my matcha smoothie after uploading the pictures. Can you see it?

Look closer.

How about now?

It's a Chinese lion!

Chinatown: Golden Gate Dessert House

I'm quite backed up on entries and I should really do some of them first before this one, but... dessert house! A place dedicated to dessert! Writing about it straight away is a no-brainer for me.

Where?

Chinatown London, 110 Shaftsbury Avenue. Nearest tube station is Leicester Square.

What?

My friend Vicky was visiting from Germany, so we hit Chinatown this evening and had dinner at Longji (entry soon), and then came here for dessert. Cake. Heaven. Not just cake- Chinese desserts, bubble teas, snow ice, ice cream cakes...  it was so difficult to choose what to have.

So I chose two. (The third belonged to my friend Vicky.)

Good thing I hadn't eaten much for the rest of the day, beforehand.

Vicky (eventually) chose the white one, a yoghurt cake:

Whilst I (also eventually) settled for a pandan layer cake:

... And a little taro mousse cake:

Because purple food is awesome.

They were all delicious- the sponge was like eating sweet and fluffy clouds, the pandan jelly was delicately flavoured and not too sweet, and the taro mousse was gorgeous. It was mostly mousse, but had a thin layer of white sponge buried underneath.

After a bit of digging I put the camera away to enjoy the cake.

They also do a few savoury things, like toasts and sandwiches, in case you're in a group of people and not everyone fancies something sweet- but you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who isn't at least a little bit tempted by Golden Gate's rainbow array of cake!

You can also buy large, beautifully decorated celebration cakes, which you can see displayed at the front window:

I think this place is affiliated with Golden Gate Cake Shop on 13 Macclesfield Street (also in Chinatown)- not just because of the shared name of Golden Gate, but also because they seem to sell the same celebration cakes. The Cake Shop's a good place to get buns, but that'll be another entry one day, no doubt.

I used to be a bit scared of visiting the Dessert House- I've known about it for some time, but there was a review a few years ago about the staff being so rude they were borderline mean, so I always bottled out of trying it. I'm pleased to say the ladies there were lovely.

So. If you, like me, love dessert, and happen to be around here, try the Golden Gate Dessert House- just be prepared to spend some time choosing which beautiful confection you want!

Vicky and I got a little bit hyper on sugar, read this entry on my other blog for a short story.