Hummingbird Bakery, Dubai Mall : Sorry, Too Sweet!

two of my best buddies are doing their phd in london. this is one of their favorite hangouts – the ‘hummingbird bakery’. once making me jealous that they’re hanging out together sipping hot chocs and stuffing their face with delicious cupcakes by the streets of london! hmmph!

the hummingbird bakery’s tagline is ‘authentic american cakes and desserts’ but it has been operating only around london since 2004. so it’s like they’re doing american-style baking IN london. hmm. and the hummingbird bakery in dubai mall is their first overseas branch.

 

 

it goes without saying that I’m a sucker for desserts. cakes. bakeries. cute little bakery with cute little treats. so when I heard that a ‘hummingbird bakery’ is opening in dubai mall, I jumped at the chance of trying one of their desserts – just to see what’s all the fuss about!

they have all that is expected of a bakery – glorious cupcakes, moist-looking slices of cakes and brownies too. they also have these big macaroon-like thingys called ‘whoppie pies’ – cream cheese sandwiched between two spongy cake that looks like big macaroons.

I didn’t try those coz I first wanted to try my favorite cake flavors – the red velvet cake, and the carrot cake – both with cream cheese.

 

 

I love the theme-color of hummingbird bakery – shades of primrose-pink over brown, with velvet chairs and of course – pink-colored hummingbirds on the walls. there were also fake cupcakes on the walls as décor, which I think is cute but so tempting for itchy little hands – kahfi’s! haha.

 

 

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why did I take so long to finally describe the taste of the cakes?

well, because it was disappointing!

maybe I put my hopes too high. maybe because I’ve eaten the ultimate red velvet cheesecake at the cheesecake factory. maybe the cakes at hummingbird bakery ARE not that good – that I found the red velvet cake in hummingbird bakery less than mediocre.

the cake itself is NOT as moist as I had expected a good cake should be, and oh my the cream cheese is TOO SWEET! I LOVE cream cheese on my cake, so when the cream cheese is not good, the cake is no good! the same goes for the carrot cake. I will leave it at that!

(click here to read about my experience at the cheesecake factory, and click here to read about what I think is THE BEST red velvet cake I’ve ever tasted, in the magnolia bakery)

 

 

anyways, the hummingbird bakery in dubai mall is somewhere in lower ground, around the exit to the dubail mall muiscal fountain.

try it for yourself, and hey, maybe you prefer REALLY sweet cream cheese on your not-so-moist red velvet cake! me? no likey!

 

Malaysia’s PappaRoti in Dubai

I love rotiboy. the super soft caramel-coated buns, fresh and hot from the oven. I’d never buy less than 5, and the best time to eat rotiboy is straight in the car while driving back from OU or KLCC where I bought them coz then it would be fresh, hot and soft! hihi. my khairul can finish one in just a few bites. naturally, my boys love ‘em too.

rotiboy is established in 1998, and started in penang. in its website, the word ‘original’ is capitalized, stressing that they’re the pioneers of these famous buns.

 

babaruti? heheh.

 

however, there’s another malaysian brand selling a similar bun. calling itself, ‘the father of all buns’, papparoti describes this heavenly bread as ‘coffee-coated bread’ with ‘authentic and memorable taste’.

established in 2003, papparoti now has branches all over including dubai, saudi arabia, kuwait, china, vietnam, UK and australia. kat bangladesh pun ade!

 

 

this was the first time that I tried the bun at papparoti after being a faithful fan of rotiboy.

we went to the papparoti branch in sunset mall, jumeirah – the lonesome-looking little mall with more empty lots than occupied ones! definitely papparoti is the one café that’s keeping the mall alive! it’s at the corner of the ground floor, visible from the main road.

 

 

basically papparoti only has TWO items on its menu : DRINKS, and the BUN. that’s it. now which drink? that’s when it gets tricky. haha.

 

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from caramel macchiato to mochaccino, cappuccino, to hot choc and café late – they got it. even fresh milk or raspberry tea!

ok, I do not like ANY type of coffee, but I am always interested in words and their meaning, and I can’t help trying to figure out what’s the difference between these many types of ‘coffee’ :

• first and foremost, u need to know that ESPRESSO is the basis of all these variations of coffee. to me, espresso is simply COFFEE given a fancy name! haha. something in the way it’s brewed that makes it different than the kopi we make at home kot!
• macchiato means ‘marked’ or ‘stained’ – so it simply means espresso ‘stained’ with milk.
• cappucino means espresso at the bottom, hot milk in the middle and topped with steamed-milk foam
• latte means espresso with steamed milk
• mocha is like latte – but with added chocolate, usually cocoa powder, chocolate syrup or chocolate milk
• americano is made when hot water is added to espresso (what?!)

oh man! thank goodness I only like one type of hot drink and one only – hot chocolate! plain and simple! hihi. if you wanna know more to peningkan kepala, click this link and scroll down to learn more about other types of espresso mix.

 

malaysia : RM2.50. dubai : AED11!

 

I wrote at the beginning of this post, how I always buy at least 5 buns at once, and how it takes only a few bites to finish one before we can reach for another, and another…well, CAN’T do it here!

while the ROTI in malaysia cost only about RM2.50 each, here it’s AED11 each! that escalates pretty damn quickly!

also, in malaysia it’s just a humble café and the buns are served in paperbags where malaysians can just eat with our hands kan?

here, the bun is served on a nice wooden ‘bread cutting-board’, with knife and fork! wah, makan rotiboy fine dining, eh? haha. mr. khairul was like, “pak-pak arab makan rotiboy dengan sudu garpu ke?” huhu.

 

 

teringin punya pasal – bedal je sekali-skala!

to me, the buns taste the same, rotiboy or papparoti, in malaysia or in dubai,, cheaper or not – the same crispy sweet coat on the outside, and soft fluffy bread on the inside. yum!

we actually reminded the boys to eat as slowly as they can, and really savour the aed11 buns!

 

 

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don’t like anything with coffee or espresso, so I ordered iced-chocolate which is just yummy. how can iced-chocolate NOT be yummy, kan? mr. khairul got himself the caramel macchiato.

 

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will we come again? if the craving gets worse! haha. the service is top notch, and the bun is as delicious as it could ever be. however, I’d rather wait till we get back to malaysia and go buy 10 buns or more! lepas geram!

 

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the boys having fun at the empty sunset mall in jumeirah : the only MALL I can let my sons go wild without me worrying about them being lost in the crowd. coz there is no crowd!

I LOVE Donuts @ Tim Hortons!

it’s official. after dunkin donuts, krispy kreme, j.co and what not – i finally found THE BEST (at least, in my opinion) donut i’ve ever tasted. they’re at ‘tim hortons’.

 

 

hey, those donuts that i mentioned are delicious too in their own way, but i’ve always feel that while the texture of the donut dough is so soft and fluffy at krispy kreme, their icing is WAY too sweet. too sweet. and while dunkin donuts’ icing are just fine, their dough gets tough real quick. and not as fluffy as it should be.

now combine the positives of these two big donut places – soft, fluffy dough, and top it off with icing that is just sweet in a reasonable proportion. you will get donuts at ‘tim hortons’!

my favorite : the classic plain one with chocolate icing. yum.

 

our intro with ‘tim hortons’ was at JBR (jumeirah beach residences), in bahar sector opposite hilton beach hotel. i’ve always wanted to try ‘tim hortons’ at JBR because it’s such a cute little red cafe, and when i finally did – i LOVE their donuts!

the choices are all too familiar – boston creme, choc, one with colorful choc rice, with caramel, with strawberry – mostly the same kind of donuts. but the difference is – in the taste!

 

 

‘tim hortons’ is actually a canadian coffee chain known for its coffee and donuts. It is also canada's largest fast food service. it was founded in 1964 by canadian hockey player tim horton and jim charade.

when it first started, ‘tim hortons’ sells ONLY coffee and donuts. that’s IT. and now the menu has expanded to include pastries, muffins, croissants, cookies and even bagels!

i’m gonna try that next! bagels!

 

 

we bought a dozen donuts – we are ALL donut-freaks – and until this moment i wonder why i didn’t take pictures of those fabulous donuts! they’re just perfect in my opinion! fluffy, with delicious toppings. love it, love it!

 

‘tim hortons’ JBR is right next to chow king and chilli’s at ‘bahar’, i think. enjoy a delicious donut today! (this is not a paid review. haha. i just really, really love their donuts!)

Red Velvet Mini Cheese Cake @ Magnolia Bakery

i’ve eaten cheese cakes. and i’ve eaten red velvet cakes. but this is the first time i ate ‘red velvet cheese cake’. absolutely divine.

 

 

for his birthday, i got mr. khairul two little cupcakes from dean & deluca. so for my birthday, he got me two mini cakes from ‘magnolia bakery’. this is said to be THE place to get cakes in dubai.

originally from new york, magnolia bakery first hit stardom when it was mentioned/featured in one of the episodes of ‘sex and the city’. this branch in dubai is the only branch outside of new york, as its other three branches are all in manhattan. that’s why when it’s first opened in dubai, the line was far out the door!

 

 

this branch of magnolia bakery is at dubai mall’s lower ground, and it is actually a part of bloomingdale’s ‘home’. it’s right at the entrance. look for bloomingdale’s home, and you’re there.

the bakery itself is absolutely adorable – squeaky clean beige cabinets with lines of cake stands and cookie jars on top. lovely kitchen-style. on the side, few staff are preparing cupcakes, squeezing on cream cheese or arranging them on trays.

it’s really a quaint little place.

 

 

mr. khairul really didn’t know what to order. he knows i wanted anything cheesy but there were so many choices! finally he asked what are the top choices of patrons? the staff listed three – one of them was the red velvet mini cheesecake.

it’s 12aed for each cupcake, but you pay a whopping 25aed for these mini cakes. hey, gimme a break ok. 1) it’s dubai. and 2) it’s my birthday! it’s not like every week i go and get these little expensive bad boys!

 

 

so mr. khairul got me that, and the classic baked cheese cake. at one glance they looked so plain and as basic a cake as you can get. crunched nuts on top. a plop of cream with grated chocolate. round. small. could these little mini cakes really live up to the hype of magnolia bakery new york?

 

 

i don’t like the lemony taste that some bakery put in their baked cheesecake. and this one doesn’t have that disturbing lemony taste. it’s – how should i put it – perfect. the taste of the cheese was just enough to drive a cheese-freak on a feeding frenzy. the texture was soft and compact; doesn’t crumble.

oh, it’s just that i’m not into too much peanuts on my cheesecake, so i gave the part with the huge chunks to mr. khairul.

other than that – well, let’s just say that i didn’t want the cheese cake to finish!

 

 

the red velvet mini cheese cake is definitely a numero uno with the customers. when i googled images of the magnolia bakery, i don’t think anyone went back without this delicious little devil in the magnolia bakery box.

it’s not baked; rather it’s chilled cheese cake i think, from the texture. topped with a generous blob of cream cheese with grated chocolate. the base is unmistakably crushed oreo biscuits. and in the middle – the star of the show – the red velvet cheese.

the vision itself beckons you. a color combination of cream, red and black. beautiful. the taste is indescribable. i’m lost for words. if you liked cheese, and you liked red velvet cakes, and you liked a thin strip of oreo – why haven’t you tried this mini delight from magnolia bakery?

go get one – dubai mall, lower ground, inside bloomingdale’s!