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Cafe Cakes will be missed terribly. A wonderful cafe alternative to the Dunk and the 'Bucks. It was a shock to show up this morning with my brother to see it closed.
While I always felt their iced chai was a little milky, the quality bagels & bagel sandwiches more than made up for it. The almond croissant was another popular choice.
A daily bus rider here in Watertown, I'm sad to see them go. They were great on lazy weekend mornings, and were even better when there was no food left in the house and i needed just the right amount to get me off to work.
I'm not all that sad to see this place go. Don't get me wrong I love the idea of having a bakery on Galen Street, it's just that this one wasn't what I expected. I once had a piece of chocolate cake that looked and tasted exactly like a square Pepperidge Farm frozen cake.
Awww....I love my little Cafe Cakes! Its Sunday morning and I need a little something sweet so I head down to Cafe Cakes for their amazing almond croissant. Holy crap those suckers are good.
The bf likes to get the peanut butter and jelly bagel which for some reason the friendly woman who works at the counter always forgets to make. I can forgive her though because she is always so nice when we point out that she has forgotten our simple little bagel.
i noticed that people like to chill out here with their laptops and drink coffee. Unfortunately I am not a person who can sit still for very long but I have a goal of spending a Saturday doing just that at Cafe Cakes!
Went to get a coffee this morning and the cafe was closed. Shut down. light fixtures off the wall. no note. nothing. just vanished.....
COME BACK! I miss you.
Their are many things that I love about microwaves. Popcorn ready for me to watch a movie with in two minutes, defrosting chicken in 10 minutes so that I can make chicken parm on the turn of a dime and cooking potatoes. Heating up my chocolate croissant in one is a big no-no leaving it tasting bland and rubbery, the almond cookie I had was good (which is what earned them 2 stars in my book) but my roommates hot coco was a solid 1 star.
I kick myself for not trying one of their amazing looking cake-esk deserts which looked amazing. I will be back to try some of those and will update once I do.
Geez. The best little desserts to complete your meal from New Ginza next door with. So delicious. Crap, my drool's getting into the keyboarddddd nhadp; cafodnpdasfddsavvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Realizing that I spend entirely too much time at a single cafe clicking around on my laptop, a branching out seemed to be order. And no, Starbucks is out of the question. As is Peet's. I need something new. And different. And maybe a little off the beaten path of m everyday truckin' through Harvard Square.
Enter Cafe Cakes, a pastry-sandwich-tea-lover's heaven. A small menu filled with a variety of choices where egg salad on brioche toast is a friendly neighbor of the chicken curry bowl. Lined neatly along the back counter like deliciously obedient little soldiers are the flavored syrups for French Sodas. Yum and Yum.
It seems to be the norm here snack on the sweet stuff while waiting for your "real food' of choice (mine - the egg salad sandwich) Although I was enchanted by the creativity of the green tea eclair, I went with the chocolate oatmeal cookie...a bit dry and crumbly but lots of chunks of chocolate and rich cocoa flavor. The egg salad was spicy, which was a welcome change from the bland family-picnic staple I've had in the past. And really, how can you go wrong with brioche?
A major plus for the pajama-worker nation: Free unlimited wi-fi. That's what's up!
1. Would you like to have your egg sandwich come with perfect little orbs of egg filling, all lined up, rather than a blob of egg salad mush, and tasting very fresh and light too? -I do!
2. Would you like to have a green tea latte, that has the perfect sweetness, the perfect creaminess, and the perfect amount of tea flavor (rather than tasting like seaweed... *ahem* Espresso Royale and S-bucks)? -I definitely do!
Oh you just want a normal, unfussy tea? This place definitely has a good variety- English teas, herbal teas, fruity teas...
3. And how about having some awesome chocolate cakes or pastries with your lunch? Yes please! Don't worry, their cakes are not overly sweet that they'll put you in a sugar coma.
4. What other things are good about this place? It's a cafe of CAKES! Hana loves cakes. ^-^
- Parking is pretty easy and there are no parking meters in front!
- Outdoor seating!
- Seems to be a quiet little cafe, perfect for enjoying an afternoon lunch.
- Friendly service and a good attention to details- cakes are nicely decorated, and even my to-go cake box has a little doily!
- Free Wifi. Yes!
Too bad there were no adzuki bean buns or cakes when I visited. Maybe they're on rotation?
I'd definitely hit this place up often, if only it is in Boston and not Watertown. However, if you're looking for a quaint little cafe out of the city, then this is definitely the place.
Cafe Cakes - why on earth are you closed on Mondays?
You've sold me on your more than decent coffee & teas, your kind service and your dependable lack-of-lines.
I have recently got into the habit of enjoying a coffee and perfectly flaky, almost decadently sweet, almond croissant before boarding the bus to head downtown.
Every Monday I think how nice my morning commute would be if I had the option to indulge at Cafe Cakes. But alas, I am denied.
Yippppeeee!
I thought Cafe Cakes was gone, but they just moved to Watertown. (Thanks to Cha Cha for the Head's up!)
Thank goodness! It's totally out of my way to come here, but I feel comforted to know it's there. I'll swing through on my way to Brookline now, and eat some yummies there.
Sigh! There is a God/Benevolent Entity up there. Thank you.
I like this place! All of the desserts here are so beautiful and dainty!
They have decent vegetarian entrees on the lunch menu that aren't so greasy, you're spend the rest of the day saying, "I can't believe I ate that." It's refreshing for this neck of the woods!
Their desserts are even better (after all, they're called Cafe Cakes). They have a display of some beautiful individual-sized pastries. The best thing is that the pastries are good, but the size isn't ginormous disgusting. It's a small portion for a dainty price.
The best part is their small location, relaxed atmosphere, and outdoor seating. It's all very clean, with wi-fi, free books to read on-site, and cushy chairs to relax in.
They are not open Mondays. Also, they make full cakes for reasonable prices as well.
Oh nooooo!!! Why did you have to close Cafe Cakes, why?
I live really close to this place and never really checked it out until now. I've been here thee time and my BF twice and we both agree that this place is great. The first time i ordered the monster sandwich, which looked really plane if you saw what was in it. Wow, it was sooooo good. BF had the chicken curry sandwich and loved it. My favorite drink that probably isn't very healthy is the green tea latte...yum!
I will definitely be coming here a lot more now.
Cafe Cakes makes incredibly beautiful and delicious cakes, pastries and other foods. The presentation is impeccable and everything looks as if it were designed and made with the greatest attention to detail. Even the Egg Salad sandwich is attractively assembled and tastes great.
After eating something from Cafe Cakes I always think to myself: "Damn, I need to come here more often!" and "There's got to be more frequent events requiring cake!"
The folks who work here are very pleasant, too.
This place had some Yelp reviews framed on their wall. How cool is that?
Anyway, I really like this place. It's very clean and the atmosphere is relaxing. The staff are really nice. I confess, I have not had any of the Japanese-French cakes everyone raves about. They do look pretty but that's not really my style.
I have had lattes and breakfast sandwiches and lunch sandwiches though and all are quite good. Not the best I've ever had but they're solid and the ingredients taste fresh.
This place is a nice change from so many of the other regular spots I hit up for lunch in the Watertown Square area. I need to come here more often.
This is a Japanese Patisserie thats influenced by French style.
Wireless, couches, and they serve light food too like sandwiches.
Pros:
I like their not too sweet Japanese pastries. I feel like I am back home in Japan. The owner is this young Japanese lady, and she is very nice. I confessed to her how much I miss eating Mont Blanc and begged her to make one, she actually tried for me! (but she said the ingredients for Mont Blanc are hard to get in America, so it's unlikely she can make one for selling at the store.) Cafe Cakes also will make whole cakes for every occasions, many variety of them if you ask in advance. She can make super huge ones too that serves like 50 people.
My favorites are:
Strawberry Short Cake
Milk Tea Pudding
Green Tea Latte
Caramel Tarte
Cons:
They only take cash, and it's kinda far away from me (Harvard Square).
When I go to my Japanese dentist in Newton, I usually stop by. (The irony...)
They call themselves a Japanese French bakery -- and that is not a misnomer. They serve cakes in the French style as seen through a Japanese lens; extremely fresh, high quality, immaculate foods that you will not find elsewhere. Try their strawberry shortcake; it is light, fluffy, and not too sweet.
They have the Japanese fetish for freshness, so pretty much everything is no more than a half a day old. If you order something for 2pm, come at 2pm exactly. This is not a sign they are inefficient -- they just make everything as fresh as possible. This is hard for many Americans (like me) to understand at first.
The location is a little obscure, but that is an advantage. If you need to cram for 8 hours straight and need a quiet place with wireless to study without having to leave for food or drink, this is the place. They also have very nice couches.
Watch out: they are a cash only institution and have unusual hours.
Once a year, I'll find an excuse to splurge on a the milk tea cake here (mother's day, someone's birthday, etc). The light and fluffly cake infused with milk tea has an incredible taste and, as with most asian cakes, it's not too sweet and buttery. The cake is a bit expensive for its size (in my opinion) but not enough to stop me from getting it when the occasion is right. Order the cake a few days in advance.
I've never actually tried anything else from this place, but reading all the other reviews below makes me want to!
Update May 2008
They now have lunch bowls of rice and eggplant, rice and curry, etc.
Wonderful Cakes
Stable Business Hours
Original Review
Japanese style French pastries and croissant, European coffee, and chilled fruit teas all served in a clean friendly relaxing environment..they even have parking!!
One day I hope they'll have longer hours and make more pastry...they're often sold-out of some goodies by late morning.
I think they're still reclaiming clientele after the move to Watertown.
The first thing you'll probably do when you walk in here is boogie on over to the counter and press your face against the pastry display. "Dag, yo. What should I get?" Then you'll realize you also need real food, so your eyes will wander over to the menu on the wall. Here you'll find a variety of tasty looking sandwiches, bowls, wraps, etc., and a bevvy of beverage options. "Dag, yo. What are you getting?" The good news, as far as I can tell, is it doesn't matter too much. If it sounds like something you might like, you probably will. You put in your order, and they hook you up with your bev and pastry (you got one, right?) while you wait for your sammy (or whatever you actually ordered). If you're not going to [wo]man up and eat desert before lunch, then what's the point becoming an adult? I had the smoked salmon sandwich, berry tea, and a cream puff, none of which disappointed. (A little buyer's remorse on the pastry, but that wasn't the cream puff's fault.) Also purchased by my merry band: italian sodas, a cookie, milk tea pudding, an egg-salad sandwich that looks like it wants to be a meatball sub when it grows up, a curry chicken bowl, and some more teas. All performed well on the taste-o-meter.
If you're going to stick around for a few hours, they've got a small supply of comfy seats & a couch, plenty of your standard table+chairs set-up, and a good supply of reading materials. If you've got one of those newfangled laptop whizzybangs, they also have free wifi all up in this B. Outlets aren't plentiful, so make sure you've got some juice in tank. They also have a pretty solid soundtrack--everything from kickin' classical to rockin' world beats--to tap your toe to.
This place has pretty much everything you need out of a cafe, not a whole lot you don't, and was surprisingly empty while we were there. Note that on a slow day the staff may retreat to some secret back room party, so make your presence known if you walk into an empty house.
Come for the cakes, stay for the cafe.
mmm.. shortcake.
I had a salmon sandwich on fresh, fluffy bread and strawberry shortcake - both really good. The food is light and refreshing and doesn't make you feel like you sit and digest for the next hour.
The woman who works there is very sweet! We asked for tap water and although she was busy filling other orders, she actually brought them outside to us where we were sitting. The environment of the entire place is really friendly, clean, and welcoming. Definitely somewhere I could sit and hang out.
We grabbed an oatmeal chocolate cookie on our way out - not the soft, chewy kind but still very delicious.
I look forward to trying more of the cakes!
I stopped by cafe cakes for the first time this weekend to grab a quick sandwich. The food was really good -- the curry chicken sandwich was fresh and delicious, although it was smothered in mayo even though mayo wasn't one of the ingredients listed on the board. I didn't try any of their cakes although the slices they had displayed looked amazing. I'd probably frequent this place more often if they were open later at night... I think they close at 6pm on weekdays, earlier on the weekends.
Came here for lunch and stayed all day. Their music taste is serious diverse; started on classical, went to Japanese punk, some Asian techno/electronica and now it's onto Californian beach rock. Fa-bu-lous. Try the curry chicken bowl and milk tea pudding. Reminds me of Japan. Yummy!!
Phooey! Somebody spilled the beans on this one. Thought I could keep it to myself for a bit longer.… Read more »
Oh....I want to give you more stars, Cafe Cakes, because I love French/Japanese baking, and I ate some lovely things, and your staff was so nice - but you were having a stale cake day! If you have an unstale cake day when I come back, I promise to give you another star. And I HAVE to come back, because I want to try your green tea eclair!
Latte: standard, leaning towards good
Milk tea pudding: creamy texture, with a gelatin-like snap-back action, and - of course - milky. I bought a second cup later for my boss.
Scone, berry: tender, sweet, and a little milky
Coconut cookies with chocolate filling: crisp, buttery, toasted-coconutty - there are so many ways to crave chocolate, and now I have a new one.
Gateau au chocolat - rich and chocolatey, for sure, and the raspberries inside were a nice touch...but a little dry...
Coffee cake with coffee cream layers - STALE - saved by a dunk in my fair-to-good latte
I'm so sad that Cafe Cakes is closed! Thank you Noriko for all the delicious cake and the insane hours you worked everyday to make them.
This place is great - just what Watertown needs more of. Comfy couches, free wireles, and good food. They have breakfast sandwiches that are great, and a lot of different lunch choices - sandwiches, soups, etc. But, of course, the things to enjoy are the baked goods. I recommend the chocolate croissants and the oatmeal cookies. Enjoy! Like another review mentioned, this is a nice, quiet, comfortable place to hunker down for several hours if you have work to do. Don't be scared off by the strange location.
Update - this place has yelp reviews printed out, framed and hanging on the wall by the register!! Bonus points.
This is a great hidden little place. A nice variety of pastries all of which look absolutely beautiful. Some seem too pretty to eat but you will be glad you did once you taste them. The green tea eclairs were very nice with the perfect amount of sweetness and a nice macha flavour. The french onion soup was tasty and served perfectly hot (although I don't think the traditional Gruyere was used for the topping). The atmosphere is quaint with a nice modern decor and various books and magazines to browse through whilst you eat and the owner is extremely friendly. A+
I use to get a different cake from Noriko every week and I've literally tried every cake on her menu! The most original would be her "milk tea chiffon cake". Ever bought a bottle of milk tea from a japanese grocery store? That's exactly what it tastes like. It's a light earl grey flavored sponge cake covered with tea flavored whipped cream. You gotta try it, there's nothing else like this cake. Other choices are Green Tea Chiffon Cake, Rasberry Champagne Cake (another favorite of mine), Green Tea Mousse w/ Azuki Cream cake...etc...she also makes a mean chocolate cake - if you like chocoloate...try the Gateau Au Chocolat....or the Delice Chocolate. The former one is a rich, almost flourless cake with rasberry.
Another pastry that's very unique is the Caramel Macaroon. Evertime I go, I grab a couple of these light puffy things with caramel flavored whipped cream inside. ooooooooooooooh~ It's got that burnt caramel taste, not the "shoot right into that cavity sweetness".
Other specialties are the pudding - they go fast, so if you see it, get it.
Whew! I can go on and on about this bakery, but I'll let you explore for yourself. I'm glad she re-opened again, I was very upset when she closed her Belmont location. And again...after I found out she has re-opened again, I came out with a huge bag of goodies.
Great Japanese cakes! Not too sweet, and not too big. It will leave you craving for more. Guarantee a big hit and a conversation maker if you take their cake to a party. Used to be in Cushing Sq. in Belmont and I used to drive up there but now I'm closer, welcome to Watertown!
I love this place. Yummy breakfast wraps and delicious (dare I say better than Starbucks) lattes.
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