Dessert Evenings at Cafe Rosamond: Satisfying my sweet tooth

Cafe Rosamond is a cute little coffee shop on a side road just off the busy Smith Street in Fitzroy. On Thursday nights they offer Dessert Evenings by pastry chef Pierre Francois Roelofs, available from 7-11pm.

There are no bookings, so when I arrived at 6.40pm there was already about 12 people in line - luckily EK and WJL got there earlier and were right at the front of the queue.  As 7pm approached, the line grew longer and longer – around 20-25 people by the time their doors opened!

I was so excited by the time we were seated – I couldn’t wait to see what amazing delights were coming. Our waitress explained how the evening works; basically, rather than ordering from a menu, we simply decide how many courses we want – 1, 2 or 3 courses for $20, $30 and $40 respectively, or the full degustation – the 3 courses plus test tube for $50.

We weren’t exactly sure how large the courses were, so we went with 2 full degustations to share between the 3 of us – with an extra test tube as these weren’t for sharing.

Our 3 test tubes arrived in a glass, accompanied by a small beaker of water and 3 cute shot glasses – which we were told contained eggnog. We were instructed to dip the end of the test tube into the beaker of warm water just prior to eating it, to ensure the bottom jelly layer doesn’t adhere to the test tube. 

Apple Pie Test Tube, Eggnog

It was such a novel idea – I loved it! It was apple pie, beginning with the top layer of cinnamon and pastry, ending with the stewed apple sauce. Delicious and fun. The eggnog was also smooth and light – a nice touch, adding to the Christmas spirit.

We caught a glimpse of the 1^st course when it arrived on the table adjacent to ours – you should have seen WJL’s look of disappointment – it was a lot smaller than we thought. Hence we asked to upgrade to 3 full degustations instead (while we still could).

And boy were we glad we did.

Raspberry coulis, crème anglaise, lavender foam, white chocolate malt crumbs, meringue teardrops, raspberry marshmallow

I thought this dessert was very pretty. I liked it, and compared to any other dessert place it would be right up there in regards to taste and detail – however it was my least favorite of the night. But purely because the other two were so fantastic, they out-shown this one.

Lemon foam, puffed millet, hazelnut yoghurt, hazelnut sponge, caramel, lemon jelly, coconut sago

This was to-die-for. One of the best desserts I’d ever eaten. Ever. Right up there with Vue de Monde’s Mandarin, violet and vanilla custard (which was my favourite course at VDM).

I would go back and order 3 of these, if I could. The lemon foam was tangy, while the jelly was very tart – which contrasted beautifully with the sweet caramel and coconut sago. The hazelnut yoghurt and sponge reminded me of nutella, but better – I’m a total yoghurt person (I eat some everyday) so I enjoyed this. WJL loved it as well, while EK said everything was awesome, but the caramel ruined it for her because she was not a fan of caramel. Her favourite was the 3^rd course.

Balsamic panna cotta, balsamic mousse, chocolate mousse, chocolate ice, cookies and cream cookie

This was the sweetest course, although the balsamic flavours did provide a nice kick to contrast against the chocolate. Chocolate ice reminded me of a cold, chocolate ice lolly – very refreshing.

Staff and service were excellent – they were super polite, extremely friendly, never pushy, and didn’t hurry us at all even after we were finished. When they asked our opinions on the desserts, it felt like they actually listened to the feedback and took it on board. As each course arrived, our waitress offered a brief rundown of the dish, going through each element – there were so many elements per dish I had trouble remembering it all!

They checked at the beginning whether there were anything dietary restrictions – EK is vegetarian, so she received the gelatine-free versions of every course.

Overall, it was an exceptional dining experience – very much worth the price and the wait. Even WJL agreed, and she doesn’t even have a sweet tooth. I can’t wait to go back – the menu rotates every 3 weeks, so you could get something completely different each time.

Food – 9 / 10

Service – 9 / 10

Value for money – 8 / 10

OVERALL CONSENSUS: 4.5 bags (out of 5)