Coffee, Tea, & Bakeries | fabliss

Dahlia Bakery | Seattle, WA

the dessert lover in me had to look up a popular dessert spot in downtown seattle. top on the list was dahlia bakery.

after spending a few days in the city and talking to locals about our “downtown seattle to do list” (new friends, happy hour patrons, bartenders, uber drivers, lyft drivers, waiters/waitresses, baristas,etc), we found out that dahlia bakery is one of 12 tom douglas establishments. who is tom douglas? um, just the chef of seattle! 12 popular/successful restaurants in one city. one chef/owner? stud.

dahlia bakery. we ended coming here 3 times in 5 days to get three things:

coconut cream pie – we first had a slice at serious pie (tom douglas’ pizza joint around the corner) and then became hooked! the special thing about getting the pie at the bakery is that it is available in a bite size!
fresh small donuts – first had these at lola… became hooked. do you see a trend?
chocolate eclair – kyle thought this was the best eclair he’s had. i know. i cant even tell you if that is true because i am not a fan of chocolate!

i would put the coconut cream pie and donuts on my top 10 desserts. no hesitation. i would note that the coconut cream pie is pretty coconutty. lots of shavings. i have heard the comment that it needs more coconut cream, less whipped cream and less shavings… i get it… but it’s still pretty awesome.

side note: kyle got the hazelnut tart. he thought it was ok. pretty rich. don’t eat one by yourself… you will feel sick. sharing is definitely caring on this one.

the donuts come with a vanilla bean dip and the homemade jam of the day! i’ve had both the strawberry and peach jams and they are freaking wonderful. although not really a traditional donut (they are pretty much square donut holes… but not cakey), i would consider this my favorite donut. can i even do that?! nothing beats fresh, hot donuts that melt in your mouth. dusted with sugar, these babies are on the messy side… but in the wise words of carl’s jr… if it doesn’t get all over the place, it doesn’t belong in your face.

tom douglas, you did us a solid with your bakery. that is probably why in our time here, we knocked out 4 out of 12 of your establishments. we were impressed.

Dahlia Bakery
2001 4th Ave
Seattle, WA 98121

By fabliss | October 23rd, 2013 | Coffee, Tea, & Bakeries, Dessert, Food, Restaurants, Seattle, Travel | 3 Comments

Top Pot Doughnuts | Seattle, WA

we are back from vacation (seattle and then vancouver) and it is food posting time! as some of you may know, in the past couple of years, we have based our travels on food (italy and thailand) and more recently football venues (candlestick park and now seattle centurylink field)! we were only away for 10 days (5 days in seattle and 5 days in vancouver)…but we ate. a lot.

one of our first stops: top pot doughnuts in belltown since a ton of people have been raving about it! quick tip – we loved staying at the renaissance in downtown (a little less than a mile away from centurylink field) since everything was a max 15 minute walk away. (a review of seattle to come later) anywho. top pot doughnuts.

we ordered a raspberry glazed cake doughnut, a double trouble doughnut (chocolate cake w/ chocolate glaze) and a cup of black coffee.

doughnuts were moist! i really enjoyed my pink doughnut…only thing is that we wished the doughnuts were warm. we wanted it to melt in our mouths. coffee was good. nothing too amazing but still a good complement to the doughnut.

kyle tried to dip it in his coffee. nope bad idea. too soggy.

atmosphere: this is an extremely cute joint…that reminds you of the library in beauty and the beast. (yup)
service: very friendly. we loved our cashier. small line when we got there around 9 am on a saturday but it cleared pretty quickly.
overall: good doughnuts. some may find the cake donuts on the dense side. i didnt really mind this. good breakfast joint. we read that this was the best doughnut in the nation… we didnt think so but it is still pretty good. dont expect anything earth shattering.

Top Pot Doughnuts
2124 5th Ave
(between Lenora St & Blanchard St)
Seattle, WA 98121
Neighborhood: Belltown

By fabliss | September 30th, 2013 | Coffee, Tea, & Bakeries, Food, Restaurants, Seattle, Travel | 1 Comment

Doughnut Dolly | Oakland, CA

oh, doughnut dolly in oakland, why were you not around when i was in college? at $3 a piece, you have a variety of flavors to choose from. the filling flavors change on the regs but the naughty cream is a constant. we went here on a saturday morning… the line wasn’t too long.

my favorite is the naughty cream filling (which is similar to the cream filling you would find in a cream puff). pris and stella enjoyed the raspberry lemon jam and the dark chocolate fillings.

my doughnut was perfect with a black cup of coffee. don’t expect the most exceptional coffee…but a still a good pair with the doughnut. note that the raspberry lemon is on the sweeter side…so you definitely will need the coffee to offset.

so, i am a fan of this doughnut. the doughnut is soft and fluffy and the cream filling is a plus!

atmosphere: very cute doughnut shop that will steal your heart. on top of that, the alley that it’s located in is stupid cute. i wanted to spend all day here. go oakland!
parking: only street parking.
service: one woman shop. very nice and quick service.
food: doughnuts are great. i would come back here. i didn’t know this at the time of ordering but you can actually request mixed flavors. i’m sure the naughty cream / coffee is amazing!

Doughnut Dolly
482 B 49th St
Oakland, CA 94609

By fabliss | September 29th, 2013 | California, Coffee, Tea, & Bakeries, Dessert, Food, Restaurants, San Francisco / Oakland, Travel | 0 Comments

Milk Jar Cookies | Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles

stella came to visit this weekend so that obviously means some food adventures were gonna go down! we went to milk jar cookies on wilshire after sunday brunch at aoc (to be posted later). this place is uber cute. come on, it’s called milk jar cookies. how can it not be cute? if you need a mental picture of what this place will look like, think: pastels, lots of milk jugs, and cookies on milk glass cake stands.

for the six of us, we got a dozen cookies for $30 (we used a 10% coupon we got for checking in)…$2.50 per cookie is pretty market for cookies these days (go milk jar cookies!). we also got a glass bottle of 2% milk (i mean who eats cookies without milk).

oh, and they proudly serve fosselman’s ice cream… ya know, for those who live for ice cream sandwiches.

food: 12 cookies. we pretty much got every flavor. cookies worth mentioning:

banana split (has chocolate so i did not taste) – this was a big hit. it was still warm and gooey.
white chocolate raspberry – this was my favorite. perfectly paired with milk.
chocolate raspberry
mint chocolate
rocky road
cinnamon sugar

so these cookies are thick. not you’re average flat cookie. psh. who eats flat cookies when you can have fat ones? all of the cookies were crisp on the outside and so soft on the inside (my favorite kind of cookie). some might find these a little doughy so i get if some people dont become fans but i enjoy them.

cute details:

if you decide to get milk with your cookies (obviously a good choice), you get milk glasses with pastel striped paper straws. (the straws you see in every wedding on pinterest)
milk jars everywhere (even the lamps)
fresh flowers on each table
paper flowers

parking: street parking. since it was a sunday, all meters were free. (score)
service: guys were nice.
overall: we will be coming back to you, milk jar cookies for some cookies and cold milk (obvi). if you are in the area, i would recommend stopping by and checking it out.

Milk Jar Cookies

5466 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Categories: Dessert, Bakery, Coffee & Tea

By vivilinh | August 18th, 2013 | Baking, Coffee, Tea, & Bakeries, Dessert, Food, Restaurants | 6 Comments

Banana Pudding @ Magnolia Bakery | Los Angeles, CA

i have heard so many good things about this so-called banana pudding at magnolia bakery. twice i tried to go there and try it but one time they were closed and the other time they were closed for a private baking class. but, my awesome friend picked some up for me to try! score! (thank you, christine!)

the pudding: this is what heaven tastes like…for sure. lots of bananas, lots of wafers… fluffy pudding. i know it doesnt look good but it will blow your mind. ugh. i am so in love. i obviously could not help myself and had take a few bites before taking a picture of it.

if you come here, the banana pudding is all you need to know. i was not a fan of the cupcakes here (they were dry and a little too sweet for my taste).

we will definitely meet again, banana pudding.

8389 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Neighborhood: Mid-City West