Chris Y.
Yelp
Having just finished my lunch, I was about to head off to get my customary boba after meal to appease my sweet tooth.
But after thinking about it, I decided that I wanted something else to fulfill my sugar needs, and that's what brought me to Casa Del Alfajor, located in the Park & Shop, right next to the Goodwill Store, and Kansai. What used to be here was Bonjour, a Korean/French bakery which had a nice bread selection like those you'd find at Sheng Kee, or other Asian style bakeries, but on the pricier side, but hit or miss on the quality.
The first time I saw that Casa Del Alfajor, I always thought it was just a replacement bakery with similar bread selections, and somewhat similar style of bakery.
The decor of the place has not changed much (if any, really can't tell) from the location before, and it's still a large store, with some small tables that can sit a couple to a few people, but spacious, as you could probably fit another 7-8 tables there to fill up the empty space between the eating area and the bakery area. Again, very spacious, but that could be a good and a bad thing at times.
The staff here are very friendly, and greet you when you come in, and also willing to come by and help out with selecting, and answer general questions. I can always appreciate good service.
The bread selection here is not exactly what I thought it would be. They have a very limited bread selection, and it's just basic bread, no filling, not toppings, just standard. They do look delicious, but it's definitely not a place you would come to just for the bread, so keep that in mind. As a result of this, the shelves look very empty, and sort of adds on to the whole spacious thing this place has going on.
But in the center between the breads on the wall and the counter, is what defines this place, and therein lies the cookies, or Alfajores, case, with the different assortment of the Alfajores in each case. The Alfajores comes in two sizes, with the pricing relatively scaled to their size, so it's more or less if you prefer a smaller cookie or a bigger one, and less about getting the most bang for your buck. There several different types of flavorings, and different types of creations for the same flavors. The Alfajores is mainly two cookies sandwiched together, with what I believe is caramel in the middle. Depending on which cookie you get, it might have chocolate on top, coconut, and something else I didn't pay too close attention to since I was mainly just focused on the chocolate at hand.
I picked out four of the small Alfajores, two milk chocolate ones, and two dark chocolate ones. When I got home, gave each of the Alfajores a try. While the Alfajores were nice, the cookie parts have more of a cake like property, and break down flaky rather than crunchy. The texture of the chocolate on the outside were nice, and had that good glaze going, so worked out well with the whole cake like texture of the cookies. However, though the Alfajores weren't bad, I have to say, they're not really for me, at least not these ones. The main reason why is that they really are not sweet enough for my taste. If you are someone who likes your desserts on the sweeter side, then I must warn you now that these are not the cookies for you. It's not that they're bland, but just doesn't feel like there's enough sugar that went into the blend of the chocolate they use to glaze the cookies. Unfortunately for me, it did not quell the calling of my sweet tooth, and I had to supplement it with something else after. Again, the cookie itself was great, but the chocolate, and even the caramel inside, just nowhere near the sweetness I had hoped for, albeit, I may be a sugar snob, so may be best just to try it for yourself.
This review was strictly for the Alfajores, and I will be back in the future to try out their entree menu. While it's not a very large menu, as it's more like a cafe spot, than a restaurant, but the menu items that they do have, and the pictures that I've seen people post on Yelp has certainly gotten me intrigued, and of course, a little hungry, so I look forward to when I come back for those next time. The service is great, and the people there are friendly, and seemed like a family operated, mom-and-pop feel of a place. While you wouldn't go there for the bread, I certainly recommend trying out their Alfajores, since the crumbling of the cookies when I took that first bite was pretty rewarding, even if the sweetness levels were not as so.
