Saturday 18 February 2012

Dee-light-ful

I'm sorry I'm sure I'm not the first and won't be the last to use Dee-Light-Ful in a review of this great new addition to Balham. Dee Light bakery has made quite an impact in very short time. I think most people that have been there agree that it is a great addition to Ritherdon Road. After such a great start I can see Dee Light Bakery becoming one of the big stars of the Balham food and coffee scene.

I've been to Dee Light on a few occassions now but was anticipating leaving my review of this one till the end of my odessy, however after a bad lunch at Horti-culture we felt we needed a nice coffee and cake to lift our spirits. We intended to go to Trinity Stores, another favourite, but they were full. So we headed down to Dee Light. By this stage it was getting a little late in the day but we were still able to get our coffee and cake.

The order:
1 single espresso
1 flat white
1 lamington
1 coconut cake


The lamington, before we knew how great it was going to be


Unfortunately the flat white was a bit too hot and a bit weak. I'm not sure if the heat spoiled the coffee flavour or not, whatever it was it wasn't quite the intense espresso flavour coming through that you expect of a flat white. The milk, apart from possibly being too hot was well streched so had a thick creamy texture.

The espresso was good, great full, intense flavour which stayed in the mouth.

The lamington was definitely the highlight, and a big highlight too. Thick icing which was solid, soft sponge with cream and jam inside, it was perfection.

The coconut cake was also very very good. The cake was quite heavy but in a good way, it was balanced perfectly with a thick smothering of icing, yum.

I was pleased to see they've finally got a till after using a bowl for their takings for a while. Not sure they've got their card machine installed yet, I think they'll need one as I imagine some people will go expecting to buy a load of delicious fresh bread and end up ordering more than the change in their pocket can afford.

So really just the one gripe, they're still yet to get their flat white consistently right but I think they can get there.

Scores:
Coffee
Hot: 10/13 (although maybe the flat white was too hot)
Aroma: 8/13
Flavour: 7/13  (espresso good, flat white average)
Texture: 12/13 (proper flat white milk)
Presentation: 9/13 (looked great)

General
Service: 9/13
Food: 11/13
Atmosphere: 11/13

Overall 10/13.

So they might struggle to have the best coffee in Balham based on that visit but I think they will be contenders, if there is a final I suspect they will be there.

Another draw for some people will be the gluten free options, I can't speak for them but I do they have some. On the other hand I don't think they had Chai Latte on the menu, I think this place should do a Chai Latte, but that's just my (and Mrs Spiller's) opinion.

If you haven't been to Dee-Light, go. It's great, it's got a good vibe, very open and friendly. Chances are you will get a good coffee and make sure you have an empty stomach when you go because the food is yum.

As this is a popular new place there's been a couple of other reviews about which are worth a read...
swishjunction
glutenfreecakelover

I can't find any listings on the main restaurant/cafe revew sites but have tried adding it to Urban Spoon so hopefully more people can find this hidden gem.

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