 |
This cafe overlooks the main green that slopes down towards the promenade, where everything that Hunstanton can throw at you as a childish diversion resides. The cafe's interior, sits uncomfortably between spacious and sparse. I'd like to say it was a symphony in grey, but that would require much more effort than the uniform pale grey tone here can make. Bare of much to ornament its walls without the satisfaction of achieving minimalism, it is, in short, characterless - with very sticky tabletops.
It was a bit late in the day for a Flat White so I toned down the caffeine to a Latte. Not that I needed to let such cosmopolitan worries about caffeine intake get the better of me. The Latte came in a mug, yes, a generic white ceramic mug straight from the local cash and carry. The contents looked disconcertingly like used dishwater. Beneath its feeble frothy surface lay what was in fact just an ordinary milky cup of coffee. Inoffensive were it not for its blandness. Thank god I didn't order a Flat White or my disappointment level would have gone much further than peeved.
And so, to the Carrot Cake. Oh, how I wish I could really let go and explode into rhapsodic language, about how the cake turned my impressions around, that any place which could serve such a superlative carrot cake could be forgiven a minor slip with the quality of the coffee. But, alas, it was not to be so - it was more than slightly dry for starters. Its texture actually wasn't that bad, so there might be a slight possibility a carrot was once waved in its vicinity. However, the more it stayed tumbling up and down around the region of my taste buds I could sense something else was awry on an ingredient level.
It was Hubby who put his finger on it. Not only was this cake Gluten Free, without informing you it was, the flavouring was the mixed spice equivalent of a cheap men's after shave. I've nothing against cakes being gluten free so long as they steer clear of me and I of them. But there is a growing tendency to assume there's no difference between a Gluten Inclusive and a Gluten Free version, which is just not true. A Gluten Free Carrot Cake will always be for me a Fake Carrot Cake. There are currently increasing numbers of, undoubtedly well meaning ,cafes and cake shops who serve you nothing but the buggers.
Where does this leave those of us with a robust digestive system? Are we forced forever into an inclusive world where Carrot Cakes are pale imitations of the traditional? If I were not so liberal minded and fearful of triggering the sensitivities of social media, I'd say fuck off to Gluten Free. So, just to be clear I haven't actually said that,OK, I'm declining to endorse the content of my private internal unvocalised vitriol online.
All this was disguised, or do I mean relieved, by the sweetness of its frosting. Boy was the sucrose high. Sugar hit coming up!
CARROT CAKE SCORE 2/8
No comments:
Post a Comment