Have Cake, Will Mozu

Mozu Café is a comfortable hangout along Amethyst Drive in Ortigas, just right next door to Linden Suites’ Tower II. Aside from a selection of light meals and coffee on their menu, the café offers half a dozen cakes and pies. I’ve heard praises for their Toblerone Cake but we were disappointed that they didn’t have any on the very day we visited. Forgive me but I can’t resist saying: We couldn’t really have our cake and eat it too. Thankfully, Mozu Café has other selections to make up for this absence.

Here’s what we tried from the dessert counter, in our order of preference:

 

1. Banoffee Pie

I’m a sucker for Banoffee Pie ever since I tasted it in a bakers’ bazaar and when the popular Red Ribbon bakeshops eventually came out with their own accessible version. Mozu goes the same route, serving theirs cold down to the heart of the pie (the bananas, of course), which enhances the flavor. Consequently, the bananas are firm not squishy. Everything comes together like a rousing chorus with the exception of the chocolate shavings. It made the pie look good but adds nothing to the overall taste. It’s so easy to blame the chocolate because whatever brand it was, it did not give justice to the piece. Regardless, I’m still enamored with Mozu’s Banoffee Pie and I wouldn’t mind calling for an encore considering how the caramel underneath the pile of bananas rounds out the whole performance.

 

2. Mango Fantasia

The Mango Fantasia (Php 100) was delivered to the store along with a new batch of goodies just as we were leaving. Cathy had ambled over to the counter to see if any Toblerone Cake had arrived and saw this cake’s fluffy head peeking from the box. I took one home to share for dinner, an act that was very difficult to do, I would later find out. Basically a miniature version of a mango cream pie, this round “fantasy” is true to itself. The mangoes are sliced thick and layered on top of the cookie crust like smooth, yellow stones. It’s ripe and sweet with a hint of tartness, a plus when there’s a pillow of whipped cream smothering it. I had no excuse not to slice the mini-cake equally because it yielded cleanly to the knife, from the thick topping down to the mangoes and the crust. It fell apart when my spoon ravaged it, revealing a thin layer of chocolate syrup just between the crust and the mangoes. Again, the chocolate used makes the fantasy falter. It’s a minor detail but sometimes you see the spot on an otherwise spotless canvass. So mosey, don’t run, to Mozu for this pie.

 

 

3. Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

This cheesecake looked great sitting on the counter that we had to order it. Also, mention “dulce de leche” in the same breath as “cheesecake” and one can’t help but have great expectations. Alas I haven’t really found a dulce de leche cheesecake that fit the name and Mozu’s version (or their supplier’s) also falls short. I would have wished the dulce de leche-a thick caramel sauce-was slathered on the surface, to make up for this cake’s inadequacies. Except for the thread of caramel speckled on top, dulce de leche was virtually absent in this namesake dessert. The texture was smooth, almost mousse-like but not quite. Like a guy hesitating whether to approach you and introduce himself or just walk on by. It’s not too sweet (the cake, not the guy) that we mistake it for sugar-free (it wasn’t), which is a good thing for those who prefer their dessert just a tad saccharine.

Mozu Cafe is located on Linden Suites Tower II, Amethyst Rd., Ortigas Center, Pasig City. For reservations and order inquiries, please call 633-4259.

Text by Jenny Orillos. Images by Cathy Paras-Lara.

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