Review: City Cakes & Cafe

You want to know how I know I’ve had a really great meal? When I’m still thinking about it almost 5 days later, 2000 miles away.

City Cakes & Cafe opened in Salt Lake City this past January and since the mother of one of my high school friends opened it, I’ve been dying to check it out. It’s cute and cozy inside; colorful but not obnoxious, modern but not cold.They make everything from scratch [except maybe the sandwich bread?], mostly vegan goods but some traditional goodies as well. Nanette, my friend’s mom and owner, (who happened to be working when I went in), told me that her vegan cooking and baking adventures began when her oldest son became a vegan a few years ago. Her younger son complained about having vegan desserts all the time to satisfy the other brother, so she promised to make vegan desserts that “didn’t taste vegan” and that people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

Go on. Drool. It’s OK. You know I won’t judge.

For lunch, I ordered the Southwest Black Bean Burger (vegan), which Nanette informed me was her own recipe. (I’m pretty sure everything in the cafe is an original recipe from her…)

I had a cup of butternut squash soup (also vegan) with my sandwich. My lunch was served with a mini chocolate chip cookie, which was a nice surprise. To be honest, the cookie wasn’t anything out of this world, but still tasty.

The sandwich, however, was out of this world. It was served on a nutty whole grain bread with lots of veggies and avocado. The black bean burger had tons of flavor and wasn’t dry like many of my black bean burgers have been in the past. The soup was also amazing; warm, rich, creamy. Seriously, I was tempted to lick my bowl.

For dessert, I ordered a Key Lime Coconut cupcake and my mom had a chocolate peanut butter cupcake. I’m not generally a cake person – I prefer ice cream and cookies – and usually like cupcakes only because they are cute. But I’ve already begged to get this recipe; it was so good. Let me say it again: it was so good. My cupcake was vegan, but my mom’s wasn’t, and I actually liked the vegan one better; it was moister. [eew….hate that word.]

  

The next day, my mom and I went back again before I went to the airport since I was still fantasizing about all the things I didn’t get to try the day before. We shared a Belgian waffle and each got a muffin, all of which was vegan and as tasty as everything the day before. They even reheated the muffins before serving them, which I thought was a nice touch.

In case you couldn’t tell, I’m  obsessed. It was reasonably priced, the food and desserts were awesome, and the service was quick and friendly (even the next day when I was served by a total stranger). If you are anywhere in Utah, I definitely recommend checking out  City Cakes & Cafe (900 S. 300 E, SLC). They were busy both times I went in and seemed to have a loyal clientele, but you’ll still get served quickly. Whether you are a vegan or not, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Are you a cake person or a cookie person?

Tagged as: dessert, reviews, vegan