BackLounge Review: Tart, Mumbai
We found a seven-layered rainbow cake and beautiful fondant creations at Aashiyana Shroff's art deco-themed pastry shop and caf
Premium
From cupcakes to cronuts—restaurateur and pastry chef Aashiyana Shroff has always been among the first in the city to offer desserts that are popular internationally. Her pâtisserie is best known for its fantastic fondant creations—from a cake that’s shaped like an actual pizza, complete with a pizza cutter, to impeccably detailed, multi-tiered wedding cakes with flowers that look real. Recently, her pastry shop, Tart, moved from a small shop on Mumbai’s Hill Road to a more spacious, café-style set-up near Mini Punjab restaurant on Hill Road and now has a seven-layered rainbow cake on its menu. We couldn’t resist paying a visit.
The good stuff
To make the most of our limited, cool winter season, we decided to have a late-night picnic in the outside section with a couple of savoury items, soft drinks and coffee. Since we weren’t too hungry, we only picked the Paneer Puff Roll ( ₹ 50) and a Stuffed Chicken Tikka Croissant ( ₹ 90) and settled for a quiet spot on the black wrought-iron table and stools. The café also stocks a sizeable range of cold sandwiches like Pesto Chicken and Harissa Chicken, salads like Thai papaya salad and single-bowl meals of Thai Curry Rice and Khao Suey—the Asian dishes come from the kitchen of the owner’s Asian eatery Vongwong at Nariman Point.
Since there were at least 50 different types of desserts, including a variety of tarts and pies like Lemon, Banoffee and Pecan, cupcakes like Red Velvet and Tiramisu, and brownies like Triple Chocolate, we were grateful that the café was generous with at least half a dozen complimentary samples of breads, cookies and cakes. Since they were all out of the rainbow cake we had been craving, we took not one, not two, but three pieces of the foot-long, seven-layered buttercream cake.
Apart from readymade 1kg and Kkg cakes in regular flavours like Chocolate Truffle and Red Velvet, the café also stocks adorable Nkg cakes, perfect for midnight birthday celebrations. We chose to take home a mini Biscuit Cake ( ₹ 220) even without a special occasion to celebrate. We’re happy to report the Kit Kat-like cake, with multiple layers of a crumbly biscuit and a smooth chocolate ganache, lasted nearly three days. In fact it was so good that we’ll definitely consider wrapping it up as a last-minute birthday present in the future.
The not-so-good
When we visited the store post-dinner, around 11pm, on a Sunday, the café’s display cabinets were still filled to the brim with desserts, sandwiches, savoury pastries, breads and cookies. Since the shop looked so full, it made us wonder why the goodies weren’t on some after-hours discount.
Though all the desserts at Tart are pretty to look at, some of the ones we sampled had an old-school crumby texture with a slightly eggy aftertaste and too-sweet icing. The cakes here seem better suited for children’s birthday parties. In a neighbourhood with multiple cupcake shops, bakeries and cafés, Tart has tough competition in terms of quality, especially since an outlet of the Theobroma chain and Le 15 Pâtisserie are within walking distance from it.
Talk plastic
Cake prices vary from ₹ 1,100 per kg for a classic three-layer vanilla cake to ₹ 1,800 per kg for the foot-long, seven-layer rainbow cake. A giant Cupcake Cake costs ₹ 2,500. Quarter-kg cake prices start at ₹ 220, savoury puffs and croissants are priced at ₹ 50-90 and pastries, cookies and brownies start at ₹ 45 each.
Tart, Solace Building, Shop No.2, near Mini Punjab restaurant, 33rd Road, Bandra (West). Click here for details or call 022-65284457.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
