Casa Romana

 Bakery: Casa Romana 
Address: 609 Ford Dr, Oakville ON 
Website: https://casaromanasweets.com/
Style: Romanian, European
Price: $$$ 

A while back, I was in Starsky supermarket when an older gentleman came up to me and started explaining that a new European bakery in Oakville had just opened and they had very good cakes. I was on cloud nine for the rest of my shopping trip; of all people in the store, why did he go to me? It was fate. It was meant to be. Oh, I was so excited! At home, I checked their website; in some ways, Casa Romana isn't really a bakery at all (even their sign doesn't say so), but a patisserie or, more specifically, a cake/dessert shop and cafe. It's not often you come across this undeniably European concept in the GTA. They did advertise a number of items online that drew my attention, namely Romanian doughnuts which I absolutely had to try, but without a doubt their focus is on pretty individual cake pieces featuring classic Romanian and Eastern European as well as pan-European varieties.

So, one Friday, I made my way over to Casa Romana and I was ready for it! Perhaps the build-up was just too monumental, the expectations too high, since I was disappointed to find that the sweet baked goods and doughnuts mentioned online were nowhere to be seen. The worker explained that all they had included savoury buns with bacon, another with feta cheese... asking about sweet ones, she pointed to some croissants and a chocolate pastry that I'd seen before....

 I do like my cake, too, though, so in the end I opted for two of the more traditional slices ($3.99 each, taxes included). The Amandina is like the national cake of Romania and is essentially a chocolate cake coated in ganache and soaked in a sugar syrup (a hint of something extra if you get lucky). It's a simple, but not so simple cake and I was ready to dive in. Nice thick chocolate ganache on top, though the swirl of frosting was totally unnecessary, the layers of dough and cream were certainly glistening, but digging in, I found the aforementioned syrup had come out too watery and instead of a moistened cake, the dough was mushy and that syrup didn't have the sweetness or flavour that I was hoping for. Taste was pretty good, but the texture of soggy dough wasn't the most enjoyable.

The second cake was a Dobosh. I think the Dobosh torte is one cake that I'm willing to try anywhere. There are always the regional variations and personal touches, but it still remains a towering mass of sponge cake and cream. This one had a hardened caramel top, except that it was burnt... very dark, almost heavy molasses brown with the distinctive taste of it having been on the stove for too long or at too high a temperature. More than that, I was sad to find the cake was stale. I mean, everything else was more or less a matter of personal opinion, but a stale cake doesn't lie: the cream and dough had that telltale crust on one side and just tasted old. :(

I was so incredibly thrilled with the opening of this lovely cake shop and was ready to immediately add it to my list of places I'd regularly return to, but first impressions are key in winning over customers and in my opinion, there's no excuse for selling anything that's stale (unless marked and priced accordingly).

Rating: **