For the past few years, Dhaka's pastry scene has undergone an overhaul. Many places now offer French delicacies like pain au chocolat and croissant.
Most of these bakeries are run by passionate young pastry chefs who have come back to Bangladesh with high culinary skills.
Rose Pastry Studio is the newest place in town with Parisian vibes, instagrammable interiors and mouth watering pastries and breakfast.
"We thought we'd specialize in desserts and get good at it," founder Isabella Khalil explained.
Food
Their strawberry cheesecake is baked in a rich graham cracker base, topped with their luscious in-house ruby red strawberry jam and a thin layer of strawberry mousse shaped like a gorgeous red pout.
The sweet-tart strawberry flavour envelops your palate, but the richness of the cream cheese fills your tongue so that you don't regret a mouthful of this cheesecake bliss.
Every bite of this is wonderful, with special recognition going to the house-made jam that gives a little tartness.
Macarons in a variety of flavours are produced from scratch, including chocolate, coffee, passion fruit, lemon, and pistachio.
The inside of the chocolate macarons is soft and chewy, while the outside is paper-thin and crisp. You'll fall in love with chocolate all over again as you take that first bite and sink your teeth into the gooey but chewy centre of the chocolate delicacy.
Every bite of their lemon macarons is a delight, packed to the brim with a zesty flavour.
All of the wonderfully constructed macarons have one thing in common: you can genuinely taste the promised flavour.
All while maintaining the texture of crunchy and creamy components and creating the perfect array of brightly coloured sandwich cookies.
Their version of the typical black forest cake is a little different, and they try not to overpower your taste buds with too much cherry flavour.
In this decadent dessert, a chocolate sponge, berry compote, vanilla ganache, and pure couverture chocolate are disguised behind a cherry dome.
Because the sharpness of the berries is apparent in the smallest detail, the combination of chocolate sponge and berry compote has a flavour that lingers on the tongue even after you've completed the bite.
The French toast served with brioche is the most luxurious and indulgent dessert/breakfast option on the menu. This airy and sumptuous breakfast is served with vanilla ice cream on top of soaked brioche, blueberry compote, and cream cheese. And the final touch of vanilla ice cream will astound you.
The price range for a lunch at Rose Pastry starts at Tk110 and goes up to Tk700 for desserts, and Tk2000 for savoury items.
Ambience
Paris is the first thing that comes to mind when you walk into the premises, which is located in Gulshan 1. The door is a vivid green colour that combines mint and seafoam, and spotlights illuminate it.
The whole place is coloured in pastels, in rose pink and chamomile green. You will be on a walkway of maple wood floors.
Cakes and macarons are beautifully presented in a glass box, the kind of place that would be a dream as a child.
Challenges
Opened in November 2022, it was a challenge for this five-month-old dessert cafe to convince consumers in Dhaka that while it isn't a franchise it is nonetheless a genuine local brand.
"It took a little time for us to win their trust since people in Dhaka have a preconceived concept that if you don't belong to a franchise or are not an international brand, you can't be trusted," she added.
According to Khalil, the fact that they opened after the Covid-19 outbreak was a stroke of luck on their part.
"It's a good thing we didn't start our business before the pandemic since the tremendous shock it would have caused would have been terrifying. "Now that we are pretty settled, I'm scared of an impending pandemic like that again," she continued.
The cafe had previously reached break-even before Ramadan.
Verdict
Rose pastry studio offers some scrumptious pastries that you should not pass up. It is excellent for spending quality time with your family following Iftar.
In my perspective, the Brioche French toast alone is worth a visit. The pricing appears to be on the higher side, yet it is readily justified by its location.
The ambience it offers is top-notch.
