Bonbon Pastry & Cafe
 Cleveland, Ohio        Date of Visit  09/02/16         http://www.bonboncleveland.com  

We got a hot tip about a new pastry outlet in Cleveland while we were dining at 35Brix. We are going to meet one of our long time dining companions for lunch and a trip through the food mecca West Side Market. Surprise, Bonbon is right up the street from both. They have a café menu with breakfast and brunch options that frankly sound pretty spectacular, but we are headed to lunch so we got some goodies to go.
 

What They Got...Beside The Cafe Menu That Is
 

Quaint, but sharp little space, friendly staff. The goodie counter is pretty small. The website said they have a couple key folks out and have reduced the menu throughout the previous month but the space makes me think if you don’t have a special order, your options are limited to the contents of the case. Still, there was plenty from which to choose.

We started with a pretty standard chocolate cup cake. Exceptionally moist, small crumb cake but not too much on the chocolate front. It might have been aided by some rich chocolaty frosting, but it was whipped cream based and as wimpy as the cake.

We tried their fig cookie…I was never really a fan of the fig cookies that come in a bag. Their’s is much better, cookie instead of cakey exterior and a load of figgy “not” pudding. Not something I would crave, but not terrible.
 

I found the citrus options a step up.

The lemon bar was sweet with just enough tart to qualify.

The key lime tart was the polar opposite, enough citric acid from the tiny green beasts to force a serious pucker. Like your citrus desserts sweet or sour…they have options.

We also tried the days assortment of eggy macaron cookies. Again, their version is more restrained flavor wise than my preference but were perfectly fine. I can’t remember all the flavors…I think there was a passion fruit, strawberry lavender maybe, key lime? If you find other folks too assertive, these might be right up your alley.
 

Lightly Sweet Lemon Bar
 

Then, there is the reason we will be going back. The croissants. The first was a chocolate version. Nothing wrong with it. Two little nugs of chocolate baked into layer after layer after layer after layer after layer of butter and dough. The next morning we took the chocolate-less layers, popped it in the microwave for 20 seconds to warm the butter, added a little more, and good lord was this thing delicious. They baked it to the line of danger. GBD be damned, dark brown is the place to be. The depth of flavor is so much more than just butter, consider the difference between the fast food rib sandwich and a real rack smoked to awesome. The time and heat transform it into something fantastic. Pulling it apart requires serious effort, suggesting a real old school approach to the folds developing the layers. Having trouble remembering a croissant this good. Must have been a while. We’ll definitely try some other options, including savory, but we will leave with more than one croissant next time…if they have them, guaranteed.