We found this newly opened dessert spot called SALSWEE, offering French style desserts and Viennoiseries, as well as some savory items like sandwiches. They are said to be an expansion of Chinese bakery in Flushing Queens called Shakalaka Bakery, but the menu offering is quite different. I would say the owner decided to open up a fancy dessert spot in Flat Iron, with everything that looks intricate, artistic, and enticing. I love the door handles in the shapes of baguette, so cute!
They had all the offerings in show window cases to the right, and some seatings to the left. You can walk down while making your selection, all the way down to where the registers are at the end. The selection of their sweet and savory items all looked so amazing! It was as if we were at a gallery, looking at some beautiful artworks. The savory items were towards the front, followed by baked sweet items, then cakes and such towards the back. We were there for afternoon desserts, so we skipped past the savory items, but they sure looked good too.
I wanted to order every single sweet item if I could… It was so hard to choose just a few! We had a nice lunch about one hour before we arrived at SALSWEE, so we were not that hungry, so we decided to go with some smaller ones, but the ones that looked really, really phenomenal.
Before we get into the ones we’ve chosen, let me talk about their drink offerings. They don’t have a massive drink menu, but a nice assortment of coffee and tea selections. All the way at the back, you will see these three massive contraptions, making their Drip Coffee. A staff told me it takes a whopping six hours to make one pot!!! The next time we go, I will definitely want to try their drip coffee…
Now, back to desserts. They had a handful of artistic “illusion desserts” that looked like fruits. There were also non-fruit desserts, but in my opinion, the desserts were out-of-this-world with its realistic look. We quickly asked for the last Orange ($10.95) they had for the day (it was in the afternoon we arrived at the SALSWEE). Then, we got a cute flower designed one which is Yuzu ($9.95), and last but not least, adorable Mushroom ($11.95). We also ordered Caramel Latte ($5.99) and Sesame Latte ($5.99). These drinks are offered only cold, which was ok with us since we wanted cold drinks. There are some other drinks that you can order hot or cold.
We started with Yuzu with a cute flower on top. It is made with Guava Coulis filling, Almond Biscuits, Vanilla Ganache, with Passion Fruit, Strawberry, and Yuzu Mousse. It was so pleasant to look at, from top to bottom. The round part was coated with thin white chocolate in pink and orange hues that gives beautiful glossy shine. On the bottom, they had crispy rice crackers, which was fun, adding completely different texture from the rest, which were soft and creamy. The mousse and filling had a lovely yuzu flavor, without overpowering the other flavors. I loved the tropical flavors with the yuzu, it was so delicious! It was not too sweet, but elegantly sweet. All the textures and flavors worked great together.
Next off, this adorable Mushroom ($11.95). It is made with Strawberry Coulis filling, Almond Biscuits, Strawberry Mousse, and Vanilla Cream Cheese. This mushroom was so cute, and they did great job making it look semi-realistic with dirt-colored bottom on the mushroom. The top part of the mushroom is filled with mousse, and the bottom is the vanilla cream cheese with strawberry coulis filling.
It has a cute mushroom shape. It has mousse cream shaped mushroom head and the stem is made out of white chocolate. inside of the stem, it is filled with strawberry puree. It is definitely sweeter than the rest of the desserts I tried here but it’s a very creative and eye-catching cake.
Last but not least, Orange ($10.95) that looks so realistic! If you saw this on a counter somewhere, you will not think that this is a dessert at all! It is made with Orange Coulis filling, Almond Biscuit, and Whipped Orange Ganache. The stem and the leaves were plastic so not edible. When we opened it up, it was impressive to look at as well. It had orange filling with bits of pulps in it, which I loved. The combination of the sweet, orange-colored white chocolate coating, and the acidic and tart orange filling was perfect! It was sitting atop the chocolate rice crispy, which went well with the orange flavor as well. What an amazing dessert!
We loved the desserts so much, we decided to bring home one of their cakes. We chose their Matcha Cake ($17.99), made with three layers of Chiffon Cake with Matcha Cream. It is a perfect size for the two of us, or even for three people. In my opinion, it would be a too small portion for four people. It had airy and fluffy chiffon cake, with loads of matcha cream. I was happily surprised to see slices of strawberries in the layers. The matcha cream had the real matcha flavor with that distinctive bitterness, which balanced out the sweet flavor of the cream.
We had an amazing afternoon dessert time here at SALSWEE. You can tell how much time and effort went into making each beautiful item they offer. They are made fresh every day, and once they sold out, that’s it. So if you are wanting a specific item that is very popular, then you might need to head there earlier to ensure you get it before they run out. We would definitely go back again for more amazing desserts!
SALSWEE – 180 5th Ave, New York, NY 10010