There are a multitude of captivating window displays along the King’s Road but it takes iron will and determination to not pause and salivate at L’Eto Caffe‘s mouthwatering food display. Using floor to ceiling windows, they have very strategically placed finely crafted artisanal cakes at the forefront of the shop display.
Upon entering the shop, which is half the battle won for them, you are confronted on all corners by a plethora of visual delights. Apart from the showcase of cakes, for the sweet-toothed among us, there is a whole counter filled with imaginative truffles: green tea, coconut, cinnamon and apple, gluten-free and sugar-free. They have a multitude of options and I am sure if it’s not a flavour they have, they would happily take suggestions for new flavours.
For those health conscious-minded, there is a dizzying array of colourful salads, fresh looking seafood and meat platters. You could be at a vibrant local street market, except for the fact the dishes look so picture perfect, it feels more like a film set.
Despite the numerous options, a quick glance at the menu would indicate this is more of a 1 course venue. Most of the starters, salads and desserts are on display and the menu mainly focuses on their main courses. Heading towards the banquet of nutritious delights, you would think it’s easy to pick when the dishes are in front of you. How very wrong I was. After an inordinate amount of food gazing, I opted for the herb crusted smoked salmon.The fish had a desirable rich oily texture with a flavoursome crust, but it did feel like it had been sitting around on display for quite some time.
Restaurants love to rave about the quality of the ingredients. For L’Eto, this really is something to shout about. How often do you see seabass inside ravioli? And in a creamy lobster bisque with prawns and cherry tomatoes. It had the ideal balance between healthiness and indulgence. For once, you can actually taste prime quality ingredients inside a ravioli instead of a mash of nothingness.
A bottle of Birichino Malvasia Bianca with its lightly perfumed fragrantness is the ideal partner for the seabass ravioli. Although it isn’t all about alcohol here, as they also have a fine selection of premium teas and fruit concoctions for you to choose from.
It is probably illegal to leave their premises without trying one of their addictive cake recipes. None more so then their best seller: the honey cake. It’s six layers of honey-dipped cake filled with sweetened sour cream. If I was going to have one addiction in my life, it would have to be this. It was moist, not overly sweet and utterly desirable.
If all window displays were as enticing as L’Eto’s, King’s Road might become as busy as Oxford Street, as we would all want a piece of the action (as well as the cakes).