Cakes, as the name implies is a coffee shop that sells plenty of freshly baked cakes. Located on a small street in a blue house among private homes in the Pocitos neighborhood of Montevideo Uruguay, Cakes is one place most would refer to as “off the beaten track”.
From the outside, it looks like a private home if you miss the white “Cakes” sign. There is an iron gate in front and a few steps to take before you enter the main room. Inside the coffee shops are several rooms. While we were there, most of the afternoon coffee patrons were women.
In Uruguay, afternoon coffee time at 4 pm is an important time of the day. It’s when most people take their break and indulge in dulce de leche filled cookies, cakes and cupcakes with a cup of tea or coffee. Dinner is usually served at 10 pm.
If you’ve never been to Uruguay you must learn about dulce de leche before you arrive. Dulce de leche is caramelized milk jam. It is sold in jars as spreads for crackers and toast. It’s as if every piece of dessert in Uruguay has dulce de leche.
Every afternoon, Cakes has an afternoon coffee time special for two. In the menu were cafeteria, jugo de naranja, tostados y scones con manteca y mermelada, alfajores, sandwiche de pan de nuez, sandwiche caliente y 2 medias porciones de torta a eleccion for 450 Uruguayan pesos (about $24).
Not all items were served at the same time. For the first course, you’ll get coffee, orange juice, scones, toast with butter and jam, hot and cold sandwiches and alfajores. The second course, you’ll be given a choice of two pieces of cakes. We suggest getting Cakes’ famous Ramón Novarro – chocolate cake filled with dulce de leche. We chose Mediterraneé and Ramón Novarro.
If you are in the Pocitos area of Montevideo you must visit Cakes for the Uruguayan afternoon coffee and cakes experience.
Cakes is located at José Ellauri 1067 in Pocitos neighborhood.
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