Review: Dulce (Ikoyi)
In October last year, I saw this video in which the founder of Dulce (pronounced doolsay) Café and Bakery, Kajal Khurana, spoke about how the cafe started out as an online baked goods store - Kajal’s Cookies. She also mentioned how people raved about the ‘American-style cookies’ they made, which were unlike the ‘hard biscuit-type cookies’ we typically find in Nigeria. And yeah, I definitely am pro soft, gooey cookies, so I probed further by visiting their IG page. When I saw how good their cinnamon rolls looked, I quickly made a mental note to visit them.
I have no idea why it took me 6 months to do so 😂, but I finally made it over the Easter holiday. The café is nestled in a complex that just seemed to have a lot going on. In fact, my friend and I thought we were in the wrong place when we saw the carpet store and nail salon, but the café was behind it all and when we got there, we were greeted with warm smiles by the wait staff. Dulce has a large outdoor seating area with a courtyard theme while its interior space is more cosy and contemporary. We opted to sit outside for lighting sake and it worked out since the multiple fans spread around the space compensated for the heat.
(Couldn't take pictures of the indoor space without invading on the diners’ privacy)
Once we settled in, our waiter pointed us to the QR code menus and brought a stool for my bag - one thing I will always appreciate in the few Lagos restaurants that provide it as a big bag girlie. There were three separate menus: one for food, one for drinks and one for baked goods. There wasn't a starter section on the food menu, so we decided to start with a plain croissant and chocolate croissant from the bakery menu. For the main dish, I had a Ham & Cheese croissant with a side of spiced wedges while my friend ordered the Parmesan French Toast. And then for drinks, I ordered the Iced Dulce Signature Latte while my friend had a Mango Iced Tea.
Plain Croissant
Chocolate Croissant
We got our drinks and improvised starters within 10 minutes, a pretty commendable turnaround time in my opinion. Both croissants had a thin, crisp exterior while the insides were really buttery, allowing for a smooth, melt-in-your-mouth texture. Plus, they tasted absolutely scrumptious, even without the help of the chocolate crust and filling — which I suspect was Nutella — on the chocolate croissant. Needless to say, they got it completely right with the croissants.
Dulce Signature Iced Latte
Mango Iced Tea
The drinks, on the other hand, were underwhelming for me. Maybe it’s my fault for having high expectations, but whenever I see ‘signature’ in the name of a menu item, I expect the restaurant to go all out and sweep me off my feet. The Dulce Signature Latte did not do that in the slightest; the sweet, caramel notes from the dulce de leche could not be found and I barely tasted the cinnamon. To me, there was nothing that made the drink stand apart from a regular iced latte. The Mango Iced Tea was also too mild for me, both in terms of the actual mango flavour and sweetness. Just based on these two, I'd say Dulce is stingy with sugar when it comes to drinks.
Ham and Cheese Croissant
Spiced Wedges
In another 10 minutes, our main courses got to us. Oh yeah, I should mention that I liked how the waiter happily announced every meal and drink as he placed it on our table — there was even a bit of a British accent situation that fizzled out as the afternoon went on, lol. Anyhoo, just from the looks of my Ham and Cheese croissant, I knew I was in for a treat because the kitchen was very generous with that ham and cheese. The ham was a bit smoky, well-salted, juicy and tender, while the gooey, melted cheese tied in all the flavours together nicely. All in all, it was a really good savoury sandwich. I had to wait a few more minutes for the spiced wedges, but I honestly could have done without them. They were spiced on the outside, but I feel like the seasoning (mainly salt) didn’t really enter. On the upside, it was crisp and the sweet and spicy mayo dip made up for the lack of flavour.
Parmesan French Toast
Bacon
My friend’s Parmesan French Toast looked even more irresistible, but we did not appreciate the addition of the poached eggs. It was literally listed on the menu, so it’s not like they ambushed us with it, but we somehow missed it. We sha steered clear of it because we both don’t believe in runny eggs (no apologies to all runny egg lovers in the house because I don’t know what you lot are doing 🙏🏽). The brioche was also melt-in-your-mouth soft and well-covered in the parmesan, allowing for flavour-packed bites. The veggies were fresh and the hollandaise sauce added a nice touch. The meal also came with two slices of bacon that were served like they were an afterthought as they were in a separate plate without any pizazz. The bacon tasted good though, was well-salted and not too chewy. However, my friend wished it had been fried till it was golden brown and a bit crispier. I braved the poached eggs for you guys’ sake; the whites were fairly seasoned and the yolk oozed out easily when poked, so as far as poached eggs go, they did it justice—I still don’t support this thing sha.
Large cinnamon roll and Churro Cookie
By the time we were done with the main courses, I honestly didn’t have any room in my tummy for more so I packed my dessert - one of their famed cookies and a large cinnamon roll - to go. The Churro Cookie looked promising, but while massive, the cinnamon roll looked burnt so my hopes of finally having a great cinnamon roll were already crushed. (No, seriously, it seems Lagos has a subpar cinnamon roll pandemic and I need the relevant authorities to do something about it 🙏🏽.) When I had the roll later, though, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Once I got past the hard top layer, it got much softer and the abundant cinnamon flavour and sweetness came through. The Churro Cookie was sublime right from the jump: gooey (courtesy of the caramel filling), soft but crispy, really sweet and bursting with cinnamon flavour. The people who raved about Kajal’s cookies weren’t lying.
POSTSCRIPT
I might not order a drink again, but I’m sold on their food and treats.
VERDICT
PARKING
There’s a parking lot, but it’s a busy complex so you might have to do street parking
DAMAGE
Plain Croissant- N2,000
Chocolate Croissant - N2,500
Dulce Signature Iced Latte - N4,500
Mango Iced Tea- N3,500
Parmesan French Toast- N12,500
Ham and Cheese Croissant - N4,500
Spiced Wedges - N4,000
Water - N889
Churro Cookie - N2,000
Cinnamon Roll (large) - N3,000
P.s. Beware of their 2.5% service charge, in addition to the 7.5% VAT and 5% consumption tax.