Ealing Creams ‘lack innovation’ but desserts ‘get job done’
By Yasir Khan
HALAL STATUS Fully Halal
I haven’t been to Creams since last decade with a bitter reminder to never go again, mainly due to the ice cream having ice crystals which is a cardinal sin for a gelato company.
With the family with me, I went to the Ealing Broadway branch opposite the town hall on a Saturday evening. While it was busy, there is plenty of seating available.
I got the Banana Salted Caramel Crêpe for myself, but did try all the other desserts from the family (of course).
Salted Caramel with Banana – Salted caramel gelato, caramel sauce and freshly sliced bananas.
The crepe was a simple dessert with simple ingredients. They mention ‘Salted Caramel Gelato’ on the menu, but I still don’t see this other than the cheap, no-tasting, soft scoop white ice cream (which is not vanilla by the way).
A decent enough dessert that I finished off, which has to be a good thing even with the lack of a caramel sauce. Decent price as well.
Chocolate Fudge Cake – Moist chocolate fudge cake, topped and filled with rich chocolate ganache. Served hot or cold.
The chocolate cake was rich with lots of chocolate sauce. The main thing was that the chocolate had a good taste. It was heavy! The pink thing had no taste and was more for show.
The cake was good and not dry. Overall, although this was a struggle to finish for one person, the cake was good.
Cookies & Cream Cheescake – A creamy white chocolate cheesecake on a crunchy chocolate biscuit base, filled and topped with chunks of cookies
This was weird! Wasn’t a cheesecake I’ve ever had – more a rubbery, dense piece of something or other, with cookie crumble on top; and contrary to the menu, zero cream. One word: ‘forgetable’. No, a better word: ‘avoid’; no, even better: ‘danger’.
Apple Crumbled Waffle – Apple crumble doused in hot custard and dusted with ground cinnamon.
Considering that most restaurants get waffles wrong, this was good one. With lots of variates on the menu, we went for this hot custard with apple. Strange as it sounds, it’s a great combo. With cinnamon and a choice of ice cream scoop, you can’t go wrong with this.
Strawberry Choc Indulgence Waffle – Fresh sliced strawberries drizzled with milk chocolate sauce and milk chocolate shavings.
Menu picture!
Another classic, but basic waffle. No cream here, but it came with soft scoop, tasteless ice cream again, with a choice of another scoop of geleto ice cream which really wasn’t needed. They also gave us half the amount of strawberry and chocolate than as advertised on the menu.
As for the ice cream scoops, then they have many flavours. The strawberry scoop actually had some taste to it, being creamy with no ice crystals (which was our bug from the last time visited).
Creams’ desserts are well priced. But after a decade, along with the innovation of desserts we see nowadays, this place has been left behind.
Yes, you have your classic waffles, crepes and all that, but with far superior modern desserts. there must be better ways to present these, even if it’s a few new menu items.
These guys are living in the past. The cakes are ready-made – I mean, at least make an effort for F-sakes! Other than that, what they have is good; and great for the kids and family. I guess I’ll be back next decade.
Creams
37 New Broadway, Ealing, London W5 5AH.
T: +44 (0)20 8579 7696 | W: www.creamscafe.com | E: [email protected]
Opening Hours: Sun-Thur 11:00-23:00 | Fri-Sat 11:00-00:00
