La Place Rotterdam: pastry and hot drink for 1 euro

Now and until the end of April 2019, you can get a slice of cake or a cookie of choice and a hot drink (coffee, cappuccino, espresso, or tea) for 1 euro at the La Place restaurants in the Netherlands. A piece of cake alone is normally 3 euro, so it is a complete bargain. It is the price I used to pay at the HEMA store for the "4-uurtje" (hot drink and square cake set), but the quality of the drinks and cakes is better at La Place.

I think it is a way to attract more customers to the La Place restaurants (new menu and cheaper options were recently introduced like the fresh bread with homemade herb butter on the side for €1.50) and to the Hudson's Bay department stores too, since many La Place restaurants are located at the top floor of the Hudson's Bay department stores. Compared to before, the La Place restaurant in the Hudson's Bay department store in Rotterdam city centre has become significantly more crowded, even during weekdays. I have went there many times already to give my legs a rest after a long day of shopping and to enjoy a nice afternoon tea (and sometimes, a coffee).

La Place Rotterdam cake and hot drink tea cappuccino for 1 euro

What we ordered: a glass of green tea, a cup of cappuccino, a pineapple mango panna cotta tart, and a slice of carrot cake with lemon cream frosting.


La Place Rotterdam carrot cake lemon cream frosting pineapple mango panna cotta tart

The pineapple mango panna cotta tart has a hard and crunchy, buttery, almond flour sand cookie crust, a layer of pineapple jam, a dome shaped panna cotta, a leaf of mint, and pieces of sour, unripe pineapple and mango. It was quite tasty!

The carrot cake was soft and airy and not too sticky. I like that it wasn't too sweet or too heavy on herbs. The lemon frosting was also more on the sour side than only sugary sweet.

I really like the normal green tea (not the green tea mint) with lots of brown sugar, but the cappuccino is also nice. The coffee flavor has a good amount of bitterness, but the cream and cocoa powder - that you can add yourself at the cutlery section - just doesn't seem to blend well and stays behind at the bottom of the cup, after you finish it.

La Place Rotterdam homemade lemonade cappuccino pineapple strawberry tart apple crumble cake

What we ordered: two cups of cappuccino and an apple crumble cake and a strawberry tart (1 euro per set). The homemade lemonade and pineapple tart were not for 1 euro.

The homemade lemonade was not cold enough and very sour. It could use some ice cubes and a few spoons of sugar. The pineapple tart had a small dot of vanilla cream in the center and the pieces of crunchy pineapple were a bit sour. The apple crumble cake was nicely flavored with a hint of cinnamon and it was quite a large piece too. The strawberry tart from La Place is one of my favorites and the large pieces of strawberries were sweet and juicy.

La Place Rotterdam strawberry almond cake apple nuts pie green tea

What we ordered: two glasses of green tea, strawberry almond cake, and apple nuts pie.

The strawberry almond cake has a filo pastry crust, an almond paste filling, and topped with vanilla cream and fresh strawberries. It wasn't as crunchy as I imagined, but the flavors were great. The apple nuts pie was topped with plenty of crunchy and different kinds of nuts, but the apple filling was a bit bland (Did they forget to season it?).


La Place Rotterdam apple crumble cake pineapple pie

What we ordered: two glasses of green tea, apple crumble cake, and pineapple pie.

The pineapple pie is something new and it is surprisingly quite tasty. The pineapple isn't too dry and the fruit flavor is infused to the rest of the pie (a thin layer of firm custard and a buttery crust).


La place Rotterdam  apple mixed nuts tart strawberry pastry strip vanilla cream

What we ordered: two glasses of green tea, apple nuts tart, and a strawberry pastry strip.

The apple nuts tart is similar to the apple nuts pie that we ordered before. The apple pieces were this time well seasoned with cinnamon and sugar. The strawberry pastry strip has many fresh and sweet strawberries, a layer of vanilla cream, and a crispy layer of pastry dough on the bottom.

La Place Rotterdam restaurant 1 euro cake hot drink set green tea milk chocolate muffin apple tart sugared cashews

What we ordered: two glasses of green tea (added brown sugar cubes and milk from the cutlery section), a small bowl of white and milk chocolate covered peanut clusters (called "verwenmomentje" in Dutch), a chocolate muffin, and an apple tart topped with sugared cashews.

I enjoy having the green tea with 3 cubes of brown sugar and a bit of coffee milk. I have always gotten a slice of cake or a tart, but you can also pick out a muffin or cookie. So for a change, I got the chocolate muffin with soft chocolate filling. It is not the best chocolate muffin I had, but the cake is soft and the chocolate filling was creamy. The apple tart is different from the ones I had before, as it doesn't have a cinnamon flavor, but a thin layer of almond paste inside. The crunchy, sugared cashews were also a bit nicer than the unflavored mixed nuts than I had on top previously.


La Place Rotterdam restaurant apple raisin pie pineapple cake

What we ordered: two glasses of green tea, apple raisin almond pie, and pineapple cake.

The pineapple cake looked familiar, but it is actually new too (I only have a picture of a half of it, as I thought I already have a picture of it on my blog). It has a rectangular shape and it has a higher cake layer than before. I like the hard crust and soft cake center. The apple raisin almond pie has a nice layer of almond paste and the apple slices and dried fruit on top were not too sweet or sour.

La Place restaurant Rotterdam apple pie and strawberry tart

What we ordered: two glasses of green tea, an apple almond pie, and a strawberry tart.

The apple almond pie has a rectangular shape and compared to before, the apple slices are not flatly placed on the pie, but standing up and attached, similar to an accordion. It is more difficult to take a bite out of it without pulling the whole apple piece out at once, but you can taste the soft apple better now and it still has the yummy almond paste filling that I liked so much. I also saw that they provided plastic containers that can perfectly fit one of their round tarts. I wasn't that hungry, so I brought the strawberry tart home as dessert. It doesn't have the pretty rose like shape as before, but the generous amount of vanilla cream made up for that.

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