Alexander's Patisserie, Mountain View

Upon exiting Maison Alyzee, I promptly crossed the street for Alexander's Patisserie. Talk about a literal patisserie face-off--they're staring each other down from across the street. Fine with me though. More patisseries means more sweets for me to enjoy ^.^

Thankfully, Alexander is twice as big as Alyzee, and their offerings much less chocolatey. On our first trip, I had a little less than an hour to leisurely browse all the displays and picked out the prettiest cake to try. Can you guess which? ^.^

Of course it's the rose cake! When I was younger, I used to think things can be too good to be enjoyed. Like this cake. I'd think it's too pretty to eat and I'd sit and admire it for a long time before taking nibbles. Back then, I'd buy a lipstick or eye shadow or blush or powder that's just too beautiful to use and then wouldn't touch it for years. Not anymore. May be it has something to do with having a kid and getting older, but now when I see a beautiful cake I'd think, oh yeah, that's mine and I'm going to eat all of it. xD But of course I'd take pictures first.

This, folks, was a rose tiramisu. It didn't taste anything like a tiramisu, but I didn't care. It was delectable. The cake itself was fluffy and moist. The icing was only lightly sweet, creamy, and buttery. From presentation to taste, everything about this cake was exactly what I was used to in Japan and I was stoked. Let's just say I'm not too fond of the cake choices I get where I live.  

After I gobbled up the rose tiramisu, I couldn't help but get another cake, this time a Grand Cru Bora-Bora Tahiti Vanilla mousse cake. Also delectable and not too sweet. At this point, I was ready to eat all the cakes in the store but my sensibility (and those stubborn baby pounds) stopped me.

The next morning, prior to heading out to the San Jose airport, I stopped by again to grab some pastries for breakfast for the both of us. I picked a savory danish with goat cheese, cherry tomatoes, and crumbled bacon, and a ham and cheese croissant. Once we went through security, we wolfed them down so fast I didn't have the chance to take pictures. These photos I took of the to-go bag before rushing out of the shop xD

On the second trip, thanks to the rain Alexander was mostly empty just like Alyzee across the street. So I felt more comfortable taking more pictures.

I love macarons but didn't try any of these. In contrast with the beautiful cakes, I thought these colors were garish and none of the flavors caught my interest anyway.

Same with the chocolates.

I did like that they have several different kinds of croissants though. I stopped by again the next morning before leaving for the airport and grabbed a few different croissants for my parents and sister.

The cake offerings were more subdued, and yet somehow I still managed to pick out 3 cakes to try.

This time, I picked a matcha roll cake, another matcha cake bar with mousse, and a third mousse cake I forgot the name of. I didn't have time to sit and enjoy them so I took them to go instead and ate them later that night at the hotel.

All three were just as delectable as the first two I had in September. If we have a chance to travel to Mountain View again I'll definitely try more cakes. Sensibility and stubborn baby pounds be damned. Ha.

Anyway, backtrack to earlier that evening, hubby had to run off to a work-related meet-up and we stopped in for him to grab a cappuccino and a quick bite of quiche. He hated both. To be fair, I think it was a bad combination of their espresso machine being broken (hubby insisted on getting coffee anyway) and hubby being a coffee snob who makes his own pour-over and drip coffee at home. My thoughts at the time: why getting coffee here if you know you're going to hate it? The quiche he said was mushy and disgusting. I didn't have any because I don't like quiches to begin with. Can't please everybody :P

Us on the flight home the next morning. Dammit I miss those cakes.