Hidden Cafés in Macau’s Tranquil Alleys – One Secret to Their Popularity: Tasting the “Forbidden Fruit”

▲ Although tucked away in a quiet alley, Macau’s popular café cakez cfe always attracts dessert lovers who know the hidden gems, bringing friends along to enjoy an afternoon tea break.

Reported and photographed by Tsai Wen-jun / Macau

“What does tasting the forbidden fruit feel like?” If you ask customers who’ve visited Macau’s popular café cakez café, they might tell you: it’s a sweet taste that blends refreshing tea with a hint of green apple.

Themed cafés have been popular in Taiwan for years, but the concept only recently caught on in Macau. Located in the gourmet alley not far from Senado Square, cakez café — known for its original desserts —cakez caféwas born three years ago riding this wave.

The first floor of cakez cafe is decorated mainly in light yellow, and the sofa-style seating allows every customer to relax in the most comfortable space while enjoying the meals.

Though the location is a bit tricky to find, the café has built a loyal following in a short time, thanks to its unique and ever-changing featured desserts rolled out every 3 to 4 months, as well as its serene and cozy surroundings. The place gets especially crowded on weekends, and behind this hit café are three stylish male pastry chefs averaging around 30 years old.

Ye Xi, one of the owners, said that the concept of themed cafés wasn’t very popular 3 or 4 years ago, and dessert-themed cafés were almost non-existent. So the trio, who already had plans to open a shop, boldly quit their jobs at Galaxy Hotel and joined forces to open a pastry-focused café.

%荚?我?臃沟晏鸬阒鞴艿囊鹅?左图) is one of the stylish owners who founded Cakez cafe; the right image shows the weekend-only dessert tower. Ye Xi explained that because weekend guests are more diverse and tend to have more time to slowly savor various desserts, the tower is only offered on holidays.

It took about eight or nine months from planning, decoration to opening. The then second dessert-themed café in all of Macau, “cakez café,” was officially launched. Right after opening, it garnered huge attention and attracted long lines of dessert enthusiasts, with waits of up to over an hour at times.

The desserts in the café are all the result of brainstorming and refinement by the trio, though some are individual creations. Among the long-standing popular items is“Napoleon”— an idea from Ye Xi. He explained that the biggest feature of the desserts at cakez café is that they’re made to order. Take the Napoleon, for example: its outer layers are freshly baked upon ordering, so customers can enjoy the ultimate warmth and crispiness.

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