Igor's Pastry -- Good

I regularly buy stuff from Igor's because they're good and I'm willing to pay more for that quality. Nothing stands out, though. I never crave Igor's--it's just there. If I pass by an Igor's, I might stop by and get something, but I never go out of my way just to go to Igor's.

I really like Igor's flaky puff pastry. They don't use the cheap ingredients that leave your mouth oily and grainy (maybe shortening?). Tuna puffs. Mm. Since they make puff pastry so well, naturally their croissants are also delicious. I highly recommend the end-to-end chocolate croissant.

Their breads are all good except for the French bread (but I haven't found great crusty French bread in Surabaya). Each bakery has its own style when making bread. Igor's breads are soft and chewy, just how Asians like it.

I was surprised at how good the truffles are! They look nice and colorful to boot. Just don't expect too much liquor in the truffles, as alcohol is ridiculously expensive in Indonesia. The truffles should make a delicious and pretty gift.

I'm not crazy about the cakes, though. Most of them fall short of my expectations maybe because of Igor's aggressive advertising. I see an ad and think to myself, "that looks delicious. I'll have to try it soon." But it's never as good as I was led to believe. Objectively, I'm sure the cakes are good and well-made.

The cheesecakes are mediocre when you've had the real thing in America. I don't blame Igor. Cheesecake just doesn't taste the same if not made with Philadelphia cream cheese, which I've never seen in Surabaya. Igor might be using French cream cheese. You might think France makes better cheese, but cream cheese is actually an American invention! The French cream cheese is relatively bland compared to America's intensely tangy cream cheese.

Igor recently launched mille crepes. I was excited because I love mille crepes but Igor's just doesn't taste right. Yes, those crepes would be excellent served individually on a plate, but for mille crepes you need to make the crepes even softer. The mille crepes' layers fall apart easily and the crepes themselves are just ever so slightly hard.

I've tried some of the other stuff, like the millefeuille and some other fruit layered cake. They're okay, but not something I'd buy at that price.

What I do recommend, though, is the birthday cake from Igor's. They don't taste that good (I hate birthday and wedding cakes, so it's just my preference) but the fondant decorations are amazing! If you have a kid in kindergarten or elementary school, they will surely love Igor's playful and imaginative decorations.