Elan Cafe
Remember when I treated myself to Cut at 45 Park Lane a couple of days ago? Well, on my walk back, I walked past this insanely pretty cafe, located next to the The Dorchester. Elan Cafe has only been open a short amount of time (7 days to be precise), but they’re already packed by 9am every day. With floral walls, pretty cakes, and pink cups, this is an Instagram haven. Bonus: it’s all halal!
The first thing that caught my eye at Elan Cafe was the huge dessert section, filled to the brim with all kinds of pastries, cakes, and brownies.
The Food at Elan Cafe
I set my heart upon the coloured croissants that had been stuffed with raspberry jam, pistachio cream, and Nutella. I would have liked the croissants to be a little more buttery and flaky, and perhaps have a pistachio cream instead of paste inside of them.
They also offer savoury croissants too and I picked up this cute tiny one with beef bresola. The beetroot hummus added a nice tartness to the savouriness of the beef.
I’ve become a big almond milk advocate as of late, so decided on an almond cappuccino. Yes, I don’t think I will order any coffee with non-dairy again after that catastrophe, however cute the teddy was!
FAB kept it light and opted for the acai bowl topped with granola, fresh fruit, and cute little flowers. Although it was too pretty to eat, we dug in and I was shocked at how delectable and refreshing it was, and this was the best dish of the day for me!
I had opted for the merguez sausages with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. Although the plate was decorated nicely, Elan Cafe had drowned my eggs in a runny hollandaise sauce, the merguez sausages were quite tough to eat, and I found the toasted muffin had become too hard to eat. The pricing point was a little weird too, as the dish already came with eggs, but you had to pay extra for poached eggs, and extra for hollandaise sauce. Why not just make it one dish at one price without all the extra additions?
The total bill amounted to approximately £45 for two people, so £22.50 each. Pricey, especially just for a casual meal, but this is Park Lane after all! Although Elan Cafe serve pretty, Instagrammable dishes, I’m not sure I can say that that the quality and taste of the food is up to the same standard. There also seemed to be a particular off-putting smell emitting from the drainage located just outside the restaurant near the seating area. Hopefully, this will be fixed as time goes on. Having said that, it has just opened up so teething issues are a given, plus they have plenty of other items on the menu that I am yet to try, such as the lamb shoulder an the pide.
For more information, check out Cafe Elan’s Instagram page
