When my friend suggested a "research" trip to LuLu Cake Boutique last Saturday, I was all over it. Saturday mornings I weigh in at Weight Watchers. The rest of my Saturday is always my splurge/non diet day. They don't serve brunch there so we checked out Westville first. She wanted to sample the cakes to see if they were worthy of pre-ordering and bringing back home for Thanksgiving.
She found out about LuLu's because it got a good review in the New York Times. The reviewer said it was a French neighborhood bakery. It's worth a detour even if it's not in your neighborhood. LuLu has two other locations one in Scarsdale and one in Brooklyn. LuLu's offers classic such as chocolate cake along side with gourmet versions of childhood classics (Twinkies, Snowballs, Oreos, Funny Bones, etc).
The funny part about LuLu's is that they are next door to New York Sports Club. It seems to be a Saturday morning ritual that many work out and than come to LuLu's for a special treat. Everyone in line was in workout clothes and had a gym bag with them!
LuLu's is a small modernish looking shop. There are no places to sit though and only a short counter to lean on. LuLu's is basically a take out place. In LuLu's timing is everything. Items are brought out when ready. They are purchased on a first come first serve basis. When we first arrived there was only one slice of cake. However, fifteen minutes later, two more plates of cake slices came out (cheesecake, and chocolate). By the time we left the cake was almost all gone! The cake slices are the best deal at $4.50 per slice. The slices are HUGE and probably 2 to 3 times a normal slice would be. Cupcakes are $2.75 and large cookies are $3.00. Whole cake prices are a bit steep and start at about $45.00 for a small cake (serves 6-8). For the sake of research I ordered a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting, a shortbread cookie sandwich (with lemon curd), chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and cheesecake with strawberry. Since the cake slices were huge, we asked them to cut them in half. That way we were able to try a little bit of many things. My friend also got a red velvet "Twinkie" covered in white chocolate.
LuLu's is worth a trip. My favorite was the cheesecake because the graham cracker crust was buttery and the cake was not overly sweet. I thought I would love the chocolate fudge covered devil's food but found it only so so. Not bad but not worth a special trip to buy. The shortbread cookie sandwich was exactly what I had hoped for. It tasted like good quality butter, yum! Although, I'm not sure if that cookie was worth the three bucks. If you are going to splurge and eat bad for you food, you might as well go all out. I recommend the cake slices since they are the best deal and HUGE! Even if you plan on entertaining with LuLu's your best bet would be to buy a few slices of the cakes, that way you have variety and save some $.