Andrew: You may or may not remember what used to be in place of Tapioca Express downtown: a French bakery named Marjolaine. They sold everything from éclairs to oatmeal lace cookies, and--though things were a bit expensive--everything was delicious. Growing up, my mom used to take me there pretty often, so I began to take the fine art of the French pastry for granted.
When Marjolaine closed down, I didn't make a fuss because the food seemed so typical for me. In fact, I didn't even notice the gaping hole formed in my diet from the lack of French pastries-- an essential food group-- until I was on one of my trips to France about a year ago. The pastries there are fantastic and ubiquitous. You can buy homey (but not in a bad way) pastries from the local bread shop or you can wander over to Place de Madeleine and shop for upscale desserts at Fauchon. (At a small bakery in Leon I discovered a pastry called the "Figue"--now my favorite pastry of all time... does anyone have more info on this?) Shops are stuffed in the morning and the streets are filled with people carrying pastries at any time of the day. Anyway, pastries in France are almost a way of life, so it's always disappointing to come back and realize that all we have are donuts, muffins, and Danishes-- not that they're bad, just that I miss the variety.
After my uncle Javad and my friend Ali both recommended Bijan as an excellent place for pastries, I knew I had to try it. Supposedly, they are an Iranian store specializing in French pastries. Bijan is on the edge of a huge shopping center filled with mostly Asian stores (Lion) right across from Harker.
The store is surprisingly large and there is even a patio where you can sit outside and enjoy your food. The place is well decorated and feels just like a European cafe... or at least something in a big city. It was reasonably crowded both times I visited, although it was easy to grab a seat both times. Everyone is engaged in conversation, and the staff was eager to help out customers.
Bijan has everything from cookies to wedding cakes including: Chocolate cake, mango mousse, Napoleon (also called mille-feuilles... or 1,000 leaves), princess
cake, mocha triangles, tiramisu, berry tarts, fruit tarts, cheesecake,
raspberry mousse, and tons more. On my first visit, I had a mango
mousse and a zoolbiya (?) (basically the same thing as a jalebi, but
with rose water instead of saffron).
The mango mousse was very tasty… although the cake between layers of mousse was a bit… flavorless? I don’t know, it was still good though. The zoolbiya was great, but this probably won’t be popular for most people because it is SO sweet. It’s gooey and feels like each of the crunchy rings is filled with the sticky rose syrup. I made a return visit earlier today with Ali (so his review can be found below) and got two more desserts-- the Napoleon and the Princess cake. The Napoleon is made of many layers of pastry filled with a rich vanilla custard. It was soft and fresh, and I would definitely buy it again. Probably the best thing I've eaten at Bijan. I also had the Princess cake because it had a layer of green marzipan over the top like the "figue" pastry I love so much. I was filled with white cake, cream, and a raspberry layer. Marzipan layers on top of cakes have always been a favorite of mine, so I really enjoyed it. Ali had cheesecake (which looked amazing due to a thin layer of raspberry jam on top) and a hot chocolate that came in a tall glass--very impressive--but I'll let him talk about it.
I'm not exactly sure how much each pastry costs because they don't put up the prices but I think they're around $3 for the cakes and something like 75 cents for the cookies. High priced if you consider donuts as a substitute, but much better than the 3-4 euros you'd pay in France. I'm sure it's worth the cost.
Bijan is a great place for an afternoon coffee or dessert, and *gasp* probably not a bad place to take a date. Atmosphere is great, prices are decent, and everything is really tasty. It's no Fauchon and probably not even as good as the average patisserie in France, but it's the best you'll get in Saratoga. Highly recommended.
Ali: I'll admit I'm not a particular fan of cheesecake. In fact, I downright hated it until a few months ago, but I'll try to put any past bias aside for this one. When you get to the place you might kind of think "Oh okay, maybe I'll just sit down for a bite and then get going," which is not going to happen. You're going to sit down, see the cheesecake, order a slice, and sit there for twenty minutes eating what looked like a small plate. It's not that you can't eat it quickly; it's just that your mind realizes the awesome greatness of the cheesecake and forces you to pace yourself to enjoy it. All right, perhaps that's a slight exaggeration, but the point is that you'll sit down and be shocked at how great these things taste. Soft, smooth, and tasty, down to the very last morsel, they were worth every last penny of Andrew's money, and they'll be worth every last penny of your friend's money too. If you can't get anyone to go with you, then just pay for it yourself. This is definitely one of those things you absolutely must try once.