Timpone's

The title to this post should really have been "Timpone's Review." However, I don't really have anything to compare to Timpone's, except for maybe Olive Garden, which is a chain restaurant and no one reviews those. Thus, this post will really be just about how Timpone's dessert tastes good. 

To celebrate submitting my first college application (yay!) I went out with my family for dessert. I decided that Timpone's would be a lovely destination, since it is arguably the nicest restaurant in town.

I went without a reservation, since there weren't any special events on campus that night. The host didn't seem all that happy about the lack of a reservation, and he somewhat grouchily led us to a table. This made me a little mad, because the restaurant was nowhere near full and I had always gotten in without a reservation in the past.

Our server made up for the cantankerous host, though. He detailed the two desserts that were not on the menu (something lemony and butterscotch budino, which he called a "much richer option") and then waited patiently while my family tried to explain the rest of the desserts to our exchange student. 

Eventually, we all ordered. My mother asked for this cheesecake (right). Even though I'm not a cheesecake fan, it tasted pretty good. And look at that cream on top! 

My dad ordered creme brulee, which is what I had gotten the last two times. It is amazing. It's full of fat (hence the creme), but somehow it tastes incredibly light. The fruit on top is always really fresh, too, and the chef blowtorches the surface of the creme brulee to make a crunchy outer layer. 

Our exchange student decided on a chocolate truffle cake with raspberry sauce. This, too, was delicious--although it's hard to go wrong with truffles and raspberries. I guess I wouldn't call it amazing, though, because, truthfully, it tasted like any chocolate cake. Also, the raspberry sauce looks kind of unappealing here. I can assure you, though, that it just doesn't photograph well. It looked beautiful in the restaurant.

Finally, I decided on the butterscotch budino. There were two main reasons for my choice. First of all, it wasn't on the menu, which gave it a mysterious allure that just begged me to try it. And second of all, the waiter had said it was incredibly rich, which means that it was incredibly fatty. In other words, it was practically guaranteed to taste great. It lived up to my expectations.

It had about a foot of cream on top, and I love cream with my heart and soul. Once I made it through the cream, I found smooth and flavorful butterscotch pudding. It was around here that I started getting full. Nonetheless, I crammed in a few more spoonfuls before I asked for a box and brought it home. It tasted just as good the next day for breakfast.

One last thing I loved about my dessert: the recipe was suitably complicated. I looked up a few on the internet, and they involve "fine mesh strainers" and "fleur de sel." This is most likely something I would not attempt at home. Therefore, my butterscotch budino was something I could only have tried in a restaurant--and I'm glad it was Timpone's.

Overall, my Timpone's experience was wonderful. The only downsides where the unhappy host and the fact that each dessert cost about as much as a meal at any other restaurant. It was definitely worth it, though, and I would highly recommend Timpone's for a special occasion or just a fanciful whim.

Here is the website for Timpone's: http://www.timpones-urbana.com/