Oh Banana Cream Tart

[halffling]

How I love thee ♥ I went to Tartine Bakery in SF's Mission district on Saturday, and omg everything there is amazing. I went ~10AM, and, unbelievably, there was no one in line \o/ My friend and I split a few items while I brought a few extras home. A rundown of what I had, mostly their popular items:

• frangipane croissant: Let me first say that I can't pronounce half the stuff on their menu, but I digress. This was an almond croissant, layers of buttery pastry with a light and refreshing almond paste in the middle. Brought a portion of it home - my mom loved this one the most! Minus one star cause the top layer was a little burnt D: ★★★★☆
  
  
• morning buns: Oh my goodness. Orange and cinnamon sticky glaze, crispy outside, light and fluffy pastry, it's like a juiced up cinnabon. But better. Oh so much better. Must've been the butter these French people love so much. My absolute favorite of everything over here~ ★★★★★
  
  
• double pain au chocolat: See this pronunciation thing isn't working. At any rate, unfortunately not one of my favorites. The layers of pastry were buttery and amazing as always, but the chocolate was bitter so I didn't care for it much. Although I do love dark chocolate, this was a miss for me. ★★★☆☆
  
  
• bread pudding: According to one of the other patrons there, they have different flavors. On Saturday they had strawberries, which were a little tart, but overall it was pretty good. It'd be difficult to finish the entire thing in one siting (unlike the morning bun, I can devour two of those). I'd like to see if they have different variations of it. ★★★★☆
  
  
• banana cream tart: (as pictured above) I actually didn't eat this one until today, but even a day later it was still amazing! The outside crust was pretty hard, as it had a coating of chocolate and prevented the pastry from getting soggy. The filling consisted of cream and banana slices, plus what I think was caramel (that was surprisingly not ridic. sweet or sticky), topped off with thin slices of chocolate and powdered sugar. Delicious. Will have to get one the next time I go! ★★★★★

I think the only things I dislike about the place are the limited seating and prices. $6.50 for a tart a bit bigger than the size of your fist is a little much, so Tartine is very much a treat. In any case, the service was friendly and speedy, and it's worth a visit for any of you foodies traveling to San Francisco.

In other news, my entry has completely fallen out of the Top 25 :( There's still 3 days left to vote, but I really doubt I can do anything more. I've exhausted my resources and honestly there are new entries every day who somehow gather 500 votes in just one day. So, I'll gladly throw in the towel at this point!

Thank you again for all your support, I'm sorry for the constant campaigning. I didn't realize what a huge support system I have (I mean, 660+ votes? I never would have dreamed! I went into this competition thinking I'd get 200 votes, max.) Thank you from the bottom of my heart ♥