Alyssa
How would I describe the interior of Whiskey Cake at La Cantera? It feels as though you’ve just walked into your best friend’s lake house and you’re ready for a relaxing vacation surrounded by people you love.
The lights are dimmed and in the back you spot extra large, cage swings in front of a welcoming fire place. Viking inspired chandeliers hang above your head and camping logs hide in the nooks of your best friend’s lake house, we mean, restaurant. The old-fashioned yet modern bar has a ladder for bartenders to use when you decide to order top-notch liquor. Interesting art hangs on the wall from a photo of a very red Rooster to an art piece of a fork made out of forks, perfectly depicting Whiskey Cakes’ farm-to-kitchen philosophy.
Just like at your best friend’s lake house, seating is abundant. Choose to lounge on vintage inspired couches with very cool prints and a lamp by your side, top table seating near the bar, booth seating outlining the back end of the restaurant near huge, bay windows and the classic- tables, for when you just want to dine traditionally. Rather watch the cooks than the bartenders? Take a seat at the bakery bar to watch the kitchen prepare all the delicious dishes they serve out. There’s no secrets at Whiskey Cake San Antonio, the kitchen is in the middle, waiting for you to take a peek at the infamous whiskey cake preparation.
Now that you’ve found your seat, it’s time to talk grub. Have you ever had fried green tomatoes? If not, this is the place to order them. They are amazing and the sauce paired with it might even be better than that.
The extensive drink menu starts off with whiskey cocktails, naturally. We opted for the Hot for Teacher and Guava Gimlet. Hot for Teacher isn’t just a late night show, nope, it’s a hand selected, eagle rare bourbon with cinnamon simple syrup, baked apple bitters and a dash of angostura bitters. The presentation, as you can see in the first photo, is just as magnificent as Whiskey Cake’s description of the drink. For a sweeter beverage, try the Guava Gimlet which is made with Sobieski vodka, guava, pineapple and lime. Gotta get in those fruits!
Main dishes range from crispy Atlantic cod to a chicken and cheese melt- rotisserie chicken, pesto mayo, avocado, BLT, dill havarti all on toasted sourdough. In between those two dishes is the turkey burger with tomato, lettuce, pesto mayo, avocado, fontina cheese, cranberry chutney, cranberry chutney (this isn’t a mistake, we just really loved the cranberry chutney) on a wheat bun. Delicious!
It would be unprofessional of us to leave Whiskey Cake without actually trying the dish the restaurant based it’s name after. The Whiskey Cake, which came on a plate that looked as if it was pulled straight from your grandma’s cupboard, is a toffee torte with bourbon anglaise, spiced pecans and a side of freshly made whipped cream. The whipped cream comes in a bowl, giving you the choice to cover the whole cake or just take a spoon straight to it.
Did we mention the farm-to-kitchen philosophy? Whiskey Cake has a sign that shows you exactly where all the ingredients come from. We told you, there are no secrets here! At the entrance of a restaurant, there’s also a Whiskey Cake market with honey, coffee, jam and trail mix for sale.
Have you been to Whiskey Cake at the Shops at La Cantera? We’d love to hear what you ordered!