La Crocante

It stands on the corner of Almte. Lord Nelson 301 and Av. Jorge Vanderghen, half a block from Óvalo Gutiérrez, and Google files it as a delicatessen rather than a café. The house sums itself up as everything that goes with a gathering: cookies, sweet and savoury pastries, toasts, quiches, brownies, truffles and cheesecakes; Google flags the coconut crocante and the cakes as popular, and reviews name the chocolate cake and the coffee. Our read: this is a pastry counter more than a dining room — there are tables, but the weight is on the display case and the takeaway order — so it works as a stop before a gathering rather than as a place to linger. It opens daily from 10:00 to 20:00 and has no car park of its own, only free street parking on a busy corner. Curation note: the brand has at least four locations (this one, Av. Pezet in San Isidro, Chacarilla and Domingo Orué in Surquillo) and this entry corresponds to the Lord Nelson store, by far the one with the most reviews; Google publishes no phone number and has no owner-uploaded photos, so those blocks stay empty.