Location: 1099 New York Ave. NW or 4445 Connecticut Ave. NW
Readers’ pick: Momofuku CCDC

Sfoglina Pasta House – as its name suggests – will draw you in with its homemade pasta dishes. But the restaurant’s irresistible dessert menu will have you ordering post-dinner sweets regardless of how full you are when the dessert menus appear on your table.

If you are struggling to make a decision about what to order when perusing the dessert menu, Sfoglina Pasta House has a tray of desserts your waiter may present to your table. The dessert tray allows you to make your choice based not only on a menu description but also on presentation.

Along with staple Italian desserts like tiramisu ($10) and a seasonal gelato ($8) – which Sfoglina dishes out in soft serve form – the restaurant has nontraditional options like an apple hazelnut coffee cake ($10) drizzled in apple cider sauce and a chocolate Piemontese cake, which comes from the Piedmont region of Italy. Dairy-free diners can also participate in ordering dessert with a refreshing seasonal sorbetto ($8) that comes in flavors like blood orange or peach.

While you can’t go wrong with any of the restaurant’s dessert options, the chocolate Piemontese cake ($14) quite literally takes the cake. With layers of moist chocolate cake, thick chocolate ganache and crumbles of hazelnut, the chocolate Piemontese cake is essentially an upgraded Ferrero Rocher. Each bite is more decadent than the next, but that won’t stop you from finishing it off – despite the full meal you just ate beforehand.

For an impressive meal from start to finish, Sfoglina Pasta House impresses through every course from small plates to dessert.