La Boulangerie de Papa, 1 Rue de la Harpe, 75005 Paris, France

La Boulangerie de Papa

1 Rue de la Harpe, 75005 Paris, France

Just downstairs from the Albe Hotel in the Latin Quarter in Paris, France is a crepe and baguette sandwich shop called La Boulangerie de Papa. We were only stopping in for a quick bite to eat before visiting the Eiffel Tower. I still haven’t figured out whether or not La Boulangerie de Papa is part of a chain. I had a feeling since, the place had a sort of Bread Garden vibe to it. It’s still cozy and charming inside with baskets spilling full of bread and hard wood floors and counters. But something about the decor was a little bit contrived, as if they were pandering to tourists. Then again, this was the Latin Quarter and a prime tourist destination.

We ordered a couple of baguette sandwiches and a ham and cheese crepe to share.

The fresh baguette bread flattened on panini presses sported sexy grill marks with ooey, gooey cheese melted in the centre. We ordered a chicken and vegetable sandwich and a cheese, egg and herb sandwich. Both were delicious. The bread was so soft on the inside and nice and crusty on the grilled sides.

The chicken sandwich was also filled with sweet and juicy tomatoes along with some very creamy and rich brie, melding perfectly with the tender chicken chucks and the mild herbs.

There was so much cheese in the cheese and egg sandwich that we could barely pry it open to take the below picture. Naturally, I liked this sandwich better than the chicken sandwich. Cheese is one of my biggest vices.

The crepe, which was made before our eyes on an open grill on the patio kitchen, was delicious. It was soft and fluffy, moist in the centre but also crispy on the edges and it tasted both of eggs and butter. It tasted exactly like what I thought a crepe in Paris would taste like. Our French cousins totally knocked this crepe off our Paris pastry pedestal by informing us that the French consider savory ingredients filled in fluffy cake batter crepes as “fakes.” Apparently, in France, if you order a crepe with savory ingredients, it should traditionally be filled in a stiff, buckwheat crepe. These are the ones with bubbly holes in them and folded into a square on a plate. I wouldn’t have ever guessed this. After all, all the crepes I eat in Vancouver are made of a pancake batter and folded into a triangle. And admittedly, I prefer fluffy crepes over stiff buckwheat.

Nonetheless, eating crepes (fake or not) on a patio in Paris is a pretty unbeatable experience.

EAT, Windsor Royal Shopping Centre, Windsor, England

EAT

Windsor Royal Shopping Centre

5-6 Jubilee Arch, Town Centre, Windsor, England

Even in an expensive city like London, England, there are cheap eats. And we didn’t even have to look that hard. Almost every borough had several EATs. We happened to venture into the EAT at Windsor after visiting Windsor Palace but there are EATs all over London. You can think of EAT as a higher end 7 eleven. They don’t have slurpies but they have cartons of soup and gyozas, neatly packed sandwiches, wraps and sweet treats like mini cakes, brownies and pudding. The prices are relatively low for England, around 3 pounds for a sandwich. We bought the turkey and cranberry sandwich on whole wheat bread and the Margarita baguette with mozzarella, tomato and basil along with a vanilla cake square and some parnips crisps (what we, Canadians call chips).

I was amazed at the freshness of the basil in the Margarita, still crisp and cool on my tongue. The tomato was also firm and not soggy; the cheese was also unbelievably fresh and soft, adding a creaminess to the sandwich. The baguette wasn’t bad either, chewy on the inside and flaky on top.

The turkey cranberry sandwich was almost like eating a leftover turkey sandwich after Thanksgiving. The turkey meat was moist. Upon looking at it, I realize that it’s processed deli meat but it certainly didn’t taste that way. I am unsure about the sodium content and food processing bylaws here, but the deli meat is definitely not as salty as Canadian deli meat. The cranberries were very sweet and a perfect partner to the light and mild tasting parsley in the sandwich.

The vanilla cake with frosting and shreds of white chocolate was sweet, moist and crumbly, a fantastic sweet ending to a light lunch. A little cardboard lining in the packaging kept the delicate cake from being squished in our lunch bag.

We bought the parsnips crisps because they were interesting but what a great choice. They were sweet AND salty all in one bag. And yes to sound cliche, they were crispy as well. Also in the bag were beetroot and carrot crisps, the carrot crisps were very crunchy but also retain their sweet carrot flavour whereas the parsnips and beetroots absorbed more of the salty seasoning. All in all, the chips were delicious and even pretty to look at in their deep reds and bright orange shapes.

Pret A Manger

93/95 Wardour St, Soho, London, England

Pret A Manger means ‘ready to eat’ in Italian. This is a food chain that is also open in Hong Kong. Much like EAT, Pret A Manger features sandwiches, cakes and soups. They were advertising a hot and steaming porridge while we were there but I never got to try it. Interestingly enough, even though London streets are still buzzing with people late into the night, stores usually close around 8 pm or 10 pm and restaurants and pubs typically stop serving food after those hours too. So we went to Pret A Manger before dinner to buy some little cakes for a late night snack. We settled on a chocolate cake and a carrot cake, each were only a couple pounds.

The chocolate cake, disappointingly, was a little on the dry side but still good if you want a quick chocolate fix. And the cute and convenient packaging is perfect for packing this cake for a road trip, taking to work or like us, toting around town in our purses for a quick snack later.

The carrot cake was a dream: moist, sweet, the cake was dense but the fluffy cream cheese frosting was light, salty and sweet as cream cheese should be. And I don’t even like carrots but I have now loved it in two items in this very blog post! So here’s my tip, if you go to Pret A Manger, definitely buy the carrot cake!

Marks and Spencer

107 – 115 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London, England

Marks and Spencer is not just a clothing store in  London. Well, actually, I don’t remember seeing any clothing sold in the Marks and Spencer stores that I visited in London, and we went to quite a few. Our server on the plane ride over had mentioned Marks and Spencer and we had looked at him like he was crazy. When we got here we understood what he meant. Marks and Spencer sells all types of food and wine: gourmet cookies, chocolates, pastries and there is even a fast food counter.

We ran in to get a quick bite before watching Chicago, the musical. Since it was after 8 pm, many of the menu items on the fast food menu board were unavailable, I didn’t get my milk shake or my panini so I settled on a grilled chicken burger combo with fries and a coke (they didn’t have iced tea available either), and my companion got the same combo but with a cheese burger.

The fries or ‘chips’ as I should call them were delicious and really hit the spot: fat, hot and not too greasy. Despite their thick cut, these fries were not starchy at all. I easily devoured almost the whole pack in less than 15 minutes. Our burgers were also pretty delectable, one wouldn’t even guess that this was a fast food counter. The chicken burger was moist on the inside. I love the grill marks on the outside of the chicken breast. I am actually pretty amazed that they used real chicken breast too. For the price point of just 6 pounds, I thought I would be getting a chunk of processed meat.

The cheese burger was also tasty, the cheese was melted just right: gooey, stretchy and warm. The tomato wasn’t soggy; I’m still not sure how they keep their tomato slices solid and not soggy in sandwiches around here. The actual burger patty, although on the thin side was still moist and flavourful, well seasoned and nicely grilled on the outside.

I wish the drinks had different lids as the bubble tops with huge straw holes were not conducive to drinking and running, which was what we did as we dashed to catch Chicago after our meal.

In general, it is possible to find cheap eats in London, and for the price that we paid, the food quality was high and the service was pretty remarkable.

Foxtrot Oscar, London, England

Foxtrot Oscar

79 Royal Hospital Road

Chelsea, London, England

There’s a popular weekly menu here in London, England called the ‘Sunday Roast’ menu. I believe it dates back to the olden days when farmers would work long and hard hours in the fields and farms on Sundays. For the entire day, a roast would be slow cooking in the oven at home in a pan filled with the week’s leftover vegetables.

A homey but hip restaurant that features a ‘Sunday Roast’ menu is Gordon Ramsey’s Chelsea restaurant, Foxtrot Oscar. We made reservations for 7 pm, and came hungry. I was determined to order the Sunday Roast but was quickly distracted by all the other delicious items.

The bread was very trademark English: hearty and crusty. I can’t say that I liked it but I think it was fitting, given the cuisine and the location.

For starters we chose a beet and root vegetable salad. I thought the dish was very quintessential English, and I wasn’t disappointed. The beets were sweet and also firm in texture, which I loved, and I don’t even usually eat beets. The clouds of luscious goat cheese dressing was also pretty delightful, bringing out the sweetness in the red endive leaves and the cubes of potatoes.

We also ordered a creamed cauliflower soup with roasted apple and walnuts. It was interesting that there was olive oil drizzled on the soup though because in every reality TV show that Gordon Ramsey appears on, he is dead set against drizzling olive oil on soups. I even distinctly remember a scene from the American Masterchef this past summer when Gordon Ramsey made fun of fellow judge, Joe Bastianich for needing to drizzle olive oil on everything.

The soup was not as creamy as I would have expected (maybe it was the olive oil!). It was a little runny but still tasty. The walnuts were still crunchy and retained their distinctive flavour and texture.

The grilled sardines were quite tasty. The meat was light and flaky and the sauce had a tangy sweetness to it.

Everyone at our table was salivating when the Roast rib of beef came to the table in all its juicy glory in a pool of the sauce it was cooked in alongside caramelized yams and crispy potatoes and a plump little Yorkshire pudding. The meat was delicious, moist and tender. Perched on top of a bed of cabbage, the meat was a perfect cut of lean and marbled beef.

The Yorkshire pudding didn’t have the fluffy, eggy, soft insides that I had hoped for, but the outside of the pudding definitely matched the texture of the hard, crusty bread served before the meal.

I was surprised though that the onglet (hanger steak) we ordered was a little bit more flavourful than the roast. The onglet was also featured on the Sunday Roast menu but it was pan fried as opposed to roasted. Somehow, it picked up the flavours of the pan incredibly. The meat was tender, despite the lower end cut; the natural flavours of the beef seemed to pull through and was only brought out even more by the delectable medallion of garlic butter melting on top of it.

I enjoyed the fat ‘chips’ served with our dishes. The chips were crispy and weren’t too oily, they were a great compliment to the meal.

We also ordered the Suffolk pork belly off the menu. Cooked with a sweet, acidic apple sauce and served with roasted artichokes, the pork was another highlight of this meal. The apple sauce brought out the sweetness in the pork, and the fatty portions on the meat added a moist element to the dish. Yes, this dish made me homesick for bacon. If only my breakfast bacon at home could be cooked in this delectable way though.

I saved room for dessert, hoping to finally try the famous British dessert called ‘Spotted Dick.’ The name is pretty provocative but it’s on every dessert menu here in London. The ‘spots’ refer to the currants baked into a creamy pudding. To our disappointment though, the kitchen was out of spotted dick and we were stuck ordering the vanilla cheesecake and the creme brulee.

The creme brulee was rich, creamy and smooth. I was pleased that the top gave away with a dramatic crack at the smash of my spoon: that’s the ultimate test for any creme brulee. The cheesecake was another story though. It was served in a large tumbler with a layer of loose graham cracker crumbs in the bottom of the glass. The cheesecake itself, while very thick, dense and rich was obviously a no-bake cheesecake. The texture of the cake was so soft that I felt like spreading it on a cracker rather than eating it with a spoon.

All in all, I was not impressed by the service of this restaurant. I’m not sure if that was because I had the most difficult time understanding the incomprehensible accent of our server or if it was because the service was very slow. We waited a very long time for our desserts, so I was especially disappointed that the cheesecake was no-bake.

I will come here again though, the ambiance is wonderful, I love the onglet and maybe one day Gordon Ramsey will put his famous Beef Wellington on the menu at Foxtrot Oscar.

DINNER by Heston Blumenthal, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, London, England

DINNER by Heston Blumenthal

Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hyde Park

66 Knightsbridge, Westminster, London, England

Style, originality and subtlety are Heston Blumenthal’s trademarks. And true to his reputation, DINNER is the embodiment of all three trademarks. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel is not hard to find, just outside the southeast corner of Hyde Park, across the street from Harvey Nichols and a dash away from Knightsbridge tube station on the Piccadilly Line. The restaurant, DINNER is inside the hotel, and the front entrance is not marked by a sign displaying its name, instead, there is a rotating pear floating mid-air behind a reception counter. The pear changes colour each day.

Once inside, guests will pass through a beautiful lounge before entering the spacious, simple but smartly contemporary dining room: high ceilings, open concept kitchen and hard wood floors. Heston Blumenthal’s concept was to create an understated dining space that would not draw attention away from the menu. The food is the star of this restaurant.

We started with drinks and in true Heston Blumenthal fashion, the drinks were as tasty as they were lovely. We had the Sunrise, which was pink grapefruit juice with apple and passion fruit and topped with bitter lemon and a drop of grenadine. The drink, served in a tall glass really did look like a seductive summer sunrise. The sweet passion fruit juice balanced out the slightly sour grapefruit juice and tart apple. I liked the Green Goblin better though, probably because I have a great love for lychee and mixed in with my other all-time favourite ingredient maple syrup (which also made me homesick), the Green Goblin was a hard drink to top. The clean and pure sweetness of the lychee juice not only complimented the dishes that we ordered but also acted as the perfect palette cleanser as we tried each different dish.

Before our meal, a sliced rustic loaf of fresh, crusty bread was placed before us on a cutting board with a small, stone slab of salty and slightly sweet, creamy butter. The bread was incredibly soft on the inside, despite its crusty exterior. This bread also fit Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant theme very well, its texture reminiscent of hearty, Old World bread, celebrating the history of British food.

Upon reading the menu, we discovered that the chefs were very careful in listing the year in which each menu item was first created, and when we flipped the menu to the back, a small historical fact about the item could be found. For our starter, we ordered the roast scallops which was labeled as originating from circa 1820.

These were the most tender and flavourful scallops I’ve ever eaten. I’m not exaggerating. They fell apart at the prick of my fork before I could even get one bite in my mouth. I’m not a fan of tomato ketchup but the cool and fresh cucumber ketchup that the scallops were perched on top of was original and delicious. The subtle cucumber flavours did not overpower the scallops, in fact they brought out the sweetness in the delicate seafood flesh.

Next was one of my favourite types and cuts of meat: duck leg. We ordered the Powdered Duck with smoked fennel and a side of potato puree. Since this is a Heston Blumenthal creation, yes, I expected my duck leg to be floating off the plate. It wasn’t but I also wasn’t disappointed by the flavours, texture and presentation either. I was blown away.

Covered in a sticky and sweet glaze, the duck leg was moist, succulent and tender. The licorice flavor in the roasted fennel slice brought out the robust sweetness in the duck meat. The dish is named for the powder that the duck legs are encased in while being marinated.

The dish came with a boat of extra sauce but we didn’t need it, the duck was juicy enough. I also didn’t pour any sauce onto the smooth potato puree.

I wanted to taste the potatoes on their own, and they did in fact taste a little bit different from Canadian potatoes, they weren’t as sweet but they were still creamy and rich and a great side to the duck.

We also ordered the Black Foot Pork Chop. Named for the famous British Black footed pig, the delectable chop is glazed in a golden rich Robert Sauce originating from 1816 from Careme’s residency.

Cooked to a perfect medium rare, the pink and moist pork chop was packed with flavour. The fat to lean meat ratio was just right, and the tangy Robert Sauce glistening on each forkful of pork chop added a deeper layer of nutty sweetness to each bite.

Interestingly enough, dessert in England is always referred to as ‘pudding.’ Even if the dessert course is not a pudding. I suppose there was one point in time during the olden days in England when there really only was pudding for a dessert option. Thankfully it’s not the case now and definitely not at DINNER. We quickly decided to order the Tipsy Cake, which is a signature item on the DINNER menu. Also, the entire time that we were enjoying our meal, four pineapples were roasting on spits behind glass in the open concept kitchen right in our view. It was pretty hard not to order the Tipsy Cake which came with a golden, juicy slice of roasted, caramelized pineapple.

Served in a cute and rustic cast iron mini pot, the Tipsy Cake was drenched in a sweet liqueur. Each light and fluffy section of the cake was a burst of sharp sweetness with a bit of edge from the liqueur. The pineapple was a slice of hot and juicy tropical flavour; its fruity sweetness intensified by the spit roast.

I’m not sure that I have the right palette for this but the Brown Bread Ice Cream was definitely a unique flavour. I can’t say that I enjoyed it. I could really taste the yeast in the dish, which I imagine is intentional as the description in the menu states the ice cream is drizzled in malted yeast syrup. The ice cream whereas very pretty on the plate, is not overly sweet, it was more nutty from the caramel and malted in flavour. I can’t say that I’ll order it again but it certainly looked elegant and magnificent in its wide rim dish.

I must also comment on the amazing service we received at DINNER. The waiters were patient (look how many photos I snapped!), helpful with explaining the menu items and also helpful in pointing us in the right direction to get to our after lunch destination, the Natural History Museum. I had a wonderful time at DINNER and will be returning as many times as possible.

Jamie's Italian, London, England

Jamie’s Italian

12 Upper St. Martin’s Lane

Westminister, London, England

If you’re a Jamie Oliver fan, you’ll know that he is obsessed with Italian food. He even based an entire TV series on his trip to Italy in his clunky, old Volkswagon van to learn how to cook authetic Italian food: Jamie’s Great Italian Escape.

His restaurant, Jamie’s Italian in Covent Gardens off 7 Dials in London embodies the warmth, passion and hominess that comes with Italian cooking. On a rainy London evening, we walked into the crowded lobby decorated simply with a wooden shelf of pasta, egg plants and vegetables. Huge pieces of cured meat hung from the ceiling pan rack in the open concept kitchen. The dining tables were set with silverware wrapped in rustic dish clothes sporting the name of the restaurant.

We ordered the pumpkin and burrata to start. A burrata is a traditional Italian mozzarella and soft, rich cream wrapped in another layer of solid mozzarella, basically, it is cheese wrapped within cheese. What could be bad about that? Well, I was expecting a sack of the cheese, even if it was a tiny sack but when the dish came, we discovered that it only contained one slice of the sack, the soft and rich cheese from the inside oozing off the harder shell. The pumpkin was a great accompliment though, the harder texture contrasting the soft cheese, the hard shell of the pumkin was still on each slice, which I loved. I also noticed that the salad features Jamie Oliver’s favourite vegetable, rocket. He uses rocket in many of his recipes. This may be because rocket grows in London, England. I’ve noticed that rocket appears on many restaurant menus here.

Next we ordered the mushroom fritti: the mushroom came sliced and deep fried. It was heaven. The strong mushroom taste wasn’t lost in the cooking process and the ‘really garlicky mayo,’ as described in the menu really reminded me of the endearing way that Jamie Oliver talks.

I’ve never had rabbit before, but I figured if there was one chef who could cook it right, it would be the adventurous Jamie Oliver. And I wasn’t disappointed. I ordered the Rabbit Ragu Pappardelle which is a slow braised rabbit with a mascarpone and lemon sauce. The rabbit meat was so incredibly tender I regret not trying it earlier in life. There is a slight gamey taste to the rabbit but it’s definitely not as strong as lamb meat. I also love the pappardelle pasta, the ridges on the sides of the pasta really scoops up the sauce and the pasta itself was thick enough to soak up the sauce well too. Basically every bite was a perfect mouthful of tender rabbit and perfectly sauced and al dente pasta.

One of my favourite pasta dishes is carbonara and I wanted to taste Jamie Oliver’s rendition of it: Bucatini Carbonara. The smoked pancetta was delectable: not too salty and still firm and not mushy in the heavy creamy sauce. The sauce was thick and creamy and delicious or as Jamie Oliver would say: beu-a-full! I didn’t like that the spaghetti was hollow in the middle though. I think regular spaghetti would have mopped up the sauce better, and would also be easier to twirl on a fork since regular spaghetti would be more limp than tubular noodles. I did have the noodles slip off my fork a few times.

Another Jamie Oliver trademark item is fries or ‘chips,’ with truffle oil. These fries were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I love the fact that the fries were served to us in an adorable little bucket. They were almost too cute to eat. But I was too hungry to care. The hot fries really hit the spot on such a cold and rainy London night.

For dessert we ordered an Italian classic: tiramisu. The Jamie Oliver version was pretty tasty. He added some fresh orange zest and uses sponge cake over lady fingers. The cake was drenched in espresso and a beautiful dollop of heavy mascapone cream was on top of the cake. The sweet and tangy orange flavours brought out the nuttiness in the espresso flavour and also gives the dessert a lightness and playfulness that is so indicative of talented and fun-loving Jamie Oliver.

I had a great time at this restaurant, our server was attentive and funny, the location and ambiance is also wonderful. I will come back as much as possible to try everything on the menu.

Ladurée Champs Elysées 75, avenue des Champs Elysées – 75008 Paris, France

Ladurée Champs Elysées
75, avenue des Champs Elysées – 75008 Paris, France

You can’t go to Paris without visiting Laduree for macarons. So Laduree was our first stop when we got off the train from Le Havre on Saturday afternoon. Literally, we braved the jam packed France traffic from our aunt’s house in the suburbs to Champs Elysees in downtown Paris for a taste of these decadent little meringue cookies. The car ride was particularly scary, not only because it was our first time experiencing ‘no lane’ traffic while looping around the Arc de Triomphe but our younger cousin at the wheel had just gotten her driver’s license. Seriously, she just got her Learner’s Permit, the little “A” sticker standing for “Apprenti” was just newly pasted onto the back of the car. Needless to say, this was a pretty white-knuckled ride!

When we got to Laduree, to no surprise, the line up was so long that we almost had to stand outside. I didn’t mind waiting at all. We were in Paris! I’m a pretty wide-eyed traveler, it’s a miracle that I wasn’t mugged. Anyhow, our wait in line allowed me to take as many pictures as I wanted. When we got to the counter, the snippy servers frowned upon picture-taking and snapped at us in French that pictures are not allowed. Coming from Vancouver where everyone and their dog takes pictures of their food, it’s a little shocking. We had also visited London, England on this trip, and eateries in England were totally happy letting us take photos. France is a little bit different. So some of my pictures in this post are sort of grainy because I had to snap the photos on the sly.

When our place in line finally moved from the foyer to the inside of the store, it was like entering a fairy tale, the decor was so grandeur, the ornate ceiling trimmed with intricate floral pattern details and the antique light fixtures and the dramatic arched windows, each window nook featuring a fancy French pastry on display. I was in awe. French desserts are just amazing, as beautiful as they are delicious. It’s like eating little pieces of art. And the detailing on each little cake, brioche or cream puff is incredible, down to the last gold leaf or perfect piping of whipped cream, all these neat little treats were lined up in impeccable rows in their display cases. I’m not sure if it’s because Laduree is constantly busy or if French servers carry themselves with a certain air of sophisticated snootiness, but when it came to our turn to order, I was almost afraid to. The servers are very impatient and if you appear the least bit indecisive (which obviously I did, I barely read French after all!), they get pretty huffy and puffy as if you’re wasting their time. Given, we took a pretty long time ordering. All the signs were in French, even though half the customers were tourists. Thank goodness we had our French cousins with us!

While we were waiting for our macarons to be packaged, I snuck a few more photos. Notice the famous Mont Blanc chestnut cream dessert below.

Laduree is world-famous for their classic macarons. We bought so many of them that our French cousins asked us if there are macarons in Canada. Of course we have macarons in Canada, but we don’t have a Laduree. There’s only one in North America and it just opened two days ago in New York City. Here’s a detail that I found surprising though, the actual size of macarons is huge! They’re larger than Oreos! The size of macarons that we’re used to in Canada is what they refer to in France as mini macarons.

Macarons have a long history and it has been said that the actual cookie originated in Italy in the 17th century. It was the French, Pierre Defontaines, the second cousin of Louis Ernest Laduree to be exact, who came up with the idea of sandwiching sweet jams and cream in between two macaron cookies.

To be honest, I love macarons for the cookie part, the sweet, chewy and light-as-air merigue cookie, I only think of the filling as a happy bonus. So I was over the moon when I saw these gigantic, real size macarons at Laduree! Making macarons is an art form, they’re made of egg white and sugar that is carefully beaten to the right consistency, then baked at a certain temperature with the oven door slightly ajar, and at Laduree, the pastry chefs store their macarons for two days before serving them so that the cookies reach just the right texture and flavour, the jam melding into the cookie and the cookie aging to an irresistible combo of a slightly firm top and chewy center.

I took the rest of these macaron photos at a nearby McDonald’s because I honestly was quite petrified at being barked at by the Laduree servers! Incidentally, macarons are so popular in France, even McDonald’s serves them. More on that later.

The first Laduree macaron I bit into was the huge vanilla, smartly speckled with vanilla bean and filled with the richest, creamiest, smoothest vanilla bean cream I’ve ever tasted, it’s a shame I only bought one of these large vanilla ones. I could have eaten ten more. Also to note, the ‘feet,’ the little ruffly edge on the macaron was even all the way around, poorly made macarons have lopsided feet or a very thick layer of the ruffly stuff ruining the look and texture of the cookie.

These Laduree macarons were so light and delicate that even though we only walked one block with them, most of them got crushed in the bottom of our bag. That’s how airy these cookies are! Thankfully, they still tasted amazing though.

The large chocolate macaron was filled with chocolate ganache, needless to say the cookie portion was delicious, light and chewy, melting into rich chocolate flavours, the ganache was also rich with a deep cocoa flavour, and not as sweet as I would expect. I’m sure French pastry chefs use a different percentage of cocoa to sugar ratio in their pastries than Canadian chefs, making their chocolate richer in cocoa flavour.

The mini green apple macaron was the most surprising. It actually tasted like a juicy bite of a ripe sweet and slightly tart, Granny Smith apple. Aside from the chewy meringue texture, if I closed my eyes, I would think I was eating an apple.

The mini Madagascar macaron had a deeper, nuttier taste than the large chocolate macaron.

The deep purple black current mini macaron (slightly crushed) had a fruity taste, the jam in the center was just the right amount of sweetness.

The large Pistachio macaron was one of the most memorable, the cookie melted into a silky texture as I chewed it, and the cream filling was sweet, nutty and dense. Pistachio is always included as a classic macaron flavour, I think this may be because the pistachio flavours enhance the almond flavours in the merigue cookie.

The mini coffee macaron tasted like coffee ice cream, in other words, sweetened coffee. The cream in the middle was light, fluffy and delectable.

The large salted caramel macaron was one of my favourites, sweet as I first bit in, and as I was swallowing, the hit of salt made its cameo, further enhancing the sweetness from the cookie and the caramel cream sticking to the roof of my mouth.

Laduree specializes in very traditional, classic macaron flavours. There are seasonal items like the Madagascar Chocolate and Granny Smith apple but their focus is on traditional flavours. I’m glad we tried Laduree first because our next visit was to Pierre Herme, whom many regard as the Master of macarons as he ventures off the macaron map to create the most avant-garde flavours that look and taste like the pastry version of high fashion.

Angelina, Palace of Versailles, France

Angelina

Inside the Palace of Versailles

Versailles, France

It sort of looks like a comb over, but it’s literally one of the best cakes I have ever eaten. It’s called La Mont Blanc and it’s a heavenly whipped cream concoction on top of a meringue, covered in sweet chestnut paste piped over the little cake in a stylished manner. I don’t know what they do to the whipped cream in this cake but it’s fluffy, light and sweet, the meringue is a perfect chewy and powdery cloud and the chestnut paste is delicious in all its nutty goodness. The menu claims that the recipe for La Mont Blanc has been heavily guarded for 100 years. I can see why.

The contrasting textures of the thick and smooth chestnut paste is a wonderful play off the light whipped cream underneath and everything is balanced on a perfect piece of merigue on the bottom.

I ordered La Mont Blanc because I’ve actually been seeing it a lot on menus and in almost every French bakery I’ve visited here in Paris, France. And for you Vancouver readers out there, yes, this cake reminds me very much of those Chinese cakes sold at Anna’s or Maxim’s, Pine House and all our other favourite Chinese bake shops.

Angelina, this cute and quaint little tea room can be found inside the Palace of Versailles between the King’s quarters and the Dauphine’s, and La Mont Blanc is their specialty, along with their thick and lucious hot chocolate. The hot chocolate is served in a small pitcher with a small ramekin of whipped cream on the side. The second best part about this drink is mixing in the pillowy clouds of whipped cream into the incredibly thick hot chocolate drink. The best part is drinking this amazing chocolate drink, it’s like drinking a chocolate bar.

We also couldn’t leave without ordering the croque monsieur, grilled to perfection with a scrumptious, almost crispy layer of cheese on top and oozing bechemel sauce and ham in the middle.

You really can’t go to Versailles without spoiling yourself with treats at Angelina.

Chez Jeannine Creperie, Paris, France

Chez Jeannine

8 avenue Paul Vaillant Couturier 93150 Le Blanc Mesnil, Paris, France

Tucked away in a small residential district in Le Blanc Mesnil, Paris, France is a charming little creperie. Le Blanc Mesnil got its name from all the little white houses in the suburb and Chez Jeannine is no exception. In a little white building with red awnings, the creperie is hard to miss.

The interior of Chez Jeannine is just as charming as the exterior with white walls and ceilings, exposed wooden beams lined the ceilings and the small number of tables and chairs were set up close to each other.

We ordered their famous apple cider or “apple wine,” straight away. It came in a green bottle and was labeled, Bolee De’Armorique. Like I mentioned before, we became very addicted to apple cider on this trip both in England and France. Something about the sharp sweetness and tangy apple flavours had us hooked.

True to what our cousins told us, all the traditional savoury French crepes were served in crispy buckwheat crepe shells. These stiff crepes were tissue paper thin, the crepes were brown but see through, featuring large holes throughout and an extremely delicate, brittle texture. We ordered a whole variety of savoury crepes, some filled with egg, and others open faced with ham, eggs and vegetables piled on top. I didn’t really see the point of open faced crepes, since it was really like eating a plateful of ingredients piled on top of a very thin crepe that cracked when you bent it.

My cousin and I shared our crepes, I picked a chicken and mayonnaise crepe. The steaming hot crepe smelled incredible when it came to the table. The chicken was cooked to perfection, tender and flavourful, absorbing the salty creaminess of the brie cheese. The filling oozed out of the holes in the crepe. The neutral flavours of the crepe did not challenge the rich filling at all and the stiff texture kept the crepe from getting soggy until the very last bite.

The other savoury crepe that we tried was the ham, cheese, potato and bechamel sauce crepe. I suppose we didn’t have to add the potatoes, the filling was already rich enough without them. Again, I am amazed at how much cheese and cream tastes different in France. The bechamel sauce was so smooth, rich and dreamlike, spilling out of the thin crepe in a thick wave of buttery goodness.

We also ordered some dessert crepes which were served with fluffy, flour crepes. I picked a nougat filled crepe, but was surprised to find out that the nougat and chocolate was actually served on top of the folded crepe in a sticky glob in the center. It didn’t look the prettiest (it looked like accidental abstract art) but it was fairly tasty. The chocolate was dark and bittersweet but the melted nougat was sticky, very sweet and nutty.

The banana sugar flambe dessert crepe was the most impressive. They flambeed the crepe right in front of us at the table and the sliced bananas were lit in a flash of purple and blue flame. I don’t know if you can see the faint outline of blue flame in my picture below.

We also ordered a plain butter and sugar crepe. These dessert crepes were definitely light and fluffy. I still prefer them over the stiff buckwheat crepes.

Nothing beats crepes in Paris. I will definitely need to revisit, if only for the crepes alone.

Choucroute: sauerkraut, sausage, bacon and potatoes

One of the many things that the French are famous for is eating and drinking late into the night. At 10:30 pm after a full day of sightseeing, picture taking, shopping and visiting with family, our cousin and his wife decided to whip out some gourmet take-out for dinner. The thing was, they had fed us so much cheese and doused us with so much wine that I was really ready to crawl into bed. But they were so surprised that we were tired. Apparently, it’s customary in French culture to host dinner parties where eating doesn’t start till 10 pm. Our cousin still had a line-up of home videos and pictures to show us, and of course, more bottles of wine to be opened.

I’ve always thought sauerkraut originated from Germany but it’s actually also very popular in France. They call it choucroute and it’s served with a humongous pile of meat: bacon, sausages and roasted potatoes. Yes, with less than two hours till midnight, our cousin’s wife whips out a gigantic platter of meat with an equally large container of sauerkraut and announced that dinner was served. How could we refuse?

Our cousin opened a bottle of Alsace Grand Cru Riesling to be served with dinner. The light, fruity notes went wonderfully with the sour cabbage and potatoes. I was actually thanking my lucky stars that he was serving white wine, if he had even brought out a Gamay, I honestly think my head would’ve hit the dinner table in instant slumber.

The dish, choucroute hails from the same region as the Riesling we drank: Alsace, that skinny strip of land in France right before the German border. French chefs all over the country began adopting the choucroute dish in the 17th century.

Normally, I am not a fan of sauerkraut but the sharp, tangy flavours were such a contrast to the salty meats in the dish, I couldn’t resist. The texture was a little bit different from North American sauerkraut, it was more moist, the cabbage was sliced thinner but seemed to absorb more liquid. The flavours were strong, prickling my tongue with little hits of sour notes as I sipped the fruity Riesling in between bites.

The meat was very salty, especially since we were drinking such a sweet wine. My favourite was obviously the bacon, I finished eating two very big and thick slices of it before I knew it. And to think, I had started this meal without even being hungry.

There were two types of sausages, one sliced that was tender and also salty with some smokiness in flavour. The longer, linked sausages were a little bit chewier in texture. Surprisingly, the flavour was rather mild in comparison to the other meats.

The most mild item on the plate were the roast potatoes. Soft and tender but also fairly neutral in flavour. This might have been because at that point, my taste buds were maxed out by cheese, wine and cured meats to absorb any further flavour. Nonetheless, choucroute has made my list of one of the best things I ate in Europe.

Brezain, Tomme de Savoie, Mimolette French cheeses

I wish I ate more cheese in France. Our cousin, a bonofide foodie gave us a small sampling from his cheese collection. He introduced three cow’s milk cheeses to us, and I loved each one of them. I am biased though, I am a huge sucker for cheese. Most people go to wine and cheese receptions to appreciate fine wines, I’m totally in it for the cheese.

First up on the cheeseboard was brezain, a semi-hard smoked French cheese. The rind was a deep bronze colour. The pale yellow flesh of the cheese turned out to be soft and creamy when we bit into it. It’s also incredible how much of the smoky flavour the cheese absorbed. There was a distinct and lasting dry smoky finish to this cheese long after I swallowed each bite. It’s rather unsuspecting since the colour of the cheese is so pale and the texture is rather soft despite the firm rind. I actually think this cheese can probably stand up to a medium Cabernet Sauvignon.

Next up was the opposite of a strong smoky cheese: the tomme de savoie, also semi-hard and made from cow’s milk, this French cheese sported a much more interesting-looking rind but the flavour of the golden cheese inside was much more mild, buttery and only with tinges of tanginess. In retrospect, we should have started nibbling on this lighter cheese first before diving into the stronger flavoured cheeses. I was the most attracted to the rind on this cheese, with its greyish, brown hue, it seemed like this cheese was the oldest, retaining the most character, absorbing the most layers of flavour. Just another example of how looks can be deceiving. This cheese was the exact same age as the brezain we first tasted, two months old.

The oldest cheese we tasted was the mimolette (extra vieille), the brilliantly bright orange cheese that more resembles dried apricots than it does cheese. Before he served it to us, our cousin had shaved off the cheese’s rind but normally, in its whole form, the round of cheese resembles a cantaloupe with a rough beige rind. The extra vieille in its name refers to a more aged cheese, deepening its colour and amplifying its flavour. The colour of this cheese dispels all myths that cheese cannot naturally be orange in colour. The colour of mimolette comes from one of its ingredients, annatto, a Latin American fruit used in food colouring and cosmetics but also a source of peppery, nutmeg flavours evident in the mimolette cheese.

I wasn’t prepared for the mimolette cheese to be soft and creamy upon my first bite. As I slowly chewed and savoured each bite, the cheese started melting on my tongue and started tasting very rich, nutty with heavy caramel flavours. For a cheese that resembles a light, juicy tropical fruit, its actual taste was quite the opposite. This was by far my favourite of the three cheeses.