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Three cafes in Chiang Mai for those with a sweet tooth

In this review I will lump together three very different venues that have in common to offer outstanding cakes and desserts. In all of them you can relax with a cup of tea and a slice and some sweets. One is Western-style, one Japanese and one Thai.

Amazing creative delights at Saruda Finest Pastry

Address: 12, Soi 3 Nimmana Haeminda, Su Thep, Chiang Mai

Saruda Finest Pastry really feature the skills of a top pastry chef. The creations are both creative, visually appealing, and delicious. I tried their Quasar for a chocolate boost and a Mandarin-shaped pastry with a mandarin filling. The shop is not large but has a few tables where to enjoy the cakes, possibly along with a cup of tea. The two pastries I had cost 185 and 195 THB (9 USD in total).

Rak Whan Thai Dessert Café

Address: 30/2 Nimmanhaemin Rd., Soi 11, Suthep, Chiang Mai

Despite the cursory service, I enjoyed a brief stop at this Thai dessert cafe that featured some beautiful Thai cookies and cakes. Thai cuisine has a distinctive dessert tradition and a lot of pastry types were on display in this cafe. I had a set with a number of cookies and jellies (they all have a name in Thai!) along with a classic Thai iced tea (that is basically a sugar bomb).

Matcha drinks and cakes at Chaseki

91, Sri Poom Road, Si Phum, Chiang Mai 50200
Website: www.chasekitea.com

Chaseki is the brainchild of a Thai/English couple in love with Japanese powdered green tea (matcha). They have both drinks and cakes. At the time of my visit they were even selling a limited edition matcha chocolate bar. I did not like much the drink (combining matcha and conconut, but they have so many others to try). On the other side, the matcha and white chocolate cake was phenomenal. It is a small cafe located along the Northern border of the Old City. Definitely recommended for something different and unique in Chiang Mai.

What to order at Awfully Chocolate in China

Awfully Chocolate is a chain of dessert and cake shops founded in Singapore back in 1998 by Lyn Lee, a young lawyer, and her boyfriend (both with no business experience in the food and beverage industry). They have over a dozen shops and cafes in Singapore (including a restaurant) and have franchised their business in other countries. After false starts in Taiwan and Hong Kong, they seem to have found a very strong partner in Mainland China. At the time of posting, Awfully Chocolate stores are all over China, mainly in shopping malls.

What is interesting about their concept is that it, uncompromisingly, is all about chocolate. They started by selling a single type of chocolate cake at the origins and now they have a wide range of chocolate products: from cakes, to beverages, ice cream, pralines, etc.

The visit(s)

The picture shows the storefront of the shop in Wanda Plaza in Ningbo (now closed). Some shops have tables, some others do not (like the one at IFC Mall in Shanghai, just for take-away orders). They had a particularly large cafe in Ningbo near the central Tianyi square (now closed).

A very good introduction to their cakes is the super-stacked chocolate cake that is inspired by the traditional Southeast Asian Lapis Cake. According to their website, “each cake layer is baked one at a time, so a completed Super Stacked cake with six layers of cake and six layers of fudge takes almost four hours to complete”. I have the impression that they have reduced the sweetness of their cakes for the Chinese market over time (I remember them sweeter just a couple of years ago, but I could be mistaken).

For something even more massive, their cupcake is an interesting creation. Most of the mass is actually “solid” chocolate topping the soft layer.

I also recommend their hot chocolate. In the picture above a cold chocolate beverage (60%) with chocolate bits. Unfortunately this one was not very good, the hot beverages are way better.

The check(s)

The super-stacked chcolate cake was 29 RMB (4.3 USD).

The cupcake was 4 RMB more expensive and along with the cold chocolate was 68 RMB (10 USD). These prices are comparable to Starbucks in China.

Where in China:
Check their website for store locations. (Ningbo locations as to mid 2020 were all closed. The list on the website may not be up to date.)

A visit to a GaKuDen Boulangerie shop in Taipei

GaKuDen is a chain of European-style bakeries found all over in Taipei. Some of the locations also doubles as coffee shops. Here’s my experience.

The visit

Inside they have a variety of baked goods and the style is self-service.

In this particular shop near Chiang Kai-shek Memorial they had a room upstairs where to take a seat.

This was my snack:

I chose a juice, a brownie and a chocolate pastry made with Valrhona chocolate. They seem to do a decent job in supplying Taipei with European bread and cakes.

The check

In total I spent 189 NTD or 6.10 USD. Not bad for spending some time of relax in a clean and comfortable place. The pastries were good.

Where in Taipei
No. 316, Songjiang Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei (for the shop of my visit, but other locations are all over Taipei).

Masterful execution and top-shelf ingredients at Otto e Mezzo Bombana Shanghai, at a price

Bombana is an Italian chef that made it big in Hong Kong: his restaurant in Central has three Michelin stars. From there he has been expanding in Asia: Macau, Beijing (where the restaurant is called Opera), and Shanghai.

I visited a couple of times the Shanghai’s restaurant (two Michelin stars) headed by chef Riccardo to better understand this Italian high cuisine. By the way, “Otto e Mezzo” of course is the title of a famous Fellini’s movie, but references to Fellini seem to end here.

The visit

This review is based on my second visit in April 2019, part of the ongoing Shanghai Michelin Scramble.

I had my reservation through Dining City (very simple) and I headed to the restaurant on a gloomy Sunday evening. It was a pity, because the restaurant also has a nice terrace and balcony on the sixth floor of a renovated building in the now called Rock Bund district.

The restaurant has an elegant dining room with tables reasonably spaced. To avoid bothering other guests I did not take a picture of the room, but you can check the restaurant’s website.

While I was still looking at the menu, I was served a welcome dish with three nibbles: a geometrically audacious pastry with diced salmon, another pastry with a sort of Russian salad, and half a cherry. I thought the staff was too hasty in delivering the plate or maybe it is their style. Apart from this, the service was spotless and all staff spoke English.

The bread basket was a bit underwhelming: white bread with olives, sourdough with sesame and corn bread. The sourdough was almost impossible to chew! Luckily, they also served some Italian grissini that were still warm and very nice.

There was another amuse bouche: a stracchino spuma with peas. The stracchino is an Italian cheese that I had never tried in this preparation that made it incredibly soft. It was a great dish and the peas felt very fresh and full of flavor.

The menu was divided in four sections: appetizers, pasta dishes, mains, and desserts. No appetizer stimulated my interest, but all pasta dishes looked great. I went for the homemade cavatelli (small pasta shells from eggless semolina dough) with seafood. There was king crab meat and two pieces of uni (sea urchin) on top. The dish was excellent.

My main was amadai fillet in a light coconut and shellfish broth with some fresh peas. The cooking fully respected the flavor and texture of the fish that came from Japan. Other mains available were lobster from Brittany, wagyu from Japan, and veal.

I ordered a dessert and before getting there I was offered a palate cleanser in the form of a very elaborated sorbet.

The dessert, called Chocolate Variation, was a small masterpiece. In a perfectlty coreographed presentation, the dish included a round hazelnut “moretto” (a homage to an Italian ice-cream), a scoop of chocolate ice cream, a ball of pistachio rocher (I guess using Ferrero Rocher material to enclose the pistachio) and, finally, two crispy tuilles cannoli with black and white chocolate. That was like a chocolate encyclopedia.

Before leaving, I was offered a final dish with pear jelly, pastry with cream and a “sandwich” with berries.

No wine for me, the still water was a Chinese spring water, Nongfu, that is also the best selling water in China. This came a bit to a surprise, as the water cost me 15 USD, for that money I would have expected some Italian bottled water.

The check

This three-course dinner cost me 1542 RMB or 229.5 USD.

Most appetizers and pasta dishes cost around 50 USD, a main costs around 100 USD and desserts around 30 USD.

All the dishes were perfect (apart from the bread). The ingredients were top of the top, super fresh and genuine. Was this worth the price? I do not think so. After all, these were not particularly innovative dishes, just very well executed dishes. I have no problems spending this kind of money for a meal, but I am seeking something more that I did not get in terms of creativity and surprise.

Where in Shanghai:
6-7/F, 169 Yuanmingyuan Lu
In Chinese: 圆明园路169号协进大楼6-7楼
Website: http://www.ottoemezzobombana.com/shanghai/

Creative luxury chocolate from Yu Chocolatier in Taipei

Yu Chocolatier is not another chain or random French brand mechanically replicated abroad. It is the result of the tenacity and passion of a Taiwanese young man, chef Yu, that embarked on a journey to become a chocolatier. For 18 months, he studied in France and then he went back to Taipei where in 2015 opened a shop. In my experience this kind of stories breed the best food experiences.

The visit

The shop is located on a quiet side street in Daan district in Taipei. It took me a while to find it as the store front disguises the little beautiful boutique inside.

The small counter displayed a bounty of different creations.

In my first visit, I sat down in one of the few tables available in the back of the store. They take reservations and I was lucky enough that a table was available for just the right time.

I had a hot chocolate (their original blend) that was excellent (I appreciated that it was not served deadly hot) and one of their best-sellers, a chocolate tart. I must confess that I did not like the tart so much because it was too sweet.

However I went back and I bought a few pastries to share with friends. The packaging was impressive, but the content even more.

I and my friends thoroughly enjoyed every single cake. The first one (top right) was a chocolate pastry with a mango slice. The flavors were perfectly fused together. The round pastry (top left) was a seasonal creation with orange and jasmine flavors. The two pastries pictured on the bottom were an exquisite Montblanc and a version of an Opera cake. All of them were extremely delicate and not too sweet like the tart I initially had.

I must say that this sample does not do complete justice to the variety and creativity of the pastries available that mix spirits, tropical fruits, and chocolate in very creative ways. Definitely a place to visit again and again.

The check

The tart and the hot chocolate cost me “only” 350 NTD (11.35 USD). If you consider that I could eat seated at a table and I even got free water, that’s really reasonable.

The four pastries I shared with friends cost me a total of 860 NTD (28 USD), or around 7 USD per pastry. Not cheap, but absolutely acceptable given the quality of the creations.

I am honestly in love with this chocolaterie and I will make it a mandatory stop in my next trips to Taipei.

Where in Taipei:
No. 10, Alley 3, Lane 112, Section 4, Renai Rd, Daan District, Taipei City
In Chinese: 大安區仁愛路4段112巷3弄10號
Website: https://www.yuchocolatier.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/yuchocolatier

Danish ice cream in Ho Chi Minh City: Osterberg

While not artisan gelato, Osterberg is an interesting departure from the international ice cream chains that dominate Ho Chi Minh City: it hails from Denmark and it is a family business. In Vietnam the business is managed by Cathrine, who makes all the recipes herself and has a background in Food Science from the University of Copenhagen. The ice cream is freshly made in Ho Chi Minh City with modern equipment.

The visit

In Ho Chi Minh City they have a small ice cream shop in District 2.

They offer a nice assortment of flavors inspired both by their Nordic origins and by the fresh ingredients available in Vietnam. This means flavors such as liquorice, elderflower, buckthorn and blackcurrant (recommended!) on the one side and red dragonfruit, soursop, jackfruit, and lychee on the other.

My personal favorite is their chocolate sorbet (in general I find their sorbets – basically ice cream without the milk – better than regular ice cream flavors). The chocolate flavor emerges so neatly.

I particularly like their ice-blended option: around two scoops of ice cream are blended with milk and ice: the resulting beverage has the right density for me and retains the original flavor.

UPDATE (July 2019): They discontinued the ice blend option for lack of demand. Travesty!

The check

A single scoop, like in the cup pictured in the previous section, is 55,000 VND (2,4 USD). The ice blend was 75,000 VND (3,2 USD).

If you are in district 2, Osterberg is an ice cream experience that I recommend (well, a lot less now that they discontinued the ice blend).

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
94 Xuan Thuy, District 2
Website: http://www.osterberg-ice.vn/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/osterbergvn/

The best chocolaterie in Vietnam: Maison Marou in Ho Chi Minh City

I am hardly unveiling anything new. Chocolate Marou was covered by The New York Times a few years ago. Still, I feel compelled to write about it since their Maison Marou in Ho Chi Minh City is, in my opinion, is one of the best dessert experiences in Vietnam.

Chocolate Marou was founded by two French gentleman, Samuel Maruta (also of Japanese heritage) and and Vincent Mourou back in 2011 (now you can guess where the name comes from). They were not chocolatier by trade, but they did learn fast and had the brilliant idea to exploit local coco bean varieties, each with its own unique texture and aroma depending on the place of origin (the so called terroir).

But this review is not about the chocolate itself, rather it is about Maison Marou, a chocolaterie that is a coffee shop, but also an atelier, but also a miniature chocolate factory, but also a shop, but also a learning center and now even a tourist destination.

The visit

I have patronized Maison Marou since its opening. It is just a great place where to meet friends or just have a solitary dessert. It is quite busy on weekends; weekdays in the early afternoon is probably the best time to go.

At Maison Marou you can shop for Marou chocolate bars, pralines and other souvenirs. You can see the machine roasting the coco beans in action (you can even taste a raw coco bean).

But the star of Maison Marou is represented by their chocolate pastry creations. In my latest visit I tried the tiramisu that was excellent and certainly not an easy dish. In the past I also tried their opera cake, eclairs (love the hard slide of chocolate inside, instead of the regular soft cream), tarts, and other seasonal treats. I have never been let down. One comfort food that I strongly recommend is their giant chocolate chips cookie. It is a great blend of chocolate and cookie paste. They also serve coffee and hot/iced chocolate (and a few other drinks) to complete the experience, otherwise iced water is complimentary (as customary in Vietnamese coffee shops).

In my last visit I also tried one of their new products, a sort of power bar called Ironbar. The balance between the chocolate and the various grains and fibers was good.

The check

For a tiramisu and the chocolate energy bar I spent 210,000 VND (or around 9 USD). The eclair is 70,000 VND (3 USD), but most desserts are priced around 150,000 VND (6.55 USD). By Vietnamese standards, it is not cheap. However, it is difficult to quibble about the price if you take into account the quality of the ingredients and the attractiveness of the venue. For reference, a sampler with 6 bars of their chocolate costs 600,000 VND (around 26 USD). It is pleonastic, but yes, good chocolate is not cheap nowadays.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
169 Calmette, Phường Nguyễn Thái Bìn, District 1
Open daily from 9am to 10pm (11pm on Fridays and Weekends).
Check their website and facebook page for updated information.
They also have a Maison Marou in Hanoi.