Oui Café - (Taipei)

 We bought 2-3 separate batches of desserts from Oui Café but apologies as my photos are all over the place so this will be a concentrated review of the 1st visit only.   Qui Café is a chain patisserie shop being headed by an ex-Michelin Starred French pastry chef right here in Taipei.   Their Caneles were right up there with French standards too,  a surprise find in Asia,  where most caneles don’t ever look or taste so right.

 

 

You can see a Cut Out Board of the French Pastry Chef on the right !

 

 

Caneles flavours of Original,   Matcha,  Chocolate and Raspberry -

 

 

 

I tried all Canele flavours except Chocolate. They were all pretty good actually,  especially surprised by the Raspberry version with a Raspberry powder on top, which was quite natural in taste and not like cough medicine!

 

 

 

 

The Original and Green Tea Caneles cross sections -
The structure was ok.  Dark crispy on the outside and fresh even just eating off the shells.  The inside batter were porous and had the right amount of rum and vanilla and eggs taste.  If there is 1 thing to pick on,  it could be more moist and also have more vanilla.  The Matcha one was also decent with green tea taste  ~    8/10

 

 

 

The Cake Display -
Qui’s cakes aren’t about flair in design and recipe,  compared to say La Douceur (Taipei).   The latter as mentioned had really creative ideas up it’s sleeves.  Over here,  it was more about the executional accuracy.

 

 

Hazelnut Chocolate Finger -
Really liked this for both taste and smooth yet nutty texture.   ~  8/10

 

 

 

Pear and Caramel Mousse Cake -
The pears were present as 2 different layers and quite ripe sweet as expected.  The caramel mousse was a little light in taste,  but it was the covering Caramel which wasn’t darkened enough and too cloying.   Even if I like the elastic texture..  ~  6.5/10

 

 

 

Strawberry ‘Round’ Mille-Feuille -
This looks different from the normal puff pastry with crème patissiere,  but was it just gimmickly?  Fortunately this was not only crispy and buttery,  but the whole package was just amazing in both presentation and taste.  One of the reasons to come back to Oui Café.  In fact I cannot think of any other better mille-feuille in HK bar Macau’s Robuchon au Galera..  ~  12/10

 

 

 

Double Strawberry Macaron -
Strawberry white chocolate which is coated around Strawberry macaron.  A fun idea,  but ultimately probably a bit too sweet on the chocolate coating as well as inside!  But fun nevertheless.  ~  7/10

 

 

Cassis Macaron -
I love cassis and the filling was jammy and decent,  the shell looked dryer than it tasted in the mouth which was slightly chewy. Guess it’s French Meringue style done well?   ~  7/10

 

 

 

Price:   TWD $300
Food:   ♕♕♕♕ to  ♕♕♕♕♕
Ease of Access:  4/5

Address: 台北市南京西路23巷3號中山區, 台北市 (南西店)
No. 3, Lane 23, Nanjing West Road, Jhongshan District, Taipei
Ph: 02-25636678

Melange Café 米朗琪咖啡館–(Taipei)

Recently,  Hong Kong’s generally fairly standardized café scene has seen a welcome respite with the likes of Taiwanese import Coffee Alley 咖啡弄,  and also Café Deadend, which unfortunately their chef had sort of cracked under pressure and decided to walk off from it.   These shops are experiencing queues of up to 2 hours,  which means there is definitely a demand for good cafes in Hong Kong.    Coffee Alley in Taipei surprisingly has almost exactly the same dishes as Melange Café – since their owners used to work here.  

 

 

Melange Café -
It’s direct competitor Coffee Alley (My Taipei review), surprisingly had a more extensive food menu than here.  But the coffee selections here were better, showcasing many small farm lots of upper end single origin coffee beans.

 

 

 

Fruit Tea -
Looks exactly the same as Coffee Alley version.  Except the later comer and competitor did a better version,  this one was not as fruity or thick.   The other version is almost like a warm juice!  ~  6/10

 

 

 

Hand Dripped Ethiopian ‘Nekisse’ micro-lot -
I have had this quite a few times,  and unlike the fruits tea above which disappointed,  this coffee was actually quite aromatic and had a distinct lemon caramel flavour.   A little bit darker than the normal hand drip roast,  but this was actually one of the better ‘Nekisses’ I have drank.  ~  7.5/10

 

 

 

Strawberry Waffles -
The famous waffles here at the original Melange Café,  were more toasted on 1 side than the other,  but had a better flufflier texture and eggs batter taste.   It was a lot better than the bland ones we received at Coffee Alley.   But the strawberry sauce was better in that version.   But what’s the point of having waffles if they are tasteless?   ~  7.2/10

 

 

 

Wasn’t Very Impressed in the end -
Coffee Alley’s menu carries more flair and the fruits tea was better,   and Melange Café made us slightly better waffles and coffees.  They do cancel out each others advantage.    With the amount of great quality Patisseries-Cafes in Taipei,  there are always better options for you to explore! 

 

 

 

 

Price:   TWD $300 Per Person
Food:  ♕♕♕♕

Opening Hours
Sun to Thurs -   07:30am to 22:00 pm
Fri – 07:30am to 23:00pm
Sat – 09:30am to 23:00pm

Address: 104台灣台北市中山區中山北路二段16巷23號  (*There are 2 outlets on the same street)
No 16-5, Tehui St., Chungshan District, Taipei City 104, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Ph: +886 2 2567 3787

CHEFS Chocolate & Culinary School - (Hong Kong)

 Hong Kong is experiencing a surge in Culinary School openings and many of these are headed by High Profile or Celebrity chefs.    Chef Koo 甜心先生 from the highly regarded Black & White Patisserie has opened his own school,  and we were invited over to check it out and make some ‘pizza dumplings’ with Chef Reko today,  who supervises the savory courses here.   For more information,  contact their email :  marketing@blacknwhite.com.hk or like their Facebook page with updated information at https://www.facebook.com/chefs.official .

 

 

Chef Koo’s cake creations inside CHEFS !   
It’s found inside an Industrial Building in Kwun Tong district.

 

 

Very nice modern Set Up -
Lots of shining bits and new equipment. 

 

 

Love the individual steel benches.

 

 

 

Recipe for today’s mini Calzones,  or 6 Pizza Dumplings
This cooking course is $380

 

 

Multiple Oven set-up -

 

 

 

Let’s eat some cakes from Black & White first before the Course begins -
We were all a bit starving..

 

 

 

Our own Kitchen Steel Bench and ingredients -
To me,  it is important that in a Cooking Class,  the students can really practise making their own food from scratch,  and under the supervision of your teacher.  They do this well here.

 

 

 

Pesto being Made -
With basil, garlic, cheese, olive oil, etc

 

 

Making our Pizza Dough -
This uses a combination yeast and flour and a bit of seasoning.

 

 

 

Chef Reko demonstrating to us -
how to fold the Pizza Calzones properly so that they don’t separate when being baked and the puffs start to expand.  This is a tricky bit and you have to seal them properly with more clamping force.

 

Pesto Sauce -
This is used to brush both the inside and the external of the pizzas.

 

 

 

Rested then divided dough balls, 
before rolling out and folding our own creations.

 

 

 

My Finished Tray of mini Calzones -

 

 

My Finished Products from the Oven -
Improvements can be made definitely,  it takes a lot of practice to perfect the products from one batch to another!  Such is the fun of baking anything!

 

 

 

Taking them Home for Supper and Lunch on the next day!

 

 

 

 

Price:   HKD $380
Ease of Access:  3.5/5  (Take MTR to Ngau Tau Kwok station or to Kwun Tong APM exit)

Address: 28 Hung To Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Ph: +852 23255663 (Hotline available on Monday - Friday, 12noon - 6pm)
Email:  marketing@blacknwhite.com.hk

Patisserie La Douceur 品悅糖 - (Taipei)

 I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of pastry desserts here.  Although some of them appeared better than they tasted in the end,  I found this patisserie shop to be very inventive!  A minor tweak or there and it will be world beating material indeed,  almost on par with the Paris and Japanese counterparts.  But it is probably missing that final touch for now..

 

 

Cake Display -
Very interesting recipes.
Almost too try-hard,  but let’s eat first to judge!

 

 

 

Uniformly made Caneles/Canneles -
I like the polished looks externally.   They don’t seem to be as darkened as the version in France but the uniformity is definitely a plus. 

 

 

 

Michel Cluizel Chocolate mousse,   Lychee and Rose Jam,  with Brownie – NT 140
Presented like a lollipop.  This was pretty good but more chocolate-ty than the fruity base suggests and we couldn’t detect the brownie bit for now.   ~  7/10

 

 

 

Canele/Cannele -
This isn’t my 1st time trying this,  as fellow blogger friend  from  http://voyagetaiwan.blogspot.com ,  has brought back some for us to try in HK before.   The quality at the original store is perceivedly better than flying them back as you would imagine,  it seems like Caneles and Macarons just aren’t too keen to travel the distance!!   

 

 

 

 

The Inside -
The external was correctly burnt crispy,  the inside with a hint of rum and eggy taste but without much vanilla influence.  Overall the externall was really good,  but this batch’s internal was perhaps a little bit too dense packed,  though not too moist either and getting there!  ~  7/10

 

 

 

 

Tahiti Vanilla Mousse, Wild Berries compote Macaron – NT 160
This looked so pretty but it was Smurf Blue.   Really like this for presentation,  especially the chocolate dipped part,  although wasn’t really sure if the taste followed up with the recipe in hindsight.  ~  7/10

 

 

 

Michel Cluizel chocolate with Cherry mousse and Wine Soaked Cherry, Almond biscuit base -
This was so pretty but dense.  I enjoyed this but it wasn’t really punching in your face material.  ~  7/10

 

 

 

Fresh Strawberries,  Caramelized Puffs, 
Hazelnut Pistachio and Cherry Brandy chantilly custard -
This was to me the best item,  it was thoughtful and complex,  and it delivered in the final taste.   Amazing stuff.    12/10

 

 

 

I was rather impressed.
Although the recipes sounded more intriguing than they tasted in the end,  such creativities are always welcomed.   If they can improve on the executional side and taste department 1 day,  they could well be one of the best patisseries in the world I have ever visited.  Right now however they are promising more than they could chew in my personal opinion but almost getting there in taste..

 

 

 

Price:   TWD $200
Food:   ♕♕♕♕ to  ♕♕♕♕♕
Ease of Access:  3/5

Address: 116台灣台北市大安區金華街223號
Ph: +886 2 3322 2833