Paul Lafayet

Hong Kongers, we have something to celebrate! I've recently discovered another Ispahan in town! Remember how I got all excited upon discovery of Sift's Ispahan, and begged you to tell me whether other patissiers offered this delicatessen in Hong Kong? Well, about ten days ago, I visited the newly opened shopping mall in Causeway Bay, Hysan Place, to take a look at the new complex and see how I liked it. I loved it, and after only a week since its inauguration, you could already tell the place is going to be a success. I wandered around the shops, Jason's the supermaket, and the mesmerising Eslite bookstore, and then had dinner at Sen-ryo, the Japanese restaurant on the 12th floor. When I was about to go out in the Ground Floor, I saw Paul Lafayet has a tiny store in Hysan Place as well! It's mostly for take away, but there's four seats in the bar. My eyes stumbled upon the Ispahan as if it was magnetised. Paul Lafayet calls it "Rose and Raspberry Macaron", so no "Ispahan" name there, but we all can recognise an Ispahan when we see one. This one doesn't come with the eye-catching details on top, namely a raspberry and a fresh rose petal, but the rest is the same.

I liked the fact that the lychee was sweetened to the point that it lost all sourness. Since I don't like to eat lychee as a fruit, I enjoyed this sweet technique. Overall this Ispahan was delicious and I highly recommend it (5*). On an aesthetic note, I missed the details on top that I mentioned.

As you can see from the pics, we also had the Chocolate Craquelin (5*), a must-try for dark chocolate lovers. I loved everything in this petit-four: intense dark chocolate flavor and the most amazing of all the textures in the base: crispy praline that explodes in your mouth just to melt immediately afterwards.

Overall Quality: 5*

Price: HK$40 per petit-four

Value for Money: 5*

Visited on: 19 August, 2012

Would I recommend it? Yes, chocoholics can't miss out on the Chocolate Craquelin