Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts

Friday, March 5, 2010

Top Gun J&C Restaurant - Review 2


Restaurant: Top Gun J&C Restaurant

Cuisine: Chinese/Asian/Dim Sum

Last visited: February 21, 2010
Area: Richmond, BC

Unit 2020 Excel Centre, 8766 McKim Way (2nd floor)
Range: $20-30


1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!


Food: 5 (moved up .5, tried more stuff)

Service: 4

Ambiance: 5

Overall: 5

Additional comments:

  • Part of Top Gun Group
  • Considered a high end dim sum restaurant
  • Traditional and creative dim sum dishes (mostly traditional)
  • Japanese sushi and sashimi available
  • Cantonese cuisine
  • Discount if you arrive before 11am
  • Ordering form service
  • Busy, but plenty of seating
  • Fancy set up
  • Private room available
  • Breakfast/Lunch 9:30am-3pm
  • Dinner 5:30pm-10pm
  • Closed Wednesday
  • Reservations recommended
  • Some parking available

**Recommendation: Steamed Diced Pork & Shrimp Dumpling, Baked BBQ Pork Bun, Deep Fried Fish Ball w/Clam Sauce, Steamed Beef Ball, Fried Vermicelli in Homemade Style, Pea Tips and Geoduck rice rolls, Steamed Sponge Cake, Red Bean Almond Tofu with Amaretto, Fried Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf


Top Gun J&C Restaurant is part of the Top gun Group so it is considered a higher end dim sum Restaurant. It competes at the level of Kirin Restaurant and Rainflower Chinese Restaurant.


So I’ve been here numerous times and this was my second visit for a continuation of Chinese New Year brunches.


The 1st Chinese New Year brunch review at Top Gun J&C Restaurant.


The dessert at Top Gun J&C Restaurant.


On the table:

Pan Fried Radish Cake 3.5/6

  • Or pan-fried white turnip cake. (Not sure what it’s called on the menu) $4.75?
  • This is a traditional dim sum dish to order during Chinese New Year; although it is also a common dish all year around.
  • It’s made in house and available ‘raw’ or not pan-fried (to give as gifts) during Chinese New Year and other traditional Chinese holidays.
  • It’s a bit sticky and gluey in texture. It’s made of shredded radish of Chinese daikon, which is neutral in flavour. It’s not spicy and not really sweet either. The radish cake is very soft and the flavour comes from the bits of sausage, dried shrimps and Shiitake mushrooms they add to the mixture.
  • The ones here are good, but I’ve had better. They’re a little firm and not soft and creamy enough and the edges could be fried crispier. I could also use more Shiitake mushrooms in the mixture.

Pan-Fried Taro Cake 3.5/6

  • $4.75?
  • This is another very common dish to have during Chinese New Year that is also available all year around.
  • It’s almost like the pan fried radish cake but it’s a bit drier and starchier in texture. It’s more potato like and not as creamy.
  • It’s a savoury cake made or shredded taro root (which is basically a starchier potato-like vegetable), rice flour, Shiitake mushrooms, sausage and maybe some ground pork as well.
  • I actually think they did a better job with these than the pan fried radish cake, however I’ve had better of these too. These ones were a bit too firm again. They are firmer than pan-fried radish cakes, but even relative to other taro cakes they’re still a little too firm and a bit too dry.

Scallops and Black Wood Ear Mushroom Rice Rolls 4/6

  • $7.50
  • This is one of their specialty items and I haven’t seen them offered anywhere else.
  • They’re a bit expensive, but that’s because there are huge scallops in them! They’re big white fresh scallops, not dried ones. Although it would taste delicious with some dried scallops in there as well.
  • I wish I got a picture, but you can see the big round scallops underneath the rice roll skin.
  • I’m not sure if black wood ear mushrooms were the right match – the crunchy texture (cartilage like) kind of threw me off with the soft yet meaty scallops. I would have preferred Enoki mushrooms instead.
  • They didn’t have much black wood ear mushrooms in there anyways though.
  • I found it a bit bland and the only flavour was pretty much the sweet soy sauce and natural scallop taste.

**Pea Tips and Geoduck Rice Rolls 5/6

  • $7.50
  • It’s pretty much sautéed pea tips and geoduck wrapped in rice rolls.
  • This is another specialty item that isn’t offered anywhere else. It’s their in house recipe and not traditional, but still very good and very gourmet. So it’s a bit pricier again.
  • The geoduck is a type of clam, so it almost tastes the same. It’s chewy and they don’t overcook them here, so they are still tender. They give you lots too and they’re cut in nice bite sized pieces.
  • I really liked the pea tips in here. A unique flavour combination that worked well. It was a very hearty stuffing for the delicate rice rolls, but I still liked it. Lots of textures – soft, chewy, crunchy. I liked it! The ingredients held well with the sweet soy sauce you eat them with too.
  • Good example of messing with a good thing…and it actually working.


**Fried Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf 6/6

  • $10.95
  • This is also quite pricey, but it’s good and they execution is done really well.
  • It was very fresh and made upon order. I liked the presentation as well.
  • It’s a pretty big pot of fried rice with pieces of salted egg yolk, scrambled egg, pieces of white meat chicken, baby shrimp, a few minced up Shiitake mushrooms, and sliced Chinese broccoli stems.
  • It was very flavourful rice and has the same flavour as sticky rice. It’s not sticky though and the grains are separate. They did a great job with the frying.
  • The yellow pieces that look like squash is the salted egg yolk. I love these! It maybe an acquired taste though. It’s very dry and very crumbly in texture. It’s quite firm and it has a very potent salty flavour. It almost has a bean like salty texture and tastes like fermented food. Well it is – it’s a salted duck egg (did I lose you!? I didn't want to say it and scare you off...) but it's a preserved duck egg. It’s the same egg they use in the centre of Chinese moon cakes.

**Steamed Sponge Cake 6/6

  • $4.50
  • This is a very popular Chinese dessert served during dim sum.
  • The one here is very good! It’s hot, fresh, and made upon order.
  • It’s very soft, light, fluffy, and very lightly sweetened.
  • It tastes like egg rolls or Chinese egg balls in sponge cake form.
  • It has a slight almond-y flavour and I loved the presentation! I’ve never seen it served like this. I ate the middle part…I usually don’t care for this dessert…but this one was great! A lot of Chinese people love it.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Diplomat Bakery

Restaurant: Diplomat Bakery

Cuisine: Desserts/Bakery/Coffee

Last visited: February 23, 2010
Area: Richmond, BC

6111 London Road (Steveston)
Range: $10 or less


1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!


Food: 4.5 (based on the 3 items I tried)

Service: 4

Ambiance: 4

Overall: 4.5

Additional comments:

  • Location in the middle of nowhere (industrial)
  • Near Steveston Village
  • Popular to locals
  • European bakery
  • Popular for cakes
  • Whole cakes available
  • Wedding cakes available
  • Very reasonably priced
  • Quality ingredients
  • Some savoury café foods available
  • Great for quick lunch/coffee/dessert
  • Spacious, clean, contemporary
  • Self-serve/pay at cashier
  • Seats 20
  • Eat in/Take-out

**Recommendation: Napoleon, Spinach and Feta Cheese Brioche


I’ve only tried a few things here and based on those I gave it a 4.5/6. However I think it could easily movie up to a 5 if I tried more things – I still need to try more of their cakes.


It’s basically the True Confections (cake café) of Richmond. The style, look, and choices at Diplomat Bakery are similar to those offered at True Confections, but not quite as refined. I can’t say 100% because I haven’t tried enough, but True Confections I think is better. On the other hand Diplomat bakery is half the price of True Confections. All Diplomat Bakery cakes are $3.50 a slice so it’s very affordable compared to the $7-8 you would pay in downtown.


Overall I enjoyed everything I had and would go back to try more. However it is a little out of the way and not so convenient so I would really have to make it a plan to go again. I don’t think they’re an open late kind of place, but they were very busy in the late afternoon with lots of locals stopping for coffee and dessert. They also serve a small selection of savoury foods like muffins, quiche etc.


On the table:

**Napoleon 4.5/6

  • $2.75
  • Every bakery has their interpretation of the Napoleon.
  • It was layers of flakey crisp pastry and butter cream sprinkled with icing sugar.
  • It was sweet, but not overly sweet. It’s sweeter than the Saint Germain’s Napoleon though.
  • It was very fresh and you could taste the quality of ingredients. I loved the layers of flakey pastry and the ratio of cream to pastry was great.
  • However the layers of butter cream were really buttery and I could taste it – it didn’t melt as well as I would have liked. It was a denser butter cream, not the fluffy whipped kind. It was almost like pastry custard, but it tasted buttery. I prefer pastry cream or custard in Napoleons.

White Chocolate Baileys 3.5/6

  • $3.50 for a slice $40 for 9 inch cake
  • This was a pretty cake. It was white chocolate cake with a layer of white chocolate Bailey’s cake and a layer of dark chocolate cake in the middle.

  • This was a dense cake and although the middle layers look moussey, it’s not. It’s an actual cake, but it does have a slightly creamy texture…almost like cheesecake does, but it’s not cheesecake. It was thickend with butter instead of cheese but it was still a cake. I liked the texture of cake and the denser middle layers of cake though.

  • It had white chocolate shavings all around the edges, which was a nice touch.
  • It actually wasn’t that sweet and I thought it would be since it was white chocolate.
  • I could taste the Bailey’s and it’s not overwhelming or too heavy on the liquor but carries a light coffee taste. It’s mixed into the middle white layers.
  • I think they the dark chocolate layer could have overpowered the white chocolate layers a little bit. The white chocolate cake layers came off as regular white cake and it was a tad dry. Luckily it had the middle layers to keep it more moist.


**Spinach and Feta Cheese Brioche 4.5/6

  • $3.25
  • This was huge and a really good price.
  • I enjoyed mine with a fried egg for breakfast and my friend enjoyed hers with tuna. It was very enjoyable with these extras although it tastes good on its own too.
  • It’s not soft and fluffy, but the crumbs are tight like brioche should be. It’s egg and butter based bread, so it’s rich in texture and flavour. It’s a bit dry, drier than brioche should be though, but it was ok because the filling kept in moist.
  • It’s stuffed with spinach and Feta cheese mixture and the Feta was actually quite strong and stood out. There are some ‘fillers’ in the mixture, but it just made it even better so it didn’t bother me one bit.
  • They add some mashed potato and onions into the mixture so it’s almost creamy and hold lots of flavour. You can bite into small pieces of minced potato so the texture is great.
  • I kind of wanted a bit more egg wash on the top though – I like my brioche to have that slightly sweetened and baked egg wash.

Diplomat Bakery on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Ganache Patisserie - Bakery

Restaurant: Ganache Patisserie - Bakery

Cuisine: Desserts/Bakery

Last visited: February 14, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Yaletown/Downtown)

1262 Homer Street
Range: $10 or less


1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!


Food: 4.5 (but I think there's better I haven't tried)

Service: n/a

Ambiance: 4

Overall: 4.5

Additional comments:

  • Opened December 2003
  • Pastry chef and owner Peter Fong
  • Gourmet/high-end Parisian bakery in Yaletown
  • Creative/exotic/posh cakes
  • Modern French cakes (w/twist)
  • Quality/seasonal ingredients
  • Chocolates
  • Menu changes, seasonal cakes
  • Whole cakes/mini individual serving cakes
  • Wedding cakes
  • Baked goods to go/gifts
  • Take-out only, very few seats if any
  • Croissants available Friday-Sunday
  • Tues-Fri. 11am-7pm
  • Sat. 11am-9pm
  • Sun. 11am-5pm
  • Closed Mondays

**Recommendation: Caramel-Chocolat, Chocolat-Banane (popular choice, but haven’t tried this one)


I’ve heard so many great things about Ganache Patisserie, I haven’t come across one person that doesn’t love it. Visually they are masterpieces, but taste wise…I’m not so sure. I would rather have Bakery Nouveau. I can’t say I was disappointed by Ganache Patisserie, but I also wasn’t as impressed as I thought I would be. Since it is a gourmet/high-end bakery my expectations are higher than usual…as it should be for places like these. It really reminded me of Kreation Artisan Cake – classic French cakes and pastries with a contemporary twist.


My friend brought them over and I indulged in all of them with 2 of my girlfriends. We all felt the same way about each cake…and we’re good judgment of desserts. They’re good, but not OMG sooooo good…except for the caramel-chocolat. When my friend asked the staff what she recommended she actually listed the more traditional items rather than the exotic cakes. I guess I just need to try the less original items next time because I was a little underwhelmed by the exotic ones. So I would still go back to try more but I wouldn’t crave anything because nothing was too memorable either. I do recommend it, but I've been really spoiled with great desserts...so I have had better...not necessarily in Vancouver though...so this is still good!


I didn’t have the descriptions while trying them so I was relying on my taste buds to pick out all the flavours. We each had a 1/3 of every cake so it was a decent sample and representation.


On the table:

Blanc Fraisier 4/6

  • Vanilla cake, vanilla sablé Breton, white chocolate black pepper mousseline, strawberries, passionfruit meringue $5.50-5.75
  • They say that this is everyone’s favourite and it’s one of their best sellers.
  • It tasted like strawberry shortcake to me. The cake layers were drier and very much like shortcake cake.
  • It was almost like custard or layers or pastry cream with fresh strawberries in between the shortcake layers. There wasn’t much strawberry though.
  • It was creamier then it was mousse like. I couldn’t taste the black pepper or any sort of spiciness. I couldn’t tell it was white chocolate either.
  • I also couldn’t tell it was passionfruit meringue although it was fluffy and marshmallow like. I liked the texture.

Guava Exotique 3.5/6

  • Strawberry guava mousse, lychees, pineapple financier sponge $5.50-5.75
  • This one reminded me of an Asian cake. It was mousse like and the mousse is the light airy mousse they make at Chinese bakeries.
  • I definitely couldn’t taste the pineapple and didn’t know it was in there until reading the description.
  • It was nice and moist and the lychee really stood out. There were little pieces of lychee throughout the cake and I liked the texture eating it with the mousse.
  • I could taste the guava and it was a very floral and fragrant cake.
  • I’d order it again, but it wouldn’t be my first choice. I’d rather try something else before ordering this again.

Matcha-Exotique 3/6

  • Green tea mousse, mango-passionfruit gelée, lychees, black sesame biscuit joconde $5.50-5.75
  • I was very excited about this one! One of my girlfriends had tried it as a whole cake and apparently it’s better that way because they make it in layers instead of a bomb cake where the flavours didn’t mesh together as well.
  • This one is too bitter. They use so much Matcha and black sesame that it became bitter. It was definitely fresh and quality ingredients, but the flavour became overpowering rather than complementing.
  • The black sesame cake was a bit dry and crumbly in texture too. It made the whole cake taste a bit powdery especially with the green tea mousse which is also made with Matcha powder.
  • The mango passionfruit was almost like a jello but denser. It was made with frehs puree and it was very tangy and also sweet. The cake tasted much better if you ate it with the jello, but it was hard to portion because there wasn’t much of it. The mango and passion fruit helped to break up the bitterness.
  • There were also little bits of lychee in this one, but I lost the flavour because of the Matcha and sesame. I only knew because of the texture.

**Caramel-Chocolat 6/6

  • Milk chocolate caramel mousse with hazelnut croquant, raspberry gelée, 75% Tanzanie dark chocolate mousse, praline crunch, chocolate biscuit $5.50-5.75
  • This is another one of their popular cakes. It’s more traditional and I usually go for exotics so I wasn’t too excited about this one…little did I know it would be the best of the 4. It was all of our favourites.
  • It was moist, creamy, moussey, rich and perfect in texture.
  • There was a great combination of chocolates and levels of sweetness. The hazelnut was obvious and the raspberry was so little, but so potent.
  • It was chocolatey, nutty, and tangy – I would order this again for sure.
  • It was the sweetest of all the cakes, but since it was dark chocolate it wasn’t overly sweet. It was definitely most indulgent and I was happy to at least end off on a good note.

Ganache Patisserie on Urbanspoon

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Polonia Sausage House - Review for Polish Poppy Seed Bread


Restaurant: Polonia Sausage House - Review for Polish Poppy Seed Bread

Cuisine: Bakery/Dessert/Cafe

Last visited: February 22, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Hastings-Sunrise)

2434 Hastings Street East
Range
: $10 or less


1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!


Polish Poppy Seed bread: 6

Service: 6

Ambiance: ? It's a grocery store/deli/bakery

Overall: n/a

Additional comments:

  • Owned by Polish family
  • Frequented by Polish people
  • Authentic
  • Homemade sausages
  • Popular for sausages
  • Polish grocery store/deli/bakery
  • Baked goods imported fresh daily from nearby bakery
  • Frozen perogies available
  • Bakery (smaller selection)
  • Mostly cheesecakes

**Recommendation: Polish Poppy Seed Bread


This review is only based on the Polish Poppy Seed Bread.


Another random find! I had finished eating at Le Do Vietnamese Restaurant down the street and i was craving some dessert...surprise surprise huh? =p Anyways I started walked up the street and noticed 4 bakeries just one block. I decided to pop into Polonia Sausage House....I don't even kno9w why because they don't advertised being a bakery. Luckily I walked in though because at the back of the store they sell baked goods. There's only a few of each item and the selection is limited. the baked good are actually all made fresh daily...but off site. They bring them in from an Eastern European bakery further down the street...I'm not sure which one though.

Most of the baked goods are different kinds of cheesecakes or pastries with cream. They looked ok, but I'm not a huge fan of cheesecakes so I opted for something I am a BIG fan of...the poppy seed bread! I was introduced to this from my Ukrainian friend and there's lots of interpretations of it, however this is one of the best I've ever had.

The owner was super nice and she told me they have limited selection because they throw away anything that doesn't get sold that day...and I believe her. most bakeries should operate like this I think - I hope they eat them instead of throw them away though...such a waste of good food otherwise.

I want to go back for more poppy seed bread and I also want to try their sausages...they looked good! Very authentic...everyone in there was speaking Polish - owner and customers...I was excited that I had found an authentic Polish place...even if it is a grocery store.


On the table:

**Polish Poppy Seed Bread 6/6

  • Half $4.98 Whole loaf $9.98
  • The owner was super nice. She charged me $4.30 for half a loaf because it was slightly smaller than half a loaf. Really cute.
  • It's a pretty substantial loaf although I finished it in 2 sittings. I bought half a loaf.
  • I loved this bread! It's half bread and half pastry so I can't really call it a dessert. Would you consider a croissant a dessert? Or a danish? It's almost like that kind of thing.
  • This is baked off site at the bakery down the street. YUMMY!
  • It's loaded with a poppy seed! The poppy seed is almost like a paste and there's also some candied lemon peel, raisins, and walnuts in it. I loved it! I could have used more raisins and walnuts though...there were so few that I wasn't sure if they had gotten in there by accident....but enough to know that they were intended.
  • There's a very strong fresh lemon taste and scent. The candied lemon pieces were actually quite big, but very good! I thought I wouldn't like it either, but it enhanced all the flavours.
  • The topping of the bread is almost like a streusel crumb topping. There’s a little bit of icing and a little bit of brown sugar crumb topping. It's delicious.
  • The bread part is egg bread. It's dense and crumbly and almost like a lemon loaf cake but not as sweet and a bit drier.
  • It dries out quickly if it's not wrapped up, but it's excellent when it's fresh or even slightly warmed up.
  • It's not too sweet, but still dessert like. The Poppy Seed Square at Breka Bakery was much more of a dessert. I could this one at any anytime of day...it's delicious.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Chambar Restaurant - Dessert Review

Restaurant: Chambar Restaurant - Dessert Review

Cuisine: Belgian/French
Last visited: February 12, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Gastown/Downtown)
562 Beatty Street
Price Range
:
$30-50 (Closer to $50)


1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 6
Service: 5.5

Ambiance: 4.5

Overall: 6

Additional comments:

  • Specializes in Belgium/French food - fusion
  • Innovative/exotic/creative menu
  • Going on 6th year
  • Casual fine dining
  • Lively atmosphere
  • Busy on weekends/late nights
  • Husband and wife owners
  • Chef Nico Schuermans and his wife Karri
  • Parent to Cafe Medina next door
  • Just opened Dirty Apron Cooking school (couple stores down)
  • Fixed menu available
  • Event nights
  • Extensive wine list
  • Great for drinks/cocktails/appetizers
  • 18% gratuity for groups of 8+
  • Ocean Wise
  • Open 5-12am daily
  • Reservations recommended

**Recommendation: Mushroom Soup, Mussels & Frites, Le Canard aux Epices, if you can order Stilton croquettes as a side - do it! Vanilla Pear Cake for dessert.


Chambar has always been one of my favourite restaurants...and it still is one of my favourites. I rarely ever say I have a “favourite restaurant” but this one has yet to disappointment me. I usually have certain dishes I like and that’s what I will recommend rather than the restaurant itself…however everything here is more or less amazing.

It is a Belgian restaurant, but the food is more contemporary with slight French and West Coast influences. It is more or less a fusion restaurant.


A bit steep in terms of price, but in the category of casual fine dining. The portions are reasonable although they look smaller until you start eating them.


They really let the ingredients speak for themselves here and they don’t go overboard by trying to enhance every single item with seasonings and spices. It’s simple, but tastes so complex. That’s the magic of Chambar.


To see my dinner review for Chambar Restaurant.


On the table:


Dessert Sampler - La degustation des desserts 4/6

  • Dessert Sampler: Chef's selection tasting platter $20
  • Vanilla Bean Pot de Cream 5/6
  • This was the best of the sampler. It was pretty much a vanilla panna cotta. The vanilla was very strong and the texture was very rich and creamy.
  • The bottom layer of this is almost pure vanilla bean seed puree. It was delicious, but I wish they had used it for the top or maybe throughout the panna cotta. I just felt like it was such a waste of vanilla bean seeds to leave them at the bottom. The bowl was square so it was hard to scrape up too.
  • Espresso and Kaluah Ice Cream 3.5/6
  • This was a very icy ice cream so it was almost lighter than regular ice cream. It was very refreshing and not too strong in flavour. It wasn’t too sweet and it was quite simple, but still good. No surprises here…except for it being icy in texture.
  • Sour Cherry Phyllo Purse 2/6
  • I’m not sure if that was the exact name, but that’s how I remember it. It's the triangle between the chocolate mousse and the panna cotta.
  • There was too much phyllo and too little cherry. I was very crispy and flakey with a sweetness and tang, but the phyllo was distracting.
  • It was topped with a whipped marscapone cheese I think...or goat's cheese? (I don't quite remember) It was very mild in flavour and added a creaminess that offset the tang of the cherry...I just wish they had given more cherry.
  • Chocolate Mousse 4/6
  • This looks A LOT sweeter than it really is. It’s not that sweet at all actually…and that’s because they’re using a dark and good quality chocolaote. The texture is actually quite rich yet still frothy but the sweetness is very natural so it doesn’t tastes too heavy.
  • The decor they used was a thin chocolate brittle that tastes like there wasa quite a bit of espresso in it. I liked it!
  • Truffles 3/6
  • These aren’t truffles…these are chocolates. They’re good, but just not truffles.
    • Dark chocolate truffle 4.5/6
    • Amazing. I love dark chocolate. This was like a homemade Ferraro Rocher. There were nice big pieces of hazelnuts on the outside and then the inside wasa chocolate ganache. It wasn’t that creamy and was actually quite thick.
    • White chocolate truffle 1.5/6
    • No. I don’t like white chocolate so this was much too sweet. Even if I did like white chocolate I still think it was too sweet. Not for me.
Plateau de trois fromages - Plate of 3 Cheeses 5/6
  • Trio cheese platter with spiced blueberry compote, fruit & nut bread. $18
  • Brie, Aged White Cheddar and Stilton or Blue Cheese?
  • The bread is fantastic! It’s house made hazelnut and rasin bread and they give you a lot! There’s huge pieces of hazelnuts and lots of them!
  • They toast them up so it’s nice and nutty.
  • They serve it with a spiced blueberry jam/compote with real whole blueberries in it. It’s actually noticeably spicy and I think it's from ginger and maybe some cinnamon.
  • The cheese are generous servings and this is definitely worth it. I like the added pear and apple slices as well. It went great with the compote.

Le Gateau Poire - Vanilla Pear Cake 6/6

  • Vanilla cake baked on top of pear compote served with raspberry creme anglaise & lemongrass ice cream. $11
  • I had to save the best for last. Well the best out of what we ordered.
  • Delish! They changed the raspberry cream anglaise to a coffee espresso cream anglaise. I think the raspeberry cream would have been even better although this was still good. You pour the coffee espresso (centre glass) in the middle of this soufflé and eat it together.
  • It’s soft, warm, sweet, slightly bitter from the espresso, not too sweet and just the perfect flavour of everything. I was suprised the espresso didn't overpower the pears.
  • The pear is so ripe and yet not overcooked so you can still taste the pieces and bite into them. I loved this!
  • They serve it with ice cream and a little brown sugar decor...and drool I want it right now! I don't recall it being lemongrass though...so they either changed the recipe for that or the lemongrass flavour wasn't as distinct and overpowered by the espresso and pears. Now I want to go back and try it again...:D

To see my dinner review for Chambar.