Since I started dating a Frenchman, my appreciation and knowledge of certain foods has expanded  – there were just so many things that I never knew about eating or thought about buying! This knowledge has unfortunately not yet spread to wine, but food! Ooooh yeah, with food I got it down! Baked goods (and related products) are one thing I find myself eating a lot more of – baguettes (bye bye sliced bread!), Dalloyau’s opera cake, canelés, all things Eric Kayser, financiers, french salted butter (regular butter is such a waste of calories!), with a short shot of espresso…

This post is a while in the making because I have been buying baked goodies from Boulangerie Bistronomique since it first opened. Young pâtissier Alex heads up the kitchen, and together with the rest of a talented team bakes up French pastries, baguettes, loaves, tea cakes and eclairs. It’s another great addition to the Hong Kong food scene by David Lai, and despite having Robuchon and the newly opened Eric Kayser (so excited about that!) bakeries available to us, it’s nice to support local when possible. It’s easy to support Boulangerie Bistronomique, because their baked goods are just that good.

Brioches/ extra large Chouquettes @ $15 & Pain au Chocolat @ $19

Croissants @ $18

I’ll take it all please!!

Mille feuille @ $45

Their mille-feuilles are made with cream, and I reluctantly tried these as I usually would only eat them with custard. However, these are amazing – BB has achieved a custard-like consistency in their cream, the pastry gives a satisfying crunch and yet is soft and pillowy at the same time. You can order this as a cake as well, although I imagine it might be bit hard to cut into slices without decimating it.

Paris-Brest @ $45

Paris-Brest are circular pastries filled with flavoured choux cream – it is said to be created by a pâtissier  in Saint Germain in 1891, who was inspired by a cycling race that ran from Paris to Brest and back to Paris, and so it was made in the shape of a bicycle wheel.

This one is very decent, with a wonderful praline cream that is very moreish. It’s also made in a chocolate version, and is available at La Cabane a Vin if you’d like to try it at a more central location!

Vanilla Eclair (all eclairs @ $38)

I must say that the eclairs weren’t my favorite choice when I first started going to Boulangerie Bistronomique (too small, not enough cream), however they have improved vastly since then – try the coffee eclair for something special and different, it’s delish.

My baguette @ home

I put the baguette to the Frenchman test, and it passed with flying colours! This baguette is “excellent, but it could be cooked a little longer”. It’s crusty, doughy and very authentic and could certainly complete with one from Robuchon.

Sit on one of their little tables outside and enjoy your treats with a newspaper and a cup of coffee or Bistronomique Hot Chocolate $35

Jams from France

Boulangerie Bistronomique stocks jarred lentils, cassoulet and other cooked goodies as well as natural wines from La Cabane a Vin, who source it directly from the small producer in France.

Lentils and Cassoulet

For those who live in Kennedy Town and are lucky enough to have this bakery on your doorstep (you lucky ducks), all I can say is that if I were you, I’d be buying my daily bread from there – it would be like Cheers, everyone would know my name! For others, it’s well worth the trip to Kennedy Town.

Bistronomique Boulangerie

Shop 1, Ground Floor
Grand Fortune Mansion
1 Davis Street (entrance faces the waterfront)
Kennedy Town

Tel: (+852) 2872 0811

http://www.facebook.com/BoulangerieBistronomique