Tea at Paul's Bakery @ Takashimaya Shopping Centre

Yes, Paul Boulangerie from Paris has opened up a bakery in Singapore, and even though the queues were notoriously long, it did not deter  Nadine* and I from joining the curious cats on the prowl for good afternoon teas. Wait, "good afternoon tea" was our expectations, since apparently Paul's in Paris is highly-raved and we thought, since so many people are queuing for this outlet in Singapore, it should be good, right?

Paul's Bakery is located at where Coffee Club used to reside on level three of Takashimaya Shopping Centre - 391A Orchard Road #03-16 / 17 Ngee Ann City Tower A, Singapore 238873, and the number to call is 6836 5932.

  

Nadine* and I eagerly browsed through the menu when we were shown to a table finally, after 30 minutes of queueing (not too bad, considering...). It was afternoon tea time, the laid-back, cosy cafe was filled with teatime chatters, all looking happy and relaxed.

The service was nothing to speak of, surely, but we were not expecting French hospitality in this cafe / bakery setting.

After a tough mental battle between Hot Chocolate and Tea Gourmand, I decided on the latter, which came with three pieces of Macorons as well. While I sipped my hot tea, I nibbled on the a-tad-too-sweet macarons, glad to be able to swallow the saccharine tiny cookie-like pastries easier.

No worries there, the tea and macarons were not the highlight anyway. We patiently awaited our tarts to be served.

I had the Chocolate Tartlette-  a small name for a rather good-sized pastry. The crust was solid and not crumbly like how some tarts fall apart the moment it is put to the fork's test. The chocolate was .... nondescript? There was no rich strong aroma of good chocolate or the bittersweet-ness of my favorite dark chocolate; the taste was pleasant, but nothing that blew me away. It was a  rather normal chocolate tart, in my humble opinion.

Nadine* had the Fruit Tart of the Day - I believe it was a Raspberry and Cherry tart on a soft bed of pinkish pastry. A bite affirmed my suspicions that the pastries here were not fantastic as raved, but just average. While generously studded with fruits, giving the pastry a sweet, slightly acidnc overture, the crust was a little rough. 

We finished our pastries and tea over hearty chatter and catching up, a little disappointed with the standards but would be willing to give it another shot (maybe order other items to try?) in the near future. Each of us spent around SGD$20.00.