July 11, 2009
Paul Boulangerie
Could it be? A real croissant in Taiwan?
Taiwan bakeries follow the Japanese style of fluffy soft sweet breads stuffed with strange things like red-beans, taro paste, or tuna fish. I like those just fine, and in fact I get annoyed with the Euros who whine about the lack of "real" bread in Taiwan and Asia.
On the other hand, having experienced the fine artisanal bakeries of the Bay Area, it would be nice to have a solid loaf of crusty, natural-yeast bread once in a while. And actually, far as European-style baguettes, cibattas, and rustic loaves go, Taiwan's high-end bakeries have shown a great deal of improvement. Sure, they're not up to the level of Acme's au levain sourdough loaves yet, but still quite acceptable for a nice continental breakfast
Still, the one thing that even the finest Japanese transplant bakeries haven't been able to reproduce is the butter croissant, and associated flaky viennoiseries. So I was intrigued by the opening of the French chain Paul, which was supposedly importing all the key ingredients from Europe and doing everything exactly the old-world way. But the expensive prices and the location meant that we simply hadn't got around to trying it, until now that grandma's moved nearby.
Sure it's a bit pricey at NT35-50 per piece, but the croissant is legit. Compact, with a crispy crust and soft layers that ooze real butter. The pain-au-chocolat had the right amount of dark chocolate filling that was rich without being overly sweet. Unfortunately danishes don't hold up as well in the summer heat&humidity, the syrupy filling turned into a soggy mess in less than a day.
They also have a nice space perfect for brunches and afternoon tea, but I'd rather just take the bread home and make my own coffee. Lately they've started to offer a nice combo package: NT300 gets you half a baguette, a petit sugar loaf, a pain-au-raisin, and a generous slice of bread pudding, or some equivalent thereof. That's a few days' worth of breakfast taken care of, albeit at a bit higher cost than your typical hole-in-the-wall white-bread breakfast-sandwich shop.
Paul Boulangerie
台北市仁愛路四段107號（仁愛圓環）
02-2771-3200
(Also at XinYi Mitsukoshi A9 2F)
Posted by mikewang at July 11, 2009 09:30 AM