dessert/bakery: i recommend 1789 CYRILLE COURANT

1789 CYRILLE COURANT
No. 97-1 RenAi Road, Sec. 2
台北市中正區仁愛路二段97-1號
 (02) 3322-2089

MRT: ZhongXiao/XinSheng

website:  http://www.1789.com.tw and FB page 

hours: 11AM- 8PM

$-$$ (average NT$120/eclair)

Kid friendliness: buy an extra so you don't fight with the kids over your favorite flavor

Visit reviewed: 12/31/2013




1789 Cyrille Courant is a little shop specializing in French pastries and chocolate truffles, opened last December. The shop was opened by Cyrille Courant and his wife, fulfilling a life long dream for them. Previously, Chef Courant worked in Germany and Shanghai and won several prestigious awards in London and France. Of course I didn't know that when I stopped by the shop when I was in the area, but the pictures of the eclairs that I spied on @starvingchef 's instagram were enough to entice me.

If you could only pick one eclair, get the salted caramel eclair (NT$120), otherwise I definitely recommend splurging on a box to share with friends so you can try the different flavors. At first, they told me the salted caramel was sold out and I thought I would leave empty handed, but luckily there were a few more in the kitchen.  Good thing since it did turn out to be my favorite flavor.

Eclair flavors include N. 1 Chocolate Sugar Free, N. 2 Tiramisu, N. 3 Vanilla, N. 4 Salted Caramel, N. 5 Mango, N. 6 Raspberry, N. 7 Lemon, N. 8 Black Forest, N. 9 Mont Blanc and N. 11 Blueberry Mascarpone. New flavors come out seasonally and can be spotted on their Facebook page, such as N.16 Pink Grape Fruit Éclair with Korean Yuzu, topped with fresh Wasabi Mascarpone Cream or bright green Granny Smith Apple.

Truffles also for sale with unique flavors such as Earl Grey (NT$65), Litchi, Sesame, Hazelnut, and Framboise (Raspberry) chocolate ganache. 

You might spy Chef Courant in the kitchen filling the eclairs or making new creations. 

There's a few tables in the back of the shop for a cup of coffee or tea.

 

From left to right, lemon, raspberry cream, mango, salted caramel, chocolate and tiramisu (NT$750/box of 6). The eclair's shell tastes more similar to a cream puff than a doughnut and I loved how the fillings tasted actually like lemon or raspberry rather than just cream or sugar. The eclairs aren't super big, so you might find yourself wanting to eat two in one sitting. 

 

The Cat in the Hat red and white stripes are fun for the raspberry cream (NT$120).

Super cute to take a box to a dinner party or use instead of a birthday cake, or instead of waiting in line for Krispy Kremes (haha). The royal purple and white packaging is simple, but elegant. I picked up this box to take to a New Year's Eve dinner, or you could get a box of just two for yourself.

desserts/delivery: I recommend THE COOKIE JAR

THE COOKIE JAR

0911-208-337
(02) 8218-2777
order@cookiejar.com.tw

www.cookiejar.com.tw

I had spotted pictures of the cookie sandwiches aka whoopie pies from the Cookie Jar for awhile online, but didn't get a chance to try them until last week when a girlfriend and I decided to fulfill our cookie cravings together.  I pointed her to their Facebook page and she ordered the cookies and brought them over. The cookies from Cookie Jar are made to order by the owner Karen and ordered via phone, email or online through the website or Facebook page and are usually delivered the next day or at an arranged pick up area. The bright pink bag and adorable packaging are perfect for gifting, or to order to share like we did.

Cookies in Taiwan usually tend to be thin and crispy and it's harder to find American style chewy on the inside, crispy on the outside cookies unless you know where to look (I find myself going to Subway or We Love Cookies for cravings or making them at home). But it's always great to have another listing on the rolodex in case a craving hits and the Cookie Jar even delivers (although you have to wait until the next day to fill that craving!)

The Cookie Jar offers a great selection of flavors to choose from- including red velvet with cream cheese frosting, chocolate with marshmallow filling, cranberry oatmeal, carrot cake with vanilla cream cheese frosting and oatmeal raisin.  Whoopie pies tend to typically be a cookie-cake hybrid in texture, and I'd say these cookies were more along those lines and softer than what I expected- not necessarily a bad thing, but I'm guessing that's why they recommend putting the cookies in the fridge if they aren't eaten the first day.

I really enjoyed all the cookies I tried, but my favorite was the chocolate cookie with marshmallow filling- the cookie was not as cakey and the filling was gooey but not too much so. A lot of the frostings in the cookie sandwiches tasted very similar to me, but the marshmallow filling stood out. The chocolate cookie also had chocolate chips in it, so it was a double chocolatey delicious bite.

Yum!

I also enjoyed the carrot cake cookie and cranberry oatmeal which had just the right amount of sweetness if eaten apart from the frosting. A box of 6 cookie sandwiches is NT$250, but if you want just the cookies- a box of 18 is NT$300- and you can mix and match the flavors in your order. Even with all the macaron craziness with the opening of Laduree in Taipei, sometimes a chewy cookie is more satisfying (and more affordable!).

bakery/desserts: i strongly recommend TARTINE BAKERY

TARTINE BAKERY

No. 13-1, Lane 49, AnHe Rd, Sec. 1 

台北市大安區安和路一段 49 巷 13-1 號
(02) 2778-8831

MRT: Zhongxiao/Dunhua

website: Tartine Bakery's FB page (I'd include the official tartinebakery.com.tw link, but looks like someone forgot to pay the hosting bill)

hours: Sundays, Tuesday-Thursday 12PM - 8PM; 

Friday/Saturdays 12PM- 9:30PM

Closed Mondays

kid friendliness: limited seating inside is all on high barstool chairs, but some room for strollers and lots sweets for takeaway.

visits reviewed: 4/3/2012, 4/10/2012 & 9/26/2012

I think I have eaten more macarons in the past year than I have in my entire life... with all the new places opening up, gifts from friends and the addiction spreading to other people. But I'm not complaining! I even took a macaron making class and tried my hand at making them for the first time last week (but that post is to come!)

Tartine Bakery opened up in the beginning of last year in January 2012 by Chef Melissa Chang (who parted ways with Tim and Mel's Bistro, a few alleys away.) 

It has a more cafe/casual feel than TM Bistro and the lunch menu includes sandwiches, wraps and soups. With a few tables and bar stools, it's a cheerful place to meet a few friends for coffee. I was obsessed with it for awhile, but now I can share it with you guys.

What I loved about Tartine was the unusual flavors for the macarons that you might find- some of the other shops might have black sesame, salted caramel and raspberry- but Tartine also has chocolate yuzu, peanut butter and jelly, mango/pineapple.

Pink lemonade!

There are also homemade chocolate chip cookies and brownies and other baked goods. I was tempted by the choco chip, but the price NT$65 was too steep for me.

There's also a ton of desserts, including the popular strawberry mille-feuille. Many of the desserts are too pretty to eat and I could imagine getting a little box full of little cakes and tarts for a friend for a birthday surprise instead of a typical cake. You may have also spotted Tartine's desserts at Mitsukoshi A8 which opened in the fall of last year, and I also spotted a "pop-up" counter at Hankyu Mall last week. (At a passing glance, I believe the prices are higher at the mall locations than at the original shop, but it could be that prices went up at Tartine as well).

Strawberry Mille-feuille

How cute is this? I don't like mousse, but I love the playful marriage of pink and green.

Meringue swirled lemon tarts. 

With so many flavors, how can one decide? Good thing that I have friends who have as big as a sweet tooth as I do. Thanks to my friend L who treated me to this afternoon sugar high for my birthday last year.

In the beginning, I thought it was kind of cute that the macarons at Tartine are different sizes, some tall and some fat. I think it gives it a bit more personality, though some might want the precise exactness of other patisseries? Tartine also informed us that we should wait 5 minutes or so for the macarons to defrost. Tartine and TM Bistro were the first places that I've tried that keeps their macarons at such a cold temperature, that the macarons can be very hard if you can't wait so long for them to warm up. Though on a later visit, about six months afterwards, they seemed to have figured it out and created a level of standard sizes for the macarons. Peer pressure!

My friend loved the chocolate eclair.

On follow up visits, I reordered my favorites- the salted butter caramel and pink grapefruit macarons and gave the banana cream tart a try.

I love the packaging and the font choices in Tartine's signage and boxes. It really does feel like a little bakery or cafe you would find in LA, SF or NY.

Another fun thing about Tartine is that they mix and match their shells in some of their macarons to emphasize the different flavor combos..  At the original shop, the NT$65 per macaron price is one of the lowest in town where I've spotted macarons going for over NT$100 at Taipei 101. Crazy. But at their mall locations, the macaron prices are NT$80.

Pomegranate & Mint, Strawberry & Kiwi, Red Bean & Sesame, Blueberry & Passionfruit Cheesecake!!?! Don't tell me you're not curious.

I love that Tartine have things that I miss from the states like lemon bars and red velvet cupcakes too. Unfortunately, American comfort food has American sticker prices, so pick and choose carefully depending on your budget.. Personally I'd rather pay NT$150 for a rich chocolate grand cru cake topped with a macaron than NT$150 for a red velvet cupcake, but that's because for cupcakes I can make my own or I have my sources. Plus the cupcake is not that much bigger than a regular cupcake and not as sweet or moist as I'd prefer.

If you couldn't tell, I love desserts, so I could probably work my way through Tartine's menu if I didn't have to worry about all the calories and prices.