Although I'd been here many times before (and didn't realize that TORC had been there recently), I thought it would be fun for all of us to check out Paris Baguette...
and perhaps get a drink at one of the food court vendors...
We arrived around 1:30 pm. I made sure we went AFTER their hallowed 1:00 time frame to avoid the wanna-be "Cronut" seekers. There was still a long line so D ad I went to get our drinks while TORC and D got literally the LAST open table for four in the food court!
Dude...this is what we get for going on a Saturday afternoon! No beach goers here, ha ha.
I really dislike boba and TC reminded me that their boba had a "slimy" feel to it.
I wasn't here for the boba though. D picked our her drink while there was a bit of confusion with mine. More on that later...
TORC got the new fresh watermelon smoothie while D got a regular coffee.
This was D's Green Tea iced tea flavored with lychee. No boba. I wanted to spare her the sliminess. And there is what I thought would be my VN coffee with "less milk". It turned out to not have any condensed milk at all. This was the black and I probably should have realized that but...
I mistook the "black" to be a "stronger" (i.e. "less milk" version). I think they need to make it more clear on their sign. When I think of "VN" coffee, I think of the coffee with condensed milk (the cafe sua da). So I brought it back and told the girl I ordered the wrong one. She questioned me and said, "Well, I asked you if you wanted it with milk or black, didn't I?", to which I replied, "Yes, but I thought the black was "darker" and would still have condensed milk". Earlier, I specifically asked for the coffee to be "stronger" and to also have less ice. I think the sign should read: VN Coffee with condensed milk. Period. The black coffee shouldn't even be under "VN" coffee.
At this point, a young man (maybe a manager) came over and asked what the issue was about and immediately told me that he would make me another one the way I wanted it. Wow, now that's service. The chick was probably doing her job, to confirm, in front of her manager that she asked me which coffee I wanted, but I didn't like the back and forth about my order. I was mistaken. Surely she didn't expect me to drink what I didn't really want? What happened to "the customer is always right"? Points to the manager guy and fail on her.
Below, TORC's refreshing watermelon beverage and my "do over" drink.
I just hope she didn't spit in my new coffee! Yikes!
TORC and I held down the table while D and KD got our desserts...
Here is the assortment:
I asked for a couple of the fruit tarts ($1.25 each) to share. I love the flaky crust and the compact size. It seems easier for me to eat one of these than one of the bigger pastries.
TORC's chocolate croissant...
D's "dessert" wasn't really a dessert - this was the hot dog croissant. She is fond of any kind of hot dog bread! I don't blame her. I told them about the squid ink hot dog bread but they were out of them.
KD was curious about this Castella cake with honey (it was the only we did didn't get to that afternoon)...
This was another type of castella cake that we really enjoyed...
We also managed to pick this cake slice apart. I thought the chocolate garnishes were so cute!
The flavor was a spice cake chosen by D. I only had a tiny bit of it and while the cake was moist, I just couldn't get into the spice flavor. I liked my fruit tart and TORC's croissant better. I prefer my desserts to have a bit of texture. It was still great to have an assortment of desserts to share amongst ourselves.
Last year's venue to D's bday dessert:
Dessert at Surati Farsan Mart
Next GF's birthday will be TORC's at the end of September! Can't wait to do another two (or possible three) part culinary adventure!
6 comments:
Too bad about the VN coffee incident, although I'm glad that the manager came over and fixed it :) The squid ink bread is one of my favorites at Paris Baguette!
hi jinxi- it was a misunderstanding on both ends, but i was put off that she seemed to want to argue about it.
I usually get the VN coffee (hot) no milk at K Sandwich and they bring out a half gallon Half & Half carton and let me add it to the coffee (when you get it iced no milk, its just two shots of the thick coffee over ice). Boba Bar has such good customer service. Paris is just so good and fresh; nice idea for a birthday.
hi cathy - good to know that the half and half can be separate at K.
the guy at boba bar was fine. the girl was not.
my friends liked the variety of pastries at PB. while the locale may not have been "intimate" since we sat out in the food court (it was crowded INSIDE the paris baguette cafe), it was still fun to people watch and get our drinks at another food vendor.
Paris Baguette is right next to my house (the MM one) and yet I hardly ever go. Probably because the parking totally sucks over there now. I go from time to time though, I like their desserts and treats. I still wanna try that crazy cronut.
hi mary - yeah the parking there is a deterrent. also, there is hardly any seating in the PB at H-Mart.
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