Vanbrosia: Batard Boulangerie and Cafe Moderne

Wednesday, March 04, 2015

Batard Boulangerie and Cafe Moderne

March 4, 2015

Sourdough levain bread w smoked salmon pate from the Toast Bar - 2+

J's comment > very good dense yet spongy bread (like the kitchen sponge, but much tastier ;D); sourness factor not too sour actually (just the way I like it); crust a touch chewy and hard, slightly burnt; smoked salmon was very fresh and tasty; butter stars sadly unsalted though, and hard;

FYI, you can pick different spreads w the slice of bread; almost went for the foie (duh...), but Batard's version is actually the chunky kind which I'm not too fond of

Goat cheese & apple scone - 2+

J's comment > served warm (I asked for this to be heated up) and it was sooo worth it! Extremely crisp exterior w a soft center (texture was almost undercooked, but still very good); generous amts of cheese, apple and butter baked right into the scone

Kouign Amann - 2

J's comment > not bad; perfect coloring; very crisp overall (a touch too crisp personally); w a soft center, but not much of it; FYI, this is one of the best sellers and I barely managed to grab one before it was sold out @ 10am;

ranking-wise, I'd put Beta5's 1st, Batard's 2nd and Dominique Ansel's 3rd

St. Honore - 2

J's comment > very light and fluffy choux; cream filling was OK, but needed a lot more to balance out the amt of choux; the slightly caramelized choux were not too hard which I was fearing, from my dreadful experience @ Maison Keyser (FYI, MK's St. Honore has seriously dealt me w a healthy dose of anxiety everytime I come across a St. Honore now - will have to remedy that when I get to Paris ;D)