Croisserie Artisan Bakery @ Plaza Damansara

When I first read the review by The Yum List (some time late last year), I bookmarked this place (opened a little over a year ago) but I can't believe it took me so long to make my first visit now.

We made sure we left some room space in our stomachs for Croisserie Artisan Bakery @ Plaza Damansara after our lunch at The Good Batch.  You can choose to dine at their small alfresco space up front or in their cosy, little air-conditioned area upstairs.

Arriving with my friends well after 3.30 pm, I noticed that some of the shelves were starting to get bare, so there weren't as many choices as we would have liked but still plenty enough to be contented with.

So, we made our orders, paid at the counter and made our way upstairs (and as their poster says).....to sit down and let them spoil us with only the freshest from their bakery!

A must-have item here is Croisserie's signature croissant....the French Croissant @ RM4/pc made with French butter and Japanese flour.

A little place card proudly describes their croissant as a 16-layer French butter dough with a unique flaky texture and fluffy butter-rich interior, handcrafted over four days and made with the finest ingredients...and it certainly was all that...and more!

I would have loved to show you a cross-section of the layers (hehe!) but I was too engrossed with eating...which incidentally leaves quite a mess as the layers are super flaky and crisp...but whose complaining.  It has to go down as one of the best (if not the best) croissants I've eaten so far.  It was so good that it elicited my friends to pack more for home! ;)

They offer few types of danish here like peach, apple, blueberry and caramel mixed nuts.  We went with the Blueberry Danish @ RM5.50 with an almond cake crumb base and a layer of smooth creme patisserie, topped with the freshest blueberries and a sprinkling of snow powder (or snow sugar).

They weren't stingy with the creme patisserie nor the blueberries (nine in one danish!)...and thank god for that....as the freshness of the blueberries were so needed to balance the thick and rich creme patisserie.  It was a good danish as the pastry was again flaky and crisp.

The next one I chose was because of its peculiar sounding (and difficult to pronounce) name, the Kouign-amann @ RM3.  Even they got the spelling of the name wrong (twice!)...in their place card (Kouign Amaan) and again in the receipt (Koignamaan)....hehe (I can't spell it either but I googled)! ;D

It's made from a dough containing layers of butter and sugar that tastes very much like a croissant, just not as flaky and light, and with a well caramelised sugary top.  This one wasn't as memorable.

This final one, the Canele de Bordeaux @ RM5, received so many positive reviews (some even saying that they were as good as the ones you'd find in France), so I ordered it out of curiosity.  I've no idea what it is as I've never eaten one before.  It's described as a unique French pastry with a tender custard centre covered with a thick caramelised crust.

I popped a piece into my mouth...and let's just say it didn't blow my mind (or any of my friends' minds).  I don't know what to think of it actually, maybe coz I've not had it before so there was nothing to compare it to or maybe (because of its dainty size) the piece I got was so tiny, I couldn't get much of any taste (haha!), so I'll refrain from making any judgement on this one.

We were lucky to find one last piece of the Opera Cake @ RM13.50, an almond sponge cake made with intricate layers of biscuit joconde, espresso, dark chocolate mousse, coffee butter cream and finished with a chocolate glaze and edible gold leaf for a bit of decadence.

The Opera was a stunning cake, made with luscious ingredients, and worth every cent.  It was certainly a little piece of heaven...and one of the best cakes I've had this year.  This is not a cake for sharing, you'd want it all to yourself.  It was so good.....woot woot! ^_*

My friend wanted to try the Earl Grey Chocolate Passion Cake @ RM16, so we got ourselves one.  The description mentioned chocolate Wiener Masse, milk, chocolate passion fruit ganache, crunchy wafer and Twinings earl grey mousse as the ingredients.

Although the earl grey cake turned out to be one of my friend's favourite, the rest of us preferred the opera cake.  For me, I wasn't liking the crunchy texture of the cake (caused by the wafer) all that much and (if I remembered correctly) the cake felt chilled (like in a slightly frozen state or maybe slightly hard textured).

Finally, I wanted to try the highly recommended lemon tart (by theyumlist) but was disappointed not to find any until my friend saw (hidden behind the place card) one last one...yay!  The Tarte au Citron @ RM12 is made with pate sucree (a French term for a sweet short crust pastry used to make tarts) and lemon curd.

This lemon tart was drop-dead gorgeous...the pastry was done right, the lemon curd ooze was intense in flavour and absolutely tangy....and that piece of charred lemon just made it more perfect.  Truly exceptional!

Not only were the selection of pastries dwindling (business must be good + the day was winding down), when it came to the drinks, they even ran out of ice, so it had to be hot drinks all round.  They use coffee beans from O'Coffee Club...and the coffees were certainly decent.

Homemade Hot Chocolate @ RM12

Cafe Latte @ RM10

Cappuccino @ 10

Cafe Mocha @ RM12

My Personal Opinion

If you're looking for some fine French pastries and European styled breads, made with top quality ingredients, look no further.....but be prepared to pay! ^_*

Don't leave without trying the flaky and buttery croissant, the luscious opera cake and the oozy lemon curd tart...my top favourites.

If I live or work in the area (they have another smaller outlet in Atria Shopping Gallery), I certainly won't be able to stop at one visit....but alas, I'm so far away.  According to their Facebook, we can get a limited range of their products at O'coffee Clubs in KLCC (Kinokuniya), Mont Kiara and The Gardens (Robinsons).  To get my fix, I may just have to visit the nearest one to me in KLCC to see what they offer! ;)

Croisserie Artisan Bakery
14 Jalan Medan Setia 2
Plaza Damansara
Bukit Damansara
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2011 3727