Haraju Cube @ Empire Damansara

After our spectacular dinner feasting on an immensely pleasurable tomahawk at Two Hands Restaurant, we wanted to adjourn somewhere else for drinks.

Since we were mere steps away from Empire Damansara, my friend suggested coffee and desserts at Haraju Cube @ Empire Damansara.  She's one who detests sweet stuff (like me), so for her to recommend this place, we can be assured that it won't be overly sweet.

Haraju Cube is a Japanese dessert place, established since 2015, specialising in honey (+ savoury) toasts and other Japanese desserts, with three outlets (the other two in SS15 Courtyard and Sunway Pyramid).

We ordered the Banana-Choco @ RM27.90 which was more like the children's choice as they 'voted' for it.

It came with chocolate ice-cream (of course) with slices of banana, chocolate-dipped biscuit sticks, crushed nuts, fresh cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.  You'll also be given a large squeegee bottle of honey to add on more sweetness to your toast, if you so desire.

First impression, the honey toast was humongous, significantly thick, so make sure you have someone (or two) to share this with.  Of course, devouring something like this won't be a problem for my friends' children.  The four of them shared this dessert, each having a quarter, leaving nothing for the adults! ;)

So, that meant the other toast we ordered was left for the adults to share, the Fruitition @ RM29.90.

It had various types of fruits as toppings including berries (strawberries & blueberries) that I love...and peaches too.  This one also had crushed nuts and whipped cream on it together with a berries sauce.

The mega toast looked a bit intimidating to eat.  So, we ate it the only way we know how...we 'attacked' it by taking down the bread 'perimeter' that was the edge of the loaf.  Luckily the inside was already cut and divided into 8 pieces of cubed toast that made eating it a lot easier.

I did enjoy the honey-buttered toast, which wasn't too sweet, with its buttery aroma (French butter, it seems) together with a bit of the fruits and ice cream in one mouthful but, on its own, it was a tad dry for me.  The vanilla ice cream, on the other hand, wasn't anything special + it was also a bit sweet for me.

As for the bread 'perimeter', it was downright hard and dry...and difficult to cut through.  It wasn't very nice to eat either and we pretty much left most of the crust uneaten.

They also offer a variety of flavoured milk (like butterscotch, matcha, coffee, fruit & chocolate milk, RM10.90 each) but, for some reason, the ones my friends wanted weren't available that evening, so they settled for coffees and chocolaty drinks.

My friend's Hot Cappuccino @ RM12 (in a yellow cup, just like the bright sunshine yellow colour scheme of the cafe).

A friend's Premium Ice Chocolate @ RM15.90

Another friend's Chocolate Frozen @ RM15.90

Friend's husband's Matcha Float @ RM15.90

I had Caffe Latte (Cold) @ RM13 which was pretty decent (so were the rest of the drinks) but they aren't all that cheap + they come in small glasses.  This was only the second time (since Mighty Monster) that I had been served iced coffee in a short glass...and without a straw to stir the contents (I had to ask and was given a teaspoon instead)! >_<

My Personal Opinion

Although the sweetness (and taste) of the honey toast was acceptable, the rest of the accompaniments just weren't up to the mark.  I may be too quick to judge since I've tasted only one honey toast but the rest is still the same honey toast base except for the different toppings.  What I do know is that I won't be all that interested in another honey toast.  I guess I wasn't blown away by the ice cream...and I'm not a fan of the whipped cream either.

Many would feel that they're a little pricey too (RM25 - RM35) for something as simple as buttered toast with ice cream but they make up for it with a huge portion size.

In the end, I enjoyed my friends' company (and the drinks) more than their honey toasts, I'm afraid! :P

Haraju Cube
103 Level 1 Empire Damansara
Jalan PJU 8/8 Damansara Perdana
47820 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
Tel: 03-7733 5973

Tous Les Jours @ Empire Damansara

I don't speak French but Tous Les Jours (pronounced "Too-Leh-Joo") is a South Korean franchise serving a wide selection of French-Asian breads, pastries, cakes and beverages.  It opened its first store in Bangsar in June 2013 and has since opened 3 more in Wolo Hotel (Bukit Bintang), Empire Subang and Empire Damansara (the latest outlet).

My friends and I decided to swing by Tous Les Jours @ Empire Damansara for more chit-chat after an earlier lunch at another venue.  I absolutely love the interior charm, the high ceilings and the countryside-vibe brick walls (though the place is a lot smaller than the one in Wolo).  Also, as it was raining heavily, I didn't get to take a pic from the front entrance.

This charming bakery offers you everything from all day breakfast favourites to soups, salads, sandwiches and tartines to breads, pastries and cakes to coffees, teas, fresh juices, frappes and mojitos.

When you walk into Tous Les Jours, nothing is more enduring than the wonderful smell of freshly baked bread and pastries in the air.  You'll be spoilt for choice here with all types of cakes, jams, pastries, biscuits, pies, bread....that's all too tempting!

It's self-service here and so my friends and I got down to selecting our pastries and cakes for a late afternoon tea before proceeding to the counter to pay.  At the counter, you order your beverages of choice and any other food from their hot menu and these will be brought to your table.

We chose an Almond Croissant @ RM3.90 and a Peach Danish also @ RM3.90.  The Almond Croissant had nice, toasty, crunchy almonds on top but the croissant was not as buttery or flaky as we liked.  The Peach Danish, with a slightly crisp pastry on the outside and a soft custard with peaches, wasn't too bad.

Next, we selected their well-talked about milk bread and madeleines.

We got the Strawberry Milk Bread @ RM3.80.  The bread was incredibly soft but I wasn't too fond of the milk paste inside.

The Madeleines @ RM3.90 (for 3 pcs) were a delight to eat, fragrant and buttery....and good with a cup of tea or coffee.  [#Tip: Madeleines are just very small sponge cakes baked in shell-like shaped pans.]  I enjoyed this the most.

For our cake selection, we opted for the Blueberry Yogurt Cake (Cup) @ RM8.90 and the Classic Cheese Cake @ RM9.50.

The Blueberry Yogurt Cake came with very little cake but a lot of yoghurt and cream and just a very thin layer of blueberry jam, topped with a blueberry and a blueberry-flavoured macaron.  Although it looked really pretty presentation-wise, we would have liked more cake and blueberry flavour...and less of a creamy concoction.

The Classic Cheese Cake was light and the better tasting one of the two.  I don't eat much cheese cakes but my friends seemed to enjoy it.

I also ordered a Mushroom Soup @ RM8.90 which was served with a toasty, crisp slice of bread.  The soup was nice and creamy, not too thick.  After the not-overly-impressive pastries and cakes, this was a welcomed change....maybe because it was raining heavily then and this was something to warm my soul.

And here were our drinks:

Fresh Juice Combo of Orange & Carrot @ RM12 (this I liked)

Hot Latte @ RM8 (acceptable but mild coffee taste)
Lime Mojito @ RM10 (a little sweet but alright)

My Personal Opinion

After all that I've heard about this place, my experience here was not as I've expected...or maybe it's because I came here with a full stomach (already).  I would say that their breads, cakes and pastries (including their coffees) are acceptable but no where near outstanding.

For an afternoon tea, our bill came up to around RM100 for the 4 of us (for 4 pastries, 2 pcs of cake, 1 soup & 4 drinks).  Price wise, it ain't exactly cheap with the average pastry costing RM4 and cakes at around RM10 (I couldn't help but overhear a bunch of tweens commenting how pretty the cakes looked but found them to be out of their budget).

As there are still loads of other stuff that I've not tried, I'll reserve my comments.....for now.  But, the ones that I did try, I found them to be just palatable fare...nothing great!

Tous Les Jours
Heritage Lane Unit
13A Empire Damansara
Jalan PJU 8/8A Damansara Perdana
47820 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
Tel: 03-7611 0975