canelé. a revisit

Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie @ Paragon
290 Orchard Road
B1-25 Paragon
Tel: 6733 8893
Opening hours: 11am to 10pm daily
Website: http://www.canele.com.sg/

Apologies for the lack of updates recently. I've been swarmed with work and changes that are still ongoing. Plus, I haven't had many memorable dining experiences recently except for what I'm going to write about except that it's not going to be exactly "memorable" in the nicest way.

When I first heard that Canelé had opened an outlet right smack in the heart of town, I have to be honest; I was a tad excited. In addition, I had read that there was a new a la carte menu and some of the desserts were commendable. Truth be told, I have tried their cakes before at the Robertson Walk outlet and I wasn't particularly impressed partly cos I am a huge fan of a rival patisserie. In comparison, I thought Canelé's desserts were too heavy and sweet for my liking. Then again, maybe I am not a chocolate fan so I can't really appreciate what Canelé's known for and so, I decided to give the new Paragon outlet a try last weekend.

Between Mum and I, we ordered the Chestnut Souffle which received favourable reviews and the Cafe Noix, a coffee cake. Apart from being a little on the sweet side, the Cafe Noix was actually pretty enjoyable. I might have liked it better if they cut a little of the sugar and added more coffee to give it more kick.
















I was sorely disappointed with the Chestnut Souffle maybe cos this was the dessert I had gone specially to Canelé for. To start off, it was almost unbearingly sweet. There were still granules of sugar that were unmelted. It was also accompanied by a scoop of Fromage Blanc sorbet. Fromage Blanc is actually cream cheese made from skimmed cow's milk. I couldn't get used to having that in a sorbet. The flavour was just too odd for me so I had a bit of it and left the rest to melt. The only thing I liked were the little bits of chestnuts that were in there. That's about it.


















With one non-fantastic and another below ordinary experience, I can't say for sure if I'd visit again. I'm sure Chef Pang's creations are fantastic else he would not be as famous in the industry as he is today. Maybe I wasn't spot on with my choices. Or maybe I'll return again when I'm ready to give Canelé another shot.