Incidental trip to Bonheur Patisserie

Jeanne whom I got to know at Notabilia’s bookmaking class (and there’s another one on Saturday which I’m attending - yay!) invited me along to a screening of Food, Inc. yesterday at The Pigeon Hole yesterday and as we were early, we stopped off at Le Bonheur Patisserie (both on Duxton Road) for coffee (me), tea and cake (her).

Here’s my iced latte. Nothing to fave about (much prefer Loysel’s Toy’s iced lattes) but it was presented rather prettily. And here’s Jeanne’s Chocolate Cake.

Had I been able to eat anything else, I think I’d probably have ordered something too but I really couldn’t after dinner at Maxwell Food Market but I did have a bite and it’s very similar to the Noisette from K Ki which is reminiscent of Pierre Hermé’s Deux Mille-Feuille. Both local Singapore versions aren’t as sweet or hazelnut praline-y as. I think I think Pierre Hermé got it just right though with the hazelnuts, praline and biscuit crunch.

Bonheur looks all Frenchy and cute when you step in but on closer scrutiny there are these funny elements that jar with the Frenchiness of the place. For one, they have a little metal fountain ball with a black base on the table where the cash register is, presumably a feng shui thing. And looking past the seating area towards the back, is a some alter with a gold statue of some sort. And the owners/staff don’t quite seem to embrace the embodiment of the word “bonheur” or anything French.

It’s an alright place with decent coffee and cake but something’s missing.