La Patisserie des Idees (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Having my birthday cake two weeks ago helped prove a point for me. I missed all my sweet treats and my self-imposed ban on pastries should be lifted at least on a temporary basis. This leads me to my neighborhood pastry shop, La Patisserie des Idees after leaving office this evening.

I am pretty familiar with most of these pastries except for a couple of them.

Easter Egg – Mango and passionfruit mousse with salted caramel, puff, sponge cake and chocolate nest. A special creation for Easter that little nugget and I have never tried before.

To be honest, this looks like a pastry designed and prepared by an amateur. Not the best execution and the mousse made with exotic fruits hardly meshed with the runny salted caramel in the middle. For the first time, I didn't enjoy something coming out of this kitchen.

Mont Blanc – I wasn't sure if I had this before or not but it certainly looked familiar. Underneath the sweetened chestnut vermicelli and French chestnut was a thin layer of meringue with chocolate. The chestnut purée was supposed to spike with rum but I thought the alcohol flavor didn't register. And frankly speaking, this pastry could use another layer of chestnut vermicelli cuz the chestnut flavors just weren't dominant enough for a Mont Blanc.

I have always considered La Patisserie des Idees one of the hidden gems on the Kowloon side. The pandemic has struck them hard but they just have to continue doing what they did best, and that's creating innovative and exquisite pastries using quality ingredients.

Food Rating: 4.5/10

Address: Shop 224, 2/F, D2 Place One, 9 Cheung Yee Street, Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Lai Chi Kok
Tel: +852 9282-6827
Website: www.lapatisseriedesidees.com
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 8:00pm (Tue - Fri), 11:00am - 8:30pm (Sat - Sun), 1:00pm - 7:00pm (Tue - Fri)