Foret Noire Patisserie opened about two weeks ago on the West Broadway corridor between Main and Cambie. It’s a much needed dessert space in the area. The patisserie focuses on French desserts and baked goods, along with a great list of hot and cold beverages that include Spiced Hot Chocolate and some other exclusive drinks they’ve created.
We tried their Paris-Brest and Mont Blanc to start with.
The Paris-Brest ($7.20) is made with pâte à choux, hazelnut mousseline cream, homemade praliné and hazelnut craquelins. This popular Parisian dessert is tender, with a crisp choux and a fluffy, almost airy mousseline cream that is not too sweet but still so enjoyable. The addition of hazelnut craquelins gives this dessert a nice crunch, adding another layer of texture.
The Mont Blanc ($7.50) is made with Muscovado sablée breton, marscapone rum cream, Yuzu compote, chestnut cream, coconut meringue and marron glace. I loved the balance of creaminess and crispy notes in this dessert – the creaminess of the cream was a nice, not too sweet balance of flavours. I loved that yuzu is used in this dessert to maintain it’s clean flavour, but not overpower the entire dessert. The sablée breton is a beautiful, crisp yet crumbly shortbread which was a nice mix of texture in each bite.
Besides desserts, you can also indulge in some chocolates, macarons and baked items.
We tried the Cheese Croissant and Apricot Danish.
The Cheese Croissant was perfectly crispy and buttery, flaky on the inside. It had a nice bit of cream in the middle that made for a great savoury option.
The Apricot Danish puff pastry is crispy but buttery and flaky as well. The pastry cream was sweet, but again, not too sweet and delightful.
Their Spiced Hot Chocolate is made with quality chocolate, as it’s not too sweet and not too bitter. The spice in the hot chocolate is mild, but still noticeable and tasty.
Finally, no trip to a French patisserie is complete without macarons. I’d say overall, I liked their macarons a lot. They’re crispy on the outside but airy when you bite into it. The cream in the middle is a sweet delight – my favourites were the hazelnut and pistachio.
Food: 4.5
Service: 4
Value: 4
Ambiance: 4
OVERALL: 4
Photo by Nathalie Green
