“La Vie en Rose” is the signature song of popular French singer Édith Piaf, written in 1945 which directly translates to ‘life in pink’.
Photo credit: La Vie en Rose Patisserie Facebook
Turning in to Lebuh Melayu from Lebuh Pantai, at a corner of a row of shop lots sits a store painted in rose pink with French cafe inspired aesthetics. We were lucky to find a parking spot nearby on the narrow lane of Lebuh Melayu this one fine afternoon.
As soon as you step in, you will be greeted by the owner and their beautiful French pastries on display (which the owner said, made using the best French butter – yums!).
La Vie en Rose Patisserie is famous for their beignets. ‘Beignet’ translates to ‘fried dessert’, so you could say that they’re French doughnuts. Made with more yeasts and less eggs, beignets are soft and puffy in the middle and lighter compared to doughnuts. We were definitely excited to try them as we’ve only heard about them from Princess Tiana in Disney’s The Princess and The Frog. They have four flavours available for their beignets: vanilla, chocolate, raspberry and matcha.
And then there were beautiful looking French tarts waiting to be feasted as well as other desserts on their menu. So we placed our orders and took a seat at our table, waiting for our orders to be served.
So here’s what we ordered: Chocolate Covered Vanilla and Chocolate Madeleines, Tiramisu, Tarte au Citron, Tarte Exotique and Raspberry Beignet.
Verdict?
The chocolate on the madeleines were really thick and overwhelmed the flavour of the madeleines when eaten together. We broke the chocolate off to taste the cakes and the flavours were mild. The tiramisu was a little on the sweet side but it was quite delicious.
Perhaps it was because the beignets looked like jam filled doughnuts that we were expecting the same texture but to our surprise it was chewy and airy. The raspberry filling however was a little too sour. We’ll have to try the other flavours next time.
The Tarte Exotique was one of our favourites! Fresh mango and passionfruit sitting on vanilla cream on their delicious Pâte Sablée (sweet shortcrust pastry) – truly a masterpiece.
However, the star of the show was the Tarte au Citron aka Lemon Meringue Tart. A simple and plain looking tart with meringue piped in the shape of a rose hides the custardy lemon curd which comes to life as soon as it hits your tastebuds. It’s not too sour and not too sweet – a perfect balance. We definitely will be coming back for this!
La Vie en Rose Pâtisserie
19, Lebuh Melayu, George Town, 10100 George Town, Pulau Pinang
10am to 6.30pm. Closed on Monday & Tuesday.
Pork-free.
