Les Deux Garçons

The White Truffle macaron. Mmmm. ( mentioned further down)

Type of food: Western
Signature dish: Macarons
Location: 36, Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100 KL, Malaysia.
Map: http://g.co/maps/q7mnc
Opening hours: All days, 12.00p.m. - 8.00p.m.
Contact: 03-22847833
Other: Non-halal ( one flavor has alcohol, but that's about it I think)

Note: This post was written in February 2012, a full one year before their Facebook PR disaster. At the time, service was alright though not spectacular, but it was definitely not rude or hostile in anyway. The ill-conceived response to a customer's genuine complaint is deeply regrettable and has no place in a supposedly "quality establishment".
See for yourself here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151289601617735&set=o.190072754350375&type=1&theater

Les Deux Garçons is a deceptive little pâtisserie. For a start, its name literally means in French the two guys. No guys in sight, only one woman. Perhaps they should have named themselves La Seul Fille* instead. But beyond labels, this "boutique" holds many surprises- good things do come in small packages after all.

The restaurant has a very stylish, modern; simple yet elegant kind of feel. The white walls, with the expertly done marble tops are simply stunning. The orchid adds a nice dash of colour. Together with the white deck chairs and tables outside the shop, the whole sheer whiteness of the place just gives you an impression of- wait for it- heaven. And boy, it sure is heaven.

There is a wide menu of desserts and pastries to choose from, ranging from tarts to cakes. But of course, the macarons are what we are here for. I'm told that there are more than 12 flavours to choose from, including the berrylicious blueberry, traditional coffee cream, and for the adventurous, a spicy chilli one. 

After mulling it over, my friends and I decided to try five flavours-white truffle (rm 9) a premium flavor, vodka lime, pistachio, coffee hazelnut and dark chocolate ( 4 for RM 18.50).

Clockwise from far left: white truffle, vodka lime, dark chocolate, coffee hazelnut and pistachio.

First off, we tried the white truffle premium flavour. Yes, we shared that tiny thing. Imagine, three guys taking a knife and cutting these tiny sugary things into three pieces. What to do, we wanted to try more flavours without going bankrupt ma, a la Malaysian style. ANYWAY, back to the white truffle.

The white truffle is just elegant. Its got gold dust on it, making it almost too good looking to eat. Almost. A bite into it reveals an excellent balance of crunch, sweetness and gooey centre- melt in your mouth goodness. It feels like drowning in waves of pleasure. My friend, Kenneth insisted on this being the best flavour, but he's an elitist with food- expensive taste, ooh I love the truffle oil blablabla. ( I hope he's not reading this. Hehe.)

We followed that up with the vodka lime. It was rather disappointing to be honest. It has got an initial tangy, refreshing feel that strikes a good balance with the sweetness, and then as you're waiting for that final kick that will push it into pure bliss, it doesn't come. To me, the vodka was just not strong enough, and was just washed away by the sugar and lime- making this flavour rather one dimensional.

Dark chocolate is just great. The ganache for this flavour is more firm and chewy, giving it a good contrast to the other macarons. It has a rich, thick, natural cocoa taste that is just so sinful. 

Coffee hazelnut is my personal favourite. It brings back childhood memories of Kopiko- but now sandwiched in between two layers of sugary goodness and a fragrant background of lovely hazelnut. Mmmmmmmmmmm. Food-gasm.

Pistachio is yet another fantastic flavour. The texture of the ganache for this macaron is almost kaya like, and the nutty feel of the macaron just leaves you with a taste-bud busting aftertaste.

Drinking the illy coffee served at the shop, eating macarons on white deck chairs; makes me feel like I'm almost French. After the meal, the three of us sat there with our eyes closed. I felt like an angel bouncing on pink fluffy clouds. Or maybe it was just the sugar rush. Heh. Find out for yourself.

Les Deux Garçons
http://www.lesdeuxgarcons.com.my/store/
Taste: 9/10- Crunchy outside, gooey inside; pieces of heaven.
Value: 6/10- Pretty expensive, at RM 5 a pop. Only real reason overall rating goes down.
Health: 7/10- Great, natural ingredients, but it's still a lot of sugar and calories. 
Ambience: 8/10- Pure, chic decor gives an almost blissful feel.

Overall: 3.5 durians!

Notes*:

La Seule Fille- the only gal

Pâtisserie- French term for a bakery that specialises in pastry.

Macaron- sweet confectionary made with icing, egg white, etc; usually has a 'jam' sandwiched between two 'cookies'.

Ganache- Filling for pastry. The previously mentioned 'jam'.