Opened in 2018 by 2 talented young women - Le Cordon Bleu alumni, Ooi Hooi Shing and Elveen Tai - Le Petit Four Patisserie is perhaps Penang’s most popular cafe-bakery, perpetually full of customers, most of whom are regulars.
Although both are accomplished bakers, Hooi Shing runs the kitchen at the back with her team of bakers whilst Elveen takes charge of the front of house, brewing some of the best coffee in town, and attending the customers with her team of efficient service staff.
Their freshly-baked pastries get snapped up almost as soon as they appear from the kitchen.
Hooi Shing, the master-baker, on one of her rare forays to the front of house - helping serve out her own creation, a luscious creme brulee eclair
My personal fave savoury items here, and which I’d get each time I come for breakfast:
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Sausage pastry - it’s got the flakiest, most buttery pastry in town.
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Mushroom quiche - tasty, creamy custard enfolded with buttery short-crust pastry. Loved the earthy, mature cheese used and the textural contrast provided by fresh mushrooms. It comes with a small serve of arugula salad with balsamic dressing and fresh/dried fruits (chopped apricots on some days, dried cranberries or fresh pomegranate kernels on others).
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Ham-and-cheese pastry
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Plain croissant - bring to mind one of my trips to Paris back in 2004. At the time, I was on one of my personal experiments: trying to find the best croissant on the Left Bank. I would have just one plain croissant, dipped into a cup of of cafe au lait for breakfast, each morning - for two weeks straight!
The ones here at Le Petit Four comes close to the best I’d found back then. Hooi Shing does her croissants the traditional way, over 3 days: one day to knead and then proof overnight; Day Two there the lamination occurs, cold butter carefully folded, pastries are then shaped and cut, then left to proof again overnight; and the third day when the pastries are baked.
The result are the lightest, flakiest, most buttery croissants this side of town!
For local Penangites, Le Petit Four’s attraction actually lie in their selection of petit gâteau cakes, rather than bread-like pastries.
Personally, am not too much into sweet stuff, so these ones here were sampled over the past few weeks, usually shared with friends.
Creme brulee eclair - the best-tasting sweet item at the moment: creamy & delicate.
Apricot - hazelnut streusel, orange marmalade, vanilla, white chocolate mousse, Cointreau Chantilly, lime joconde, topped with crushed apricot.
Strawberry shortcake - with vanilla Chantilly, vanilla sponge and fresh strawberries.
Mont Blanc - with almond joconde, hazelnut praline, lemon extract, chestnut cream and chestnut mousse. Best rendition of this classic dessert ever.
Lemon - lemon-lime-mint gel, enclosed in yuzu-whipped ganache, white chocolate spray. What amazed me was how realistic their “whole lemon” dessert looked! Reminds me of Heston Blumenthal’s “Meat Fruit”.
Enchanté - raspberry-rose-lychee cremeux, rose cream cheese mousse, rose compote, white chocolate spray, lychee on a biscuit base.
Opera - almond joconde, coffee butter cream, Guanaja chocolate ganache, and coffee syrup. Lovely version here as Hooi Shing’s desserts are all never too sweet, which suits my persobal preference.
Address
Le Petit Four Pâtisserie
310, Lebuh Pantai (Beach Street), 10300 George Town, Penang
Tel: +604-226 2289
Opening hours: 9am to 6pm, Mon, Tue, Fri to Sun.
Closed on Wed & Thu.
