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Lan’s Patisserie
Add: Shop 113, 1/F, Jingronghui Shopping Mall, Chengdu
Tel: (028) 6465 6619
Hours: 11am-10pm
Price: 120 RMB
Visited: Aug 2017
Lan’s Patisserie, a French style bakery in Chengdu, has been under fire since it opened earlier this year. Some people applaud it as “the best there is in Southwest China”, while others trash it for being “ridiculously overpriced”. Well, there’s no better way to find out than trying it myself…
一般說到成都，腦海裏冒出的不外乎是串串香、擔擔面、麻辣鍋之類的當地美食，不過這篇要介紹的，是看似和成都沒關係的法式甜點店。Lan’s Patisserie 自今年年初開店以來一直備受爭議 － 不少人稱贊它是西南區甜點界的標竿，更多人罵它貴的沒道理，連遠在上海的我都聽過一些故事，讓人十分好奇。正好它就開在這次入住的博舍酒店附近（確切地來說步行7分鍾），找了個下午來吃吃看。
The design is sleek and stylish – geometric shapes, sharp lines, black and white contrast dotted with soft-colored HAY furniture…
Lan’s Patisserie 門面由簡約大方的幾何線條組成，黑白對比強烈，在時髦的太古里周邊仍顯的搶眼（我想應該是成都網紅們拍照最愛的地點之一吧）。室內在黑白背景上再添加了色彩可愛的 HAY 椅子們，好看。
A formidable-looking Slayer Steam at the coffee bar, with beans from Glitch of Tokyo.
咖啡吧裏有台非常帥氣的 Slayer Steam 咖啡機，豆子用的是來自東京的 Glitch，是個非常小衆的品牌，我也第一次聽說。
On the other side of the shop, there’s a slender window for some peeking into the kitchen.
店的另一端，有個可以看到廚房的狹長窗戶，裏面有勤勞的小蜜蜂們在做著甜點。
Impressively, the pastry / cake offering spans some 20 variety. If you are also a patissier, you know this is quite a lot of work, since each patisserie requires an ensemble of components. The mastermind behind all this is a local Chengdu guy known as 爛李子 (literally, rotten plum), who started with a pastry studio, then followed with teaching pastry classes for over a year, before opening Lan’s Patisserie. He’s made quite a name for himself in Chengdu and beyond, and it’s not difficult to see why once you enter his meticulously designed shop.
甜品一字排開在展示櫃裏，種類多達 20 種。如果你也是甜點師的話，會知道這是個不小的數字，代表著相對大的工作量。堅持要出這麽多甜點品種的店老板叫做 “爛李子”，之前在成都 U37 創意園區開過個人甜點工作室、辦過一年多的甜點教學、醞釀一陣子後才在今年開了 Lan’s Patisserie（Lan 就是爛李子的 “爛”）。要做出這樣的裝潢、這樣的出品，我想他這幾個月來應該多了不少白頭發。
I first tried a Japanese Yuzu Matcha Mousse (78 RMB), whimsically shaped like a yuzu. It’s composed of matcha mousse, yuzu cream and jelly, topping a crumble of pine nuts and puffed rice. I’ve always been a fan of yuzu’s acidity and aroma, which in this case, balances quite well the sweetness of the matcha mousse.
首先嚐了個造型別致的日本柚子抹茶慕斯（78元）。水果形狀的構成主要是抹茶慕斯和日本柚子奶油以及果凍，下層的酥底則由松子、脆米等組成。香氣誘人、酸度極高的日本柚子（yuzu）一直是我很喜歡的食材之一，在這款甜點中平衡了慕斯的甜膩，和抹茶味也相當搭調。
Next was the Tahiti Vanilla Cream Puff (68 RMB), which immediately attracted my attention with its generous dose of vanilla beans. Upon slicing it open, a surprise presented itself – a mini chou filled with caramel vanilla cream. The bottom chou is filled wth diplomat cream (pastry cream + whipped cream + a bit of gelatine), making the whole ensemble a vanilla dream…
接下來嚐的是顔色素雅但內涵乾坤的大溪地香草泡芙（68元）。首先看到的是布滿香草籽的香草奶油，沒想到裏面還藏了一個灌了焦糖香草餡的迷你泡芙，有點驚喜。下層大泡芙裏則是外交官奶油（crème diplomate ，是卡仕達醬加上鮮奶油和吉利丁），香草豆莢的用量同樣也是豪不吝啬，一口放入嘴裏滿是濃郁的風味，柔和的小爆發。
Pistachio Raspberry Cake (68 RMB) is composed of layers of pistachio sponge cake, raspberry mousseline, and pistachio crisp. I usually love the pairing of raspberry and pistachio, their contrasting flavors striking a lovely balance, but in this case the mousseline is so dense that I gave up after one bite.
開心果樹莓蛋糕（68元），由開心果海綿蛋糕、樹莓慕斯林、以及加了開心果醬的脆底組成。開心果的濃郁以及樹莓的酸甜一般來說是很好的搭配、不過這款蛋糕裏厚厚的慕斯琳（mousseline，含大量奶油）對我來說太厚重了，吃一口便放棄。個人覺得如果可以減少慕斯琳的量，加入些其他的層次（比如酸甜的果醬、輕盈的奶油等）可能會比較容易入口。
On the other hand, I quite liked the Caramel Banana Chocolate Tart (72 RMB), composed of rum raisin caramel banana filling, banana chocolate cream, and hazelnut crisp. The design of it is super cute as well, despite some people commenting that it looks like Chinese mosquito-repellent incense…
倒是非常喜歡有朗姆葡萄的焦糖香蕉夾心、香蕉巧克力奶油、和榛子醬脆底的焦糖香蕉巧克力撻（72元）。而且造型非常可愛呀！喜歡這個牛奶巧克力做的漩渦裝飾，雖然有人覺得它像蚊香…
The tasting ended with Mont Blanc (88 RMB). This is a very traditional French pastry, classically made with chestnut paste, chantilly cream, and meringue. The version at Lan’s Patisserie is in a tart-form, with a bit of mascarpone mixed in the cream for a fuller texture, plus some black currants to balance out the sweetness. But, it was still to sweet for me. Unless you are a serious lover of mont blanc or have an unusually high tolerance for sugar, I’d recommend sharing this among two or three people.
最後，以蒙布朗（88元）收尾。蒙布朗是個非常傳統的法式甜點，最經典的構成是栗子泥、香缇奶油、和蛋白霜。這裏的版本做成了撻的形式，並在香缇奶油裏加了馬斯卡彭芝士，再用一些黑加侖果粒增加酸度，不過對我來說還是太甜了。除非你是蒙布朗控，否則還是和兩三個人一起分享吧（而且這款的 size 跟其他甜點比起來也比較大）。
The verdict? I really liked what I tasted at Lan’s Patisserie. Of course, not everything fit my palate, but it was clear that the team puts great effort in sourcing world-class ingredients and meticulously transforming them into pretty delicacies. On another note, Lan’s Patisserie offers not just coffee and tea but also bubbles – a flute of Perrier-Jouet’s Blason Rosé, anyone?
一個下午在 Lan’s Patisserie 嚐了五款甜點，雖然不是每款都合我喜好，不過在用料和工藝上都看得出深深的用心。喜歡這裏層次豐富的甜點風格，在一款出品裏可以嚐到數種口感，又不會有太多複雜的風味同時出現。順帶一提，這裏搭配甜點的除了有咖啡、茶、果汁、還有巴黎之花玫瑰香槟 Blason Rosé。如果想要來一個 bubbly 的午後，會是個不錯的選擇。
Now, back to the pricing at Lan’s Patisserie, which has been under much attack by the ruthless netizens of Chengdu. The average price of a pastry here is about 70 RMB, which, indeed, is very expensive especially considering the relatively low commodity prices in Chengdu. However, seeing the quality of the pastries as well as the decor (HAY furniture, you know), I would say that this is a place well-worth trying. You try it for yourself and find out.
最後，說說飽受網友們抨擊的價格。Lan’s Patisserie 一個小蛋糕平均要價人民幣 70 元的確不便宜，不過從店裝設計至甜點本身都做的相當細致。最終值不值得，當然也只有自己能決定，我個人認爲這是一家貴但非常值得一試的店。
Lan’s Patisserie
地址：成都市東大街99號晶融匯購物廣場1樓113號
電話：（028）6465 6619
時間：11am-10pm
價位：人均 120 元
造訪：2017年8月
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