Cafe de Paris
Cafe de Paris is a dessert cafe that specializes in Instagram-worthy fruit beverages. Despite it's rather generic name, it's actually the first location of a large South Korea-based chain.
Inside, you know this ain't your typical Asian dessert house.
There's a vibrant mural of the River Seine (painted by Evelyn Tsai) at the back were you can actually put your own lock on a faux-bridge railing, as is customary in Paris.
Something as simple as an orange juice ($5.59) here is indulgently over-the-top. Made from freshly squeezed oranges, the drink is topped with a large slice of the fruit itself and sweetened slightly with honey. With its slightly pulpy texture, it's without a doubt one of the best OJs I've ever had. Period.
Those looking for something caffeine-based can try the Dutch Latte Freddo ($4.49). Made from drip coffee that's been running for at least 12 hours, it's mixed with ice, cane sugar, and milk.
The crowning glory here has to be the BonBon series. The ridiculous Mango BonBon ($12.99) measures over 7 inches. It's an impressive drink made from fresh Filipino mangoes, cream, and fruit puree. I was told that two and a half mangoes go into each drink.
The Strawberry BonBon ($12.99) is the classic combination of strawberries and cream done deliciously well.
For something hot, the simple Green Tea Latte ($4.20) isn't over-the-top like the other drinks, but its creamy sweet-slightly bitter combination goes down just great.
Cafe de Paris also serves up a variety of mini-cakes ($7.80 each). The Green Tea cake is a mousse-like cake that goes well with a latte.
The Tiramisu is a sweeter, more mousse-like take on this classic Italian cake that's worth a try.
Hector Vasquez