Bonheur Patisserie @ Duxton Road

duxton hill

signage

Bonheur's a new kid on the block at Duxton Road joining the likes of Flor in the same vicinity..gives me more option when getting the urgent impromptu birthday/celebratory cake for a colleague. The patisserie is designed for takeaway and a Tete`-a-tete´.

bonheur


cake counter


I was met with the owner (I suppose?) who made his sincere recommendations on their signatures. Their cakes are not recommended if you are not going to consume them almost immediately thereafter or face the mousse melting away.

bar seats

These are two which I brought back one evening...

cheese mousse

Rhubarb Cheese Mousse ($6.50)
Layers of Light Cheese Mousse, Rhubarb Compote, Baked Almond Cream and Crunchy Biscuit Base

Rhubarb is one of those ingredients that are tricky simply because the flavour is not characteristic. Not sure if I'm falling for Bonheur's rendition of Cheese Mousse as this comes across as a really light and fluid cheese mousse not distinct in flavour. I beg to differ on the crunchy biscuit base which is really crumbly.

strawb balsamic

Strawberry Balsamic Mousse ($6.50)
Layers of Cream Chantilly, Strawberry Balsamic Mousse, Vanilla Bavarois, Pistachio Sponge and Strawberry Balsamic Jam coated Sable.

Lauded and promoted as signature, I thought the balsamic gave a really pleasant taste to this. Inspite of the layers, it was actually more complicated outwardly than taste-wise. Once again, the biscuit base which I thought was nice not great.

Deciding to give Bonheur a second go...I chose a sunny day for a dessert treat. 

bonheur platter

Meant for the greedy.

green tea mousse

Green Tea Mousse ($6.50)
Layers of Green Tea Mousse, Green Tea Sponge and Cream Chantilly with Azuki Beans

Described as a cake with a slightly bitter aftertaste by the lady over the counter, it was more than bitter. Overpowering in greentea flavouring, the cake was dense and hinging on unpalatable. I like my Green tea cakes light, the only time I prefer Breadtalk's to this! 

mango

Mango Cheesecake ($6.50)


One major surprise. Unlike most mango cheesecakes whose batter have mangoes weaved into the cheese, this had mango mouse, cream cheese and sponge cake as three separate layers but still worked its magic.

mango mousse

Liked this for the zesty light texture. Yum!


carrot cake



Carrot cake ($6.50)

The sorriest carrot cake alive. Everything fell apart with a gently prod of the fork. Stiff like styrofoam cream cheese frosting that could be lifted from the cake. 

carrot cake

Crumbly spiced carrot cake that barely tasted like carrot cake - save for the carrot shreds and walnuts.  

walnut cake

Banana Pound ($5)

The most expensive slice of banana pound eaten. A tad dry but this was still better than carrot cake.

Macarons go for $1 a pop whilst cookies are $2 each.
 
The risk that Bonheur is taking is...being streets away from K Ki that has mastered the art of mousse cakes so exquisitely..competition is going to be tough. Lacking the finer touches (K Ki has obviously spoiled us so with their perfect edges and shapes...), the cakes are nice not great. That being said, it's still a welcomed addition in Tanjong Pagar!

Bonheur Patisserie
Duxton Road

Comments

  1. Dropped by this place not long after it opened. Wanted initially to try their petite platter (9 mini cakes for $18) but somehow my gut lolx feeling told me they were more fluff than substance & very forgettable. Never went back after that.

    I'm not being superficial here but the cakes didn't even pass the visual test, they looked really unimpressive to me. I thought the baker was trying too hard to make his cakes look more complicated than they really are. Frankly speaking, it's hard to be impressed by any patisserie's cakes any more after Kki's awesome ones. I don't have much expectations for Antoinette's cakes either. Afterall, Canele's creations weren't that great before, some were in fact quite awful.

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  2. haha...sometimes, follow the gut feel. :) between bonheur and pique nique for desserts, it's a tough fight for the phrase "more fluff than susbstance" to apply. agree that visually these are by no means k ki-equivalents but the mango mousse was a surprise (maybe given the string of disappointments).

    as for antoinette, shall reserve my comments until i try them though have to agree about canele with you! same goes with their macarons which till this day baffles me why some would think they are sg's best.

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