C’est La B

Oh. my… Chocolate!
I’ve only had one experience with this place: The mini chocolate cake with the mini sugar kiss on the top. Not only did this cake look really presentable and cute, THIS chocolate cake had it’s own distinguishable taste. It is rich but really balanced at the same time. Sometimes when you have chocolate cake, you just feel like you’ve had too much sugar and you just don’t want anymore… But with this one: I still had some left over, so during the span of the next 5 days, I finished it up because I wanted to savor it! Even after 5 days, it was still so yummy.
I definitely will come back and try something else!

Hong Kong people are always suckers for these little café stores. Alas, I am a victim as well. As we were making our daily rounds around the top level of the Pacific Place, we found this cozy little place with «indoor» and «outdoor» seating (so not actually outdoor but outside of the coffee shop so you can people watch). Anyways, built by one of the wealthy families in Hong Kong, this little place actually has a nice assortment of cakes, treats and drinks. Great décor and efficient service here. Their hot chocolate I see is rich and creamy and comes with your own set of marshmallows. Additionally, there’s this strange fabric horse with all sorts of things coming out of its head as the center art piece inside the coffee shop. If you’re looking for a place to sit down and enjoy some people watching this is your place!

It was Chinese New Year and I thought I’d buy something for my colleagues to ‘celebrate’ even though it was the first CNY for us and we had the ‘tourist look’ in our faces most of the time. So anyway, I happened to walk past c’est la B and decided to check out their treats.
The resto-​bakery is certainly nice, very elegantly decorated. A little dark inside, but since I was just taking some sweets away, I didn’t scan it properly. There is a sitting space outside too, less private, but with tons of light as it’s laid by the window glass facing the street. The staff was extremely friendly and they gave me a little bit of information about their business (I got a brochure) and, of course, about the sweets. Because, of course, I couldn’t decide which one to pick. It took me some time until I went for a box of 2 sugar-​free OMGs (chocolate mousse and whipped cream) and 2 panacottas for 55HKD each. They put the little cakes in a cute box and decorated and a bag — all very nicely done. So I ran upstairs to the office in excitement… there are a few things I like more than buying presents for people! It was late afternoon so the perfect time for a coffee break. And that’s what we did. There was enjoyment in the air. The sweets were scrumptious. Were they worth 55HKD each? There’s room for discussion, I say no. For me that was a bit of a rip off, but I cannot deny presentation is one of their added values.
Also, I love the fact that they have a few sugar and gluten free cakes and sweets in their products. It may not be the place for health conscious people but hey! there are at least options for everyone!

If you’re a sucker for cute and homely café-​esque restaurants, C’est la B is right up your alley. Located in Pacific Place, C’est la B is so beautifully decorated it’s like a little art museum with the silhouette of tea cups hanging from the ceiling and the colorful displays of cakes. There’s only a small couch area inside the restaurant itself; tables and chairs spill out onto the corridor to accommodate more diners.
The tables and chairs are all brightly colored and loud, but not in a distasteful way. In the middle is a really nice tiered display with candles and flowers, almost like a colorful Christmas tree.
We were here for dinner and there were quite a few sets to choose from, all between the prices of $ 125 and $ 145, with coffee or tea included at the end. My mother got the ‘spice box’ — the Malaysian chicken curry, and I got the ‘Capri box’ — spaghetti with tomato sauce and mullet. Both were accompanied with a salad and a small side dish — my mother’s was gyoza and mine was deep fried breaded shrimp.
Our food came in colorful bento boxes, and though the portion seemed small, I was actually pretty full by the end of it. The food was served really hot and I couldn’t eat anything for the first minute or so because it was so hot! The spaghetti was great — the tomato sauce was very rich and thick, and I normally dislike fish but the mullet was very well done. My mother really liked her curry as well, though she did say the curry sauce was a little watery.
We both ordered coffee after and this was the largest cup of coffee I’d ever seen! It was almost like a soup bowl. The coffee was very strong and bitter — not my cup of tea (ha!). I didn’t finish the coffee, which is not something I often do at all!
Overall, this is a nice place to have a relatively affordable meal. The seats are very comfortable and the environment is really relaxing — service is good too. I would love to come back and try their cakes sometime!