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With sweetness, from France

Friday, March 7, 2014
When we paid a visit to La Maison De Q Gateaux one Saturday afternoon, the lunch menus was posted on a board outside in the parking lot.
It had the names of three typical Vietnamese dishes scribbled on it and that’s all, because as the eatery’s name will tell you (it means “house of cake), this place isn’t about the lunch, it’s about the cake.
The second floor of La Maison De Q Gateaux in HCMC’s District 1
La Maison De Q Gateaux is a white Western-style villa in an alley off Su Van Hanh Street in District 10. 
The “gateaux” here are claimed to be natural and delicious.
Stepping inside the house, we were impressed by its bright ambience. Almost everything on both the first and second floor is white, including the stairs, the sofa, tables, chairs, walls and cake shelves.
Cute French paintings and flowers adorn the space gently, and it was like we were in some gorgeous royal house in France.
The cakes are placed on one side, opposite with the staircase, which stands next to a large round table that takes up most of the space on the first floor. This is such an ideal spot for a family or large group gathering.
Many different types of cake are placed on the glass shelves and the cake menu at La Maison De Q Gateaux changes slightly everyday.
The day we came, on offer were green tea cheese cake, yogurt cake, mixed blueberry cake and some with beautiful French cakes like: “Arabesque” (vanilla mousse, orange mousse and jelly), “Délice D‘ete” (vanilla mousse, strawberry jelly and raspberry jelly), “Sphere” (dark chocolate biscuit, dark chocolate parfait), “Rhubarb Tarte” (Rhubarbe, almond butter tarte, soft cream), “Avocado Tarte” (mousse avocado and lemon, almond tarte), “Durian Cheesecake” (fresh durian, cream cheese and lemon sec), “Mini Sphere” (orange jelly and figue, chocolate mousse), “Savarine” (cream cheese, strawberry jelly and jam), “Casket” (strawberry mousse and jelly, white sponge), “Mini Tropique” (coco mousse & vanilla, mango mousse & jam), “Coeur Matelassé” (trio chocolate: black chocolate & chili, milk chocolate & cinnamon, white chocolate and ginger), and “Cushion” (vanilla mousse, coffee mousse, caramel mousse, white chocolate and almond sponge), and several others. Prices ranged from around VND37,000 to VND45,000 for a small cake to as high as around VND300,000-400,000 for a large one.
Green tea cake

The eatery claims to be home to experienced chefs who used to bake and sell the same cakes in Paris and Penmarc'h and use 100 percent natural ingredients.

After choosing our cakes from the shelf, we moved upstairs, where many more white tables and chair were set up for couples and small groups both inside and out on a balcony.
White curtains used to separate dining spaces gently blew in the wind that snuck into the house through its large windows. 
In one corner, upside-down small white umbrellas were hung from the ceilings next to baskets of small flowers. 
Our drinks came first: one soda with passion fruit juice with cream on top and one mint tea with milk. 
The soda was bitter but went well with the layer of passion fruit and sugar at the bottom of the glass and the cream on the top. The mint tea with milk is really perfect for the cake, reminding us of a high-tea experience that people in Europe sometimes have in the afternoon.
For cake, we ordered one green tea cake and one mixed blueberry. The two cakes came in decent-sized slices, not too big and not too small. After finishing the cakes, we were happy and satisfied and did not need more.
Mixed blueberry cake

They were served separately on two large and heavy porcelain plates. The two dishes appeared like beautiful landscape scene: two small pieces of cream were put next to the green tea cake while the sour blueberry sauce was painted in lines next to the mixed blueberry cake. 
Caramel sauce zig-zagged across both plates next to the cakes.
The porcelain dishes seemed too big for the cakes and were difficult to fit on the table. But in the end, we were happy to have had the large flat plates so that we could freely cut our cakes without worrying small pieces would fall out onto the table covered by pure while satin.
What we like about the cakes at La Maison De Q Gateaux is that they were not too sweet. The green tea cake preserved the original taste of green tea, which is quite bitter. Combined with the caramel sauce and cream, it was just perfect.
Blueberry cake is a bit sweeter but the blueberry sauce served with it is sour, creating a good companion to the cake.
In such a pleasant space with such beautiful and delicious cakes, one shouldn’t worrying about ordering one more just to make the peaceful afternoon last a bit longer… 
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