Part of a pastry series inspired by Malaysian culture to commemorate Merdeka Day. It consisted of a mochi round atop a sourdough laminated pastry filled with coconut sponge, gula melaka (caramel + crumbles), dessicated coconut and pandan diplomat. Preferred to the apam balik danish.

BRIEF: “Traditional croissant pastry shaped like a snail and stuffed with juicy escargots from France, and a mushroom ricotta custard. It’s then coated with a garlic crumb and doused with garlic butter, then finished with a swirl of parsley chimichurri.” SOOT’S TAKE: It’s tasty but not amazing enough to be prized at an amazing $13. Unless…maybe…unless there was enough magic in the mushroom custard to let me experience a parade of French-accented “au revoir” greeting gastropods as they disappeared down my chute?

BRIEF: “Croissant pastry baked in the shape of a snail, swirled with nutty pistachio custard  & rose-scented cranberries, finished with chopped pistachios and dried rose petals.” SOOT’S TAKE: “Delightful. Very generous with the pistachi but I suppose you get what you pay for. Worth trying at least once.”

Tangerine Curd, Vanilla Bean Cream Bun. Yum!

Excellent pastry and wonderfully inspired. I greatly appreciated the lack of sogginess in spite of the corn cream, but unfortunately, it was let down by a lack of salt. Would’ve been great (even amazing) with more salt (if any was added at all).

I reheated this to crisp it up and while the pastry itself was good, the filling was unexpectedly that of dark chocolate and a greenish frangipane of sorts that tasted more like matcha than pistachio. They may have slapped on a generous layer of ground pistachios atop the pastry but pistachio wasn’t necessarily the dominant flavor I would have ascribed to it. Ok, I see why it’s a diva now.