Le Cafe Gourmand offers an almost similarly high-end feel, but a little less on the glitter side and more on the relax & enjoy. Picture this as a place you go to have nice & chill weekend after-lunch date, or a quick ice cream cone fix with friends. Some tables even have families with children. It's a very comfortable, almost lazy, cafe that you hang around in for hours.
The whole establishment is spacious and there's always some distance from one group of patrons from another. There's a glass ceiling towards the back of the cafe, so part of the lighting relies on nature. In daylight, Le Cafe Gourmand provides a very homey feel.
I particularly liked the painting of a European coffee shop scene along the wall.
The illustration was inspiring and very good on the eyes. I'd say art like this beats bling & flashiness any time.
Le Cafe Gourmand offers mainly cakes & pastries, coffee, and ice cream. There a small selection of pasta & breakfast menu (french toast, egg benedict, etc.) as well, though I guess that's not why most people come here.
There's a counter where you can choose the cakes/breads/pies you want.
I had the chocolate caramel tart & mango choux.
I don't eat too many cakes and I won't pretend that I know too much about them. Here's what I ate anyway.
Chocolate caramel tart.
The pastry base on the bottom & sides of the cake were very compact. They don't fall apart easily so you can spoon your way to the last few bites with the cake consistency remaining intact.
Taste was a little difficult to process. I don't know what kind of chocolate they used, and the caramel flavor wasn't quite right for me & my girlfriend. We ended up not finishing this cake.
Mango choux, white chocolate.
I guess this one suited our taste better. There's a certain familiarity with the mango-white chocolate combination of taste. The amount of cream inside was just right; not too much but still quite generous. Some may find this a little too sweet.
Generally Le Cafe Gourmand's cakes are compact & cohesive; when you dig your spoon in, it's almost you need an effort to cut the cake. I like it this way actually. The cakes feel more 'significant' if that's the right way of describing it.
Often we have cakes that looks thick but very airy on the inside, you almost feel like the solid part of the cake is only half the size of what it looks. Well that's not the case here.
I had the white tea as well, without any particular reason. Light roast white peony organic tea.
Very 'oooh'-worthy choice of teapot design. Such a pleasant display.
The tea itself was very.. ordinary. The taste was almost like ocha.
I was going to have ice coffee but their machine was unfortunately broken. Quite a shame, since there seems to be quite a commitment from the cafe to serve serious coffee.
But I did witness how they make the 'origins coffee', supposedly served hot (which I don't normally drink).
Le Cafe Gourmand is quite transparent with all the drink preparation process it does before serving your beverages. There are seats available on the coffee counter so anyone can watch how the staff grind, filter, and brew the coffee. If you're one to find meaning in witnessing the process of how your drink is made, this is a good experience.
Bill for 2 cakes & white tea came in for IDR 170,000-ish. The cakes were just okay and won't blow you away, so I guess you pay more for the ambiance.
I stayed in Le Cafe Gourmand for almost 3 hours. There's a really loose & easeful ambiance about the place that urges you to just laze around for a while. This is a high-end cafe, but you don't feel tense because it's very welcoming.
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Location: Jl. Gunawarman, right side of the road, about 80-100 meters from KFC intersection.
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