I am dessert lover and an even more avid pastry lover…but I only just recently learnt of the internationally renown patisserie Paul. I’m sure my lovely readers from the US or UK and those who have travelled to France will have heard or visited a Paul around them 
But for those like me, Paul Maison de Qualite is a family owned and run patisserie with their first store opening in 1889 in the north of France. It has now been passed down to the fourth generation and also expanded internationally with many stores in the UK, US, Japan but the closest to me would be their stores in Taiwan Hope they come to Melbourne soon!
Time to eat ~
There are two Paul patisseries in Taipei, their flagship store and the more recent one located on the 2nd floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store. Chi Yao said it’s basically impossible to get a table without booking at the flagship store, and even at this Paul, the waitress immediately asked if we had a booking and that they had a 2 hour dining time limit. That kind of put me off a little…just because, I think patisseries and cafes should be a place for people to relax with a cup of coffee and spend time chatting with friends 
but I guess they are too famous and have other guests to serve~
Nice and spacious 
Once we told the waitress, we understood and were happy to leave within 2 hours, she led us to a nice table in the middle of the patisserie, and surprisingly spacious, they definitely wanted to create a Parisian feel It was also Cindy’s first time going to Paul, so we were both busy studying the menu and deciding what we should have ~ I was really impressed with the variety of pastries they had. Ranging from loaves of bread, to croissants, to tarte tartin and how could I forget macarons ~
It was hard to choose, I was being greedy and wanted everything 
in the end we decided, to get a savoury dish and an afternoon tea set to share.
Quiche Saumon epinards $395TWD($12.5AUD) part of a set
For the savoury we ordered a Salmon Quiche, which came as a lunch set – including a salad on the side, soup of the day and a drink of your choice. The pastry of the quiche was so puffy and delicious lol I could imagine all the butter used to make it but that’s why it tasted so good! The filling was a rich combination of salmon, spinach, eggs and cream thank gosh we were sharing ~
Minestrone Soup
Soup of the day was minestrone, it had a piece of cheesy bread floating on top, it was nice but it wasn’t very hot when it got to our table. It was like luke warm which I don’t really soups like that. Overall, I think the savoury dishes at Paul are good, but not really spectacular compared to their sweets 
The afternoon tea set for two, it an absolute bargain for $720TWD($23AUD) ! We got a savoury dish, 2 drinks of our choice from the menu (not all drinks were included, some drinks incurred an additional fee), 2 desserts of our choice, 2 macarons, a chocolate croissant and an escargot raisin.
They called it 4 canapes lol
They called it canapes but its basically four little pieces of baguette with a piece of ham and tiny piece of pickle. I know Paul is well known for their bread, but I didn’t really like this…the bread was too chewy
Our afternoon tea set ~ $720TWD ($23AUD)
Chi Yao had visited before and said we had to try the mille feuille, while Cindy and I both agreed on the blackberry tart ~
Mille Feuille $225TWD($7.1AUD) A La Carte
The mille feuille at Paul’s was more like our vanilla slice in Australia, where there’s vanilla custard between two pieces of puff pastry, while other mille feuille’s I’ve had in French patisseries tend to have more layers ~ I totally agree with Chi Yao though, this is an AMAZING piece of mille feuille! The puff pastry wasn’t too hard, it basically melts in your mouth, and it’s not just vanilla custard, they’ve put fresh strawberries in it, to cut some of the sweetness ~ perfect for those who think custards too sweet Highly recommend it to everyone who has a Paul near them!
Blackberry Tart $155TWD($5AUD) A La Carte
This blackberry tart is designed for those who don’t like ‘sweet’ pastries, because it had a more tangy and refreshing taste ~ The pastry case was so thin it was like it wasn’t even there hehe
Swarvoski cystals used to make macarons ~
There were two macarons included in our set, a lemon and coffee macaron. Although they are advertised that they are made with Swarovski elements (not sure how), they were a little disappointing…the shells were too soft and I couldn’t really tell it was a coffee flavoured macaron until the waitress told me ~
Now to drinks
Cappuccino Noisette $150TWD($4.7AUD) A La Carte
Cindy ordered a hot cappuccino which she said she liked, but still missed the coffee in Melbourne ~
Iced Hazelnut Cappuccino $150TWD($4.7AUD) A La Carte
Chi Yao’s Iced Hazelnut Cappuccino ~ She seemed to enjoy it and said there was a strong hazelnut tone throughout the drink ~ Unfortunately, I was too busy taking photos of their drinks and forgot to take a photo of my Iced Mocha doesn’t matter, it basically looks the same but it was more like a really strong cup of iced chocolate, than a mocha ~ Please bare in mind, we paid an extra $40TWD ($1.3AUD) each t0 change our drinks to these ones
There’s still so much more I’d like to try! Just look ~
Eclairs and Lemon tart ~ My favourite!
Assortment of Choux pastries ~
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Paul’s and will definitely come back for their mille feuilles and other pastries~ But it’s still a little sad how the bill is automatically sent to your table when your two hours is up and the waitress tells you nicely to leave…
Has this happened to you before? Do you mind if there’s a time limit? Would love to hear your thoughts
PAUL
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, A9
No. 9, Song Shou Road, 2FL
新光三越A9‧信義新天地
台北市松壽路9號2F
PH:(02) 2722-0700
Tagged: Bakery, Cakes, Dessert, French, Macaron, Taiwan, Travel
It all looks delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for dropping by Jeremy
Just checked out your blog too ~ i love all your tips on wearing a dress shirt~
Thanks. I appreciate that.
I’ve just shown it to my bf
he needs some tips ~
thanks again. You are so kind.
Yum, I love Paul quiches!
They were fantastic
Thanks for coming by Christie ~
That was quite a meal, glad you had a good time. I do not like time limit when I am dining.
Same Norma time limits really turn me off
but thank god the food was good ~
Oh I looove Paul’s! I used to go to the London one for the pistachio macarons.
Ohhh I didn’t get to try their pistatchio macarons ~ the ones i had weren’t that good
have a nice weekend Lorraine!
PAUL is everywhere in London and inside many train stations. Whenever we travel by train, I have to go there for our coffee and order a few pastries to share with either my husband or my daughter
I’m so jealous Jane
There’s so many Paul around you ~ I wish there were that many in Hong Kong or any in Australia ~
A great price! This looks like a lovely place for afternoon tea. I like the bench chairs and the floor:)
I have only been to one venue where there has been a time limit. It was the QVB and we had to be out by a certain time as there was a wedding reception or something afterwards. But it wasn’t lke they said we only had 20 minutes, so it was no problem:)
Definitely a bargain ~ I guess if it’s for a wedding reception I can understand
I mean two hours is enough but it was just a little put offing when the waitress basically told us to leave >_< even when there was no one waiting ~
That sounds silly! If no one is waiting, why can you not sit there? I once hosted a board games night at a cafe and even though we had 10+ people there the staff kicked us out! How can you kick out people playing board games and drinking hot chocolates?! We must have seemed like a rough group….We’ve never been back since.
Oh that’s worse….good on you for not going back! that’s so rude, you had 10+ people and even if you guys were making a bit of a noise they could have simply asked you to be quiet and not kick you out! so rude! That’s why i must prefer to have house parties if we’re going to play games and make a lot of sound
I really like Paul’s and as you say there are quite a few here in the UK. Their macarons are delicious. But I would feel differently if I was given a time limit to enjoy my coffee and chat with friends. GG
I wish there were that many Paul’s in HK
i’d love to have the mille feuille again ~ I’ve heard so many good things about the macarons at Paul’s overseas but the ones i had in Taiwan weren’t that great 
And the time limit really turned me off and they weren’t very nice about it ~
Oh they all look so delicious, I love the macarons in there cute little boxes.
I have only just come back from holidays but I wanted to go again now :0
Hello
welcome back! I’ve gotta go check out all your travel posts now ~ I love travelling too much always wanting to go 
The macarons weren’t that amazing compared to the mille feuille hehe
Teehee, you’re so good for always trying the savoury dishes too! I always just go straight for dessert at places like this
Hahaha i try to be good but then i seem to always like the desserts more
I think i’m biased ~
I literally can’t stop drooling thanks to your pictures! I love pastries and all sweets stuff…. This store is in Japan too? I should check it out either in Taiwan or Japan. Sounds amazing…
Thanks Nami
It’s always a massive compliment to me when people like my ‘photos’ because that means I’ve finally succeeded at taking some ‘decent’ photos hehe I really think I need lessons
You definitely have to check out Paul when you go to Japan or Taiwan next time it’s really easy to find the one in Taiwan
You would have had to drag me kicking and screaming from this patisserie! Everything looks incredible. Thank you for visiting my blog.
Thank you for coming by my blog too Sandra
I know what you mean! I wanted to stay for longer so I could try more pastries! I have my eye on the lemon tart ~
Oh my this looks amazing! I came across themon a google search recently but have never been to one. Swarvoski crytals on the macarons – OMG! My kind of place – anything that sparkles.
Sorry I just saw your comment
The macarons were a bit of a disappointment though >_< i couldn't see any sparkle in them sighhh but the mille feuille sure is good!