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2017-08-28
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After my fellow bread-freak highly recommended Levain, I took a walk to PMQ one fine Sunday morning (12/8) and was slightly disappointed to see that it was under renovation. Ohhh pheww, luckily Levain has another branch conveniently located at Central MTR station such that I could take my time to visit on a weekday. 第一次光顧Levain，襯著一個天朗氣清的星期天 (12/8) 漫步到PMQ，才發現該分店正進行裝修。幸好中環地鐵站內也有分店，可以輕易地平日光顧 : )Spoiled with choices, it took me almost 10 minutes to make up my mind --- and I went for what caught my e
第一次光顧Levain，襯著一個天朗氣清的星期天 (12/8) 漫步到PMQ，才發現該分店正進行裝修。幸好中環地鐵站內也有分店，可以輕易地平日光顧 : )
Spoiled with choices, it took me almost 10 minutes to make up my mind --- and I went for what caught my eyes first: <Green Tea & Dried Figs Sourdough>. Basically three of my favourite things on Earth in one bread!
左想右想，最後還是選了第一樣吸引我視線的 <綠茶無花果酸種麵包>。
Green Tea & Figs Sourdough 綠茶無花果酸種麵包
$22
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While I personally prefer the texture and crust of EK's Figs Bread (a certain bakery from Paris), Levain's Green Tea & Dried Figs Sourdough is much more packed with sweet and juicy dried figs with a delicious hint of sherry...! Though it's slightly smaller than EK's, it's not as expensive. Considering the generous amount of dried figs, I find Levain's pricing more reasonable.
Green Tea & Dried Figs Sourdough 綠茶無花果酸種麵包
$22
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^ Look at all those dried figs --- Even the last bite was packed with them!
每一口都是滿滿的無花果乾，而且帶一點點自然的酒香。
If you were attracted to this sourdough because of the description "Green Tea", you may be a tiny tiny bit disappointed --- at least I was upon my first bite. But I am not complaining and am not deducting a star for this sourdough. From my own experience in making Green Tea Chiffon Cakes, I understand how bitter natural green tea powder is, and how blindly scaling up the green tea powder amount with the hope of "intensifying" the green tea flavour could mess up the dry:wet ingredients ratio and risk drying up the dough. In short, from the subtle hint of green tea in this sourdough, I know Levain do mean it when they say they insist on using natural ingredients only --- and I am happy to know that ; )
如果你選這款包是因為被「綠茶」兩字吸引，也許你會感到有一丁點的失望 --- 就如我當時的第一口感覺。不過，從我在家中焗綠茶雪芳蛋糕的經驗，我知道天然純綠茶粉的苦，也知道為求增強綠茶味而盲目增加綠茶粉份量很容易會打亂乾濕材料比例。從這麵包淡淡的綠茶味，我感受到Levain對用天然素材的堅持。
A week later, I tried Levain's <Sesame Bun>.
一星期後，我試了另一款麵包 --- <芝麻燒餅>
芝麻燒餅 Sesame Bun
$16
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嗯，我知道外表有點像從粥麵店買回來的 ... : P
Couldn't wait to dig in... yummmm! Love the rich and aptly sweet Black Sesame flavour...
If you like black sesame as they are, instead of being sweetened with desiccated coconut and lots of sugar, you'd enjoy this naturally sweet and aromatic sesame bun!
甜味自然，沒有加椰絲。簡單而美味！
芝麻燒餅 Sesame Bun
$16
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^ Look, even the dough itself was packed with sesame!
喜歡芝麻卷或上海大裝芝麻湯圓的朋友一定喜歡這濃郁的黑芝麻涵。麵包內也有粒粒的芝麻~
由於仍在回味早上吃的芝麻燒餅，所以晚上再次光顧，發現Levain 7時後是 買二送一 的 ; P
The Sesame Bun was so good that I visited Levain again later that day... and was pleasantly surprised by their "Buy 2 get 1 Free" deal after 7pm.
I saved the <Mixed Nut Bread Stick> and <Orange peel & Dried Figs Sourdough> for breakfast the next day, and had the <Canele> for dinner.
Canele
$22
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Canele
$22
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The Canele was aptly dense and chewy --- delicious vanilla custard flavour --- aptly sweet. The caramelised shell was nice, but not the best I've had in Hong Kong, plus it was slightly (just slightly) burnt, so I'm giving it 4 stars. But anyway, given that it was one of the last two Caneles on display at around 7:30pm on a Friday, I don't think my review for Levain's Canele on this occasion is conclusive ; )
Canele 甜度適中，口感有彈性，帶香滑的vanilla custard味道。焦糖外層不錯，但有一點點烤過頭，有一丁點苦。不過這是7:30pm左右最後剩下的兩個Canele之一，我相信下次我早點光顧應該會更貼切他們的水準。
我把 <樹枝> 和 <香橙無花果酸種麵包> 留作第二天的早餐，想起來不是明智的決定。
It was totally my mistake in deciding to save the <Mixed Nuts Bread Stick> and <Orange peel & Dried Figs Sourdough> overnight.
前者滿佈果仁，是值得一讚的，可是我隔了個晚上才吃，真的變得很硬。
While the former was deliciously packed with a generous amount of nuts, it became quite hard (yes I take the blame!).
樹枝 Mixed Nuts Bread Stick
$26
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下次我應該在<樹枝>新鮮時品嚐！從這次的體驗，即使不談口感，味道上好像另一來自比利時的麵包店所出品的 "Flute" 略勝一疇 --- 因為 "Flute" 有香甜的提子乾，和較可口及味道帶點甜的夏威夷果仁。不過，樹枝定價比Flute便宜大約$10，個人認為是較為合理的 : )
I look forward to trying the Mixed Nuts Bread Stick fresh upon purchase next time : P From this experience, I personally prefer LP_ (a certain bakery from Belgium) 's "Flute", which is filled with sweet raisins and buttery Macadamia Nuts. Nevertheless, Flute is much more pricey (HK$38 as far as I remember), and I find Levain's bread stick more reasonably priced (HK$28).
The <Orange peel & Dried Figs Sourdough> was tasty, with a citrusy hint of orange which is stronger compared to the hint of green tea in Levain's Green Tea version of the Dried Figs Sourdough I described above. The tangy orange peel matches the sweet dried figs well. Not sure if I was less lucky this time, but I found slightly less dried figs than the Green Tea version. Anyway, texture aside (because it was my mistake to leave it overnight : P ), this was delicious!
<香橙無花果酸種麵包> 的香橙味比綠茶版本的綠茶味明顯，兩款的味道都出色，也和無花果配合得自然和美味。橙皮清新，甜度適中，份量剛好，沒有苦澀味道。不談口感（全因隔了個晚上才吃，是我的錯），這酸稱麵包清新美味，下次見到時我會買來即日享受~
過了兩個台風和多雨的星期天，睡前已打算到Levain買早餐。結果，星期一一覺醍來，真的很想吃一口會帶來幸福感的麵包...
After two typhoons and a rainy Sunday, all I craved for in beating the Monday blues is some fresh and tasty bread as brekkie... that's why I headed to Levain again this morning!
昨天和家人在中式酒樓晚飯，本來打算叫蕃薯糖水，可惜只剩下紅荳和綠荳沙選擇 --- 儘管該酒樓是我一家上下認為最美味和「起沙」的酒樓「晚市奉送」糖水，我到今天早上起來還是想著蕃薯 ... 所以今早一看到 Levain 的 <蕃薯包>，我便二話不說拿起木盤子和麵包夾 ...
Going for <Sweet Potato Bun> was a complete no-brainer for me this morning, as I have been dreaming of some sweet potato dessert (a typical Chinese sweet soup dessert made with boiling sweet potato in gingery soup) since dinner with my family last night!
蕃薯包 Sweet Potato Bun
$16
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平實的賣相，沒有以鮮豔奪目的「紫薯色」作點綴、或一粒粒金黃色的蕃薯粒作招徠 --- 不看麵包櫃的名牌，不會知道是蕃薯包。說實話，賣相不算吸引。當我拿起麵包夾，看到旁邊其他款式銷情好像較好，的確猶疑了一下。但從品嚐Levain芝麻燒餅的經驗，知道吃一口才能了解涵料真材實料的美味，我還是保留了我的選擇。
Yes I know this looks nothing fancy and you probably cannot tell it's a "sweet potato bun" from the look of it... and Yes, I did hesitate for a second when I saw the other types of bread in the same display shelf being sold more quickly --- But having tried Levain's <Sesame Bun>, I have faith in Levain's low profile high quality goodies.
蕃薯包 Sweet Potato Bun
$16
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果然沒有令我失望！麵包層是薄薄的，卻保留彈性，第一口咬下去已嚐到蕃薯蓉淡香，甜味自然，帶一點點蕃薯皮的微酸，吃得出是用心以新鮮紫薯造的，而且刻意沒有人為地加重甜味。那種甜味沒有其他大型連鎖麵包店的紫薯甜點可口，也沒有那種像忌廉般完美幼滑的人造口感。個人認為味道不算歸類為甜包，所以也適合當早餐 。
I'm glad I stick to my choice! The sweet potato filling tastes delicious --- naturally sweet with a light sour touch, just light enough to make me realise that it was made with fresh sweet potato - such that part of the sweet potato skin was mixed in - and not with artificially flavoured "sweet potato powder" mixed with creamy custard. Personally, I find this bun light enough for breakfast : ) And the bun to filling ratio was just right.
Levain 麵包選擇很多，我等不及全部試過後才寫食評...! 尤其 Brioche 的選擇很多，所有配搭都好吸引！看來下次多跑幾公里後可以獎勵自己一下.... : P
I'm always tempted to try Levain's Brioche as all the choices seem delicious... perhaps I could treat myself one when I do a longer jog as autumn approaches!
Other Info. :
Buy 2 get 1 free after 7pm. 七時後 買2送1.
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
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