Jean-Paul Hevin Chocolatier  

Jean-Paul Hévin is a chocolatier from Paris, and there are currently three shops in Hong Kong: one in IFC, one on Lyndhurst Terrace and one in Ocean Terminal in TST.

There is a small cafe at the Jean-Paul Hévin shop in IFC. My friend and I came here for lunch on Saturday to try their lunch menu, and we managed to get a table straightaway as the cafe wasn't full at all at that time.

(1) We ordered La Complete ($98), a crepe with button mushroom, tomatoes and cooked ham. It tasted delicious overall, but the crepe was a tad too crunchy and dry.

I got $500 Jean Pual Hevin cash coupon from my generous colleague!
I seldom visit IFC mall, so it took me almost 20 minutes to locate the shop!
I have chosen 10 pcs Macaron (recommended by most people) and various types of cholocates - not too many as the price is rather costly. They are tasty but too sweet to me (even the Dark Chocolate one).

Actually, the main reason for giving my comments is to give Big Thanks for the lady who served me - if I have read correctly, her name is Taka. She was so nice in introducing me the different types of chocolate, macaron...... She was very polite and kept smiling all the time.
The company is lucky to have such a valuable employee.

My mom and I went to this chocolate place because we had a free coupon for a tea set for two. The place is somewhat to the far end of IFC, but still easy to find. It is located in the middle of an area, near the escalators. We sat down at the bar area; the decorations include empty boxes that have their name which I thought was a smart idea as it was both simple yet effective.

The service was very good, and the food and drinks came quite quickly.

Tea
I'm not sure what type of tea this was as I normally drink coffee, but it was quite nice, as far as tea goes. It's served with sugar and hot milk.It came in a pot for the both of us, so it came to around three drinks in one pot or so.

Cucumber sandwich & Tuna sandwich
I had the cucumber sandwich whilst my mom had the tuna sandwich, so I am unsure of how the latter tastes. The cucumber sandwich was okay - a bit too buttery for my liking. It was a bit strange as the cucumber was cool and the bread was toasted warm.

Brioche w/ Jam or Chocolate Spread
There were two small pieces of brioche - one with jam and one with a chocolate spread similar to Nutella. Both breads were nice, although perhaps slightly stale (there was no kitchen in sight, so perhaps that is the reason?). The jam and chocolate spread was good, although it was only spread very little on the brioche and therefore was not very strong.

Macaroons: Butterscotch & Latte
Prior to eating these macaroons, I had believed myself to dislike them very much. However, I have discovered that it was not macaroons I did not like, merely the company that I had tried. These macaroons were DELICIOUS! The macaroons were very lovely with a crisp exterior and soft, rich interior. The ganache inside was just magnificent. The flavors were pronounced, but not overwhelming, striking a perfect balance.

Chocolate cake w/ orange
The cake was quite nice - a good chocolate flavor with slightly orange hints. However, I did not see anything special about this cake. Yes, it is good, but no, it's nothing special.

The food was okay, but what struck me the most was the atmosphere - the essence of this place is very British in the entire high tea experience. I must say, my view on macaroons has changed completely and I will definitely be buying macaroons from here! I will definitely come back to eat macaroons and try the hot chocolate, but for other food items, maybe not.

Our tea-set had 3 pieces of chocolate cakes, 2 macarons, 2 scones, 1 piece of butter cake with dried apricot & strawberries, 1 broccoli quiche, 1 goatcheese salad sandwich. Seems different combinations would be served to different customers. Dunno why?
My husband ordered chocolat chaud parisien and I ordered the viennoise. The waitress explained the parisien was the richest in cocoa content but we did not notice the difference between our orders, except the fresh cream served with the viennoise. Anyway, both are excellent!
Toast au chevre chaud ($95), just so so, the goatcheese does not smell strong.

At a half-hidden corner of IFC Mall lies a newly opened JPH Chocolate Bar which sells additional items on top of their normal Chocolates and Candies! Here - they also sell Hot and Cold Chocolate Drinks, Coffees as well as Light Meals such as Sandwiches, Curry Rice, Gratinated Vegies Stack. (The FOOD however is quite expensive and hover around the $95-$130 range)

Its a Concept that already has outlets in Japan and Paris by the way - now its found its way into Hong Kong finally! It still doesn't carry the full range of products compared to Paris stores, but its quite good already.

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CHOCOLAT FRAUD 'BOLIVAR' -
With 6 types to choose from all with their own characteristics - Parisien, Nosy Be, Bolivar, Colombie, Anne d'Autriche, Viennois: I went for one supposed to taste of Spicy, Floral and Powerful Flavours. A Venezualan version.

When this arrived, it came in a big pot and @ $55, seems value for money when you only get 1 small cup at La Maison du Chocolat or VERO!

However I did not detect much of the aforementioned Chocolate flavours, to me, this drink was way too diluted with Milk! My theory is, since drinking Hot Chocolate is going to fill you up anyway, I'd rather a thicker yet smaller cup: rather than a thinned down, less flavoured version of more volume. Anyway, apparently its done with the exact same formula as as Parisien stores! Speaking of 'Parisien', there's a Parisien Hot Chocolate version here which is suppose to be the strongest. May be I shall try that 1 day - but SHARED WITH A FRIEND, AS THERE'S LIKE 3 CUPS WORTH!
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- WILL COME BACK TO TRY HOT SAVOURY FOOD!
- WISHED THE HOT CHOCOLATE DRINKS WERE LESS DILUTED!
- COULDN'T FINISH LUNCH AFTERWARDS!
- MID-HIGH '3' FOR MY DRINK ONLY!