Experience the Best of Paris in Davao at The French Baker

The French Baker opens its newest concept store in SM Lanang Premier, which also marks the 51st branch for the franchise and their first in Mindanao. With the new concept store, The French Baker promises to offer nothing short of fancy as they give Davaoenos the opportunity to experience the "good life" through their authentic French pastries and menu items available in-store. Hence, you don't have to travel to Paris in order to experience the best of French cuisine first-hand as The French Baker brings it to Davao.

The French Baker CEO, and the French baker himself, Johnlu Koa, is proud of his latest innovation and cannot wait for Davao folks to experience the sum of inspirations he had gathered from his trips to Paris and Europe. According to Koa, he contemplated on introducing The French Baker brand to Davao several years ago when the first SM mall opened its doors in Davao. However, he wanted to polish his culinary craft first so that he can deliver unique baked pastries and treats that will overwhelm the competition. With the new SM supermall and a thriving tourist and economic industry in Davao, he felt that now is the most opportune moment to introduce the brand to Davao.

 

 

It starts with the location and interior design of The French Baker concept store. It is strategically located in front of the SM Lanang Fountain Court so that diners can marvel at the famous dancing fountain show while enjoying their French treats. Meanwhile, the interior design looks and feels like a true Parisian patisserie or bakery-cafe. Stepping into this store literally feels like being in Paris with its spacious and elegant interiors and an indoor al fresco area. The store is also divided into two main sections: the Patisserie and the Tea Salon or Salon de The.

You will have plenty of options to marvel your time with - be awed by the largest dancing fountain show in the country, stay connected with their WiFi, or you can get a sample of the Parisian taste that helped catapult The French Baker to the fore of the country's gastronomic landscape.


In order to drum up publicity for the opening of their new, larger concept store at SM Lanang Premier, The French Baker held a media day to officially introduce the new restaurant location. In the said event, media folks were also given the opportunity to sample the best treats from The French Baker to give everyone a glimpse of what is in store for them.

Here are a few of the treats we were able to sample at the said event:

Bread Basket with a tray of dips (chicken liver pate, chutney and relish)

Tuna Salad

Sweet Corn Chowder

Entrees (Squid Ink Pasta, Ravioli, Cochinillo, Salt Crusted Baked Bass, Fried Chicken, and Beef Burgundy)

The Patisserie section is what really caught my eye. The French Baker has truly expanded beyond what they had been known for - baking breads - and had excelled at cake and pastry making. I cannot decipher the right words to describe how heavenly each dessert tasted - guess you need to find out for yourself!

Also read: The French Baker Pastry Treats

Swan Puffs - Swan shaped puffs that are baked using a cream puff dough and filled with traditional pasty cream and finished off with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Charlotte - A sponge cake made from lady fingers in a mini cake shape then filled with cream, strawberry coulis, and a variety of fruits.

Chocolate Concorde - Chocolate meringue wafers that is filled with concorde cream out of chocolate ganache. 

French Macaroons - When talking about The French Baker, there is one thing you shouldn't miss out on - their famous French Macaroons.

More desserts and pastries are available at The French Baker's patisserie so be sure to indulge!

 

The French Baker is located at G/F Fountain Court area of SM Lanang Premier.

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The French Baker: Now Serving at SM Lanang Premier

The French Baker is a pastry shop/restaurant that has several branches in the country, but has arrived to Davao City just recently when they opened a branch at SM Lanang Premier. I've earlier featured them in a post showcasing some of the new restaurants set to open its doors to the visitors of SM Lanang and I am genuinely excited to try them out. The name itself elicits the idea of a Parisian cafe or patisserie, of which I've always dreamed of trying, but if not in Paris then this might be the next best thing.

The rave reviews I've read on The French Baker also didn't help to curb the excitement. Just last week, I finally got a chance to dine here and it was an overall good experience.

First off, since we came in a bit late for dinner, around 8:30 PM, most of our initial orders were no longer available. Bummer, I know. I would've wanted to give their pasta dishes a try, particularly the Vongole Clam Pasta and Lasagna Verde. It's a frustrating feeling when you see something on the menu and you place an order for that, only to be told that it isn't available.

I decided to go for the Grilled Veggie Sandwich instead. This dish is amazing, thankfully. I would specially recommend this to anyone who loves vegetable dishes! The presentation is unique and creative to begin with, which makes it all the more appetizing. The bread and veggies sandwich are arranged like a kebab on stick. First, the vegetable sandwich are grilled wherein they use a freshly baked ciabatta bread. Meanwhile, it also comes with some side dishes including The French Baker's own potato chips (which was surprisingly sweet and had a nice texture to it) and their honey balsamic greens. But their salad greens was my favorite as the combination of sweet and tart flavor makes this the right compliment to the sandwich.

Another dish we've tried is the Pork Chop Au Foivre. This dish consists of two pieces of herb marinated pork chop and grilled in brown peppercorn sauce. Wow! This dish is superb! I certainly did not expect much but the marinade allowed the flavor to seep deep into the meat. It also comes with a vegetable side dish consisting of corn and carrots, and rice. I would highly recommend this dish and don't forget to order it when available. Every bite is juicy yet savory!

We accompanied our meals with their Four Seasons cold drink but there was nothing special to it. We specifically asked the waitress if it is a fresh juice or canned ones and they confidently reassured that it wasn't the canned variety. But when we got the chance to sip onto our drinks, though, it was the instant juice type. Sorry, not impressed with that.

On my next visit, I plan on sampling their pastries and desserts because that is what The French Baker is all about - especially the much talked about French macaroons. 

Have you tried The French Baker? Thoughts?

The French Baker is located at Ground Floor of SM Lanang Premier, beside ChaTime and Krispy Kreme.

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