C'est la B is B for Beautiful

For those with a sweet tooth and a penchant for beautiful food, celebrated pastry queen Bonnae Gokson has opened a new C'est la B cafe-bar outlet in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Gokson has been hailed as the international 'Queen of Confections' by America's renowned wedding-event guru Colin Cowie and in a just few short years has made a big impression in Hong Kong with her beautiful, fanciful cakes.

Sample the new signature creation, Lollipop cake, crafted from multi-colored light chiffon cake and covered with fresh cream and adorned with candied popcorn, exclusively at the Tsim Sha Tsui branch for the first month.

To sample nine taster-sized treats from C'est la B, order the Sweet Treats Box - a colorful array of sweet dessert pots including a blueberry, grape jelly and yogurt cream cup, as well as a creamy vanilla bean panna cotta and caramel crunch cup presented in a Japanese bento box.

It's not just sweets at C'est la B. They also serve all-day breakfasts, bento boxes, noodles, salads, soup, sandwiches and pot pies.

Enjoy hot cakes or eggs the way you want them any time of the day. Well, when they're open. The fluffy pancakes are all served with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream, making them a decadent indulgence any time of the day. For chocolate lovers, the chocolate hot cakes with berries, chocolate hazelnut crunch and chocolate sauce are must-tries.

The signature bento boxes with names like Canto box, Gangnam box, Tokyo box, Saigon box, NYC box, and Roma box, are served in containers from Japan.

The Canto box contains egg noodles with black bean and chili prawns, salad, and C'est la B's own curry-flavored jiaozi pan-fried dumplings. The Gangnam box contains Korean short ribs, fried rice, salad and the signature jiaozi. The Saigon box contains ginger lemongrass chicken and cold Vietnamese rice noodles, salad, and pan-fried chicken. The Roma box contains meatball and penne pasta, salad and a grilled prawn. They are all carefully put together with fresh ingredients and attention to detail.

One of the most beautiful items on the menu is the Rainbow club sandwich (HK$125, $16).

For some, the club sandwich is a benchmark for what the restaurant can do. Well, this gorgeous sandwich tells us that Gokson has a wondrous eye for color, presentation, and putting together a lot of ingredients to make an "ordinary" sandwich look not only appetizing, but aesthetically stunning.

The sandwich is made with slices of artisan bread, each colored with a different ingredient - spinach, beetroot, bamboo charcoal and saffron. The fillings are French ham, cheese, omelette, avocado, roasted chicken and salad.

C'est la B also serves champagne, red and white wines, and beers, as well as organic coffees, teas and fresh fruit juices. Remember to ask the staff to recommend a wine to go with your cake.

sundayed@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/14/2013 page14)