French Baguette Kingdom at Manhattan Avenue

While the English staple food is a good sarnie, the French have baguettes.

Same with the Chinese they can’t understand the love of bread and potatoes while we cant understand why they love rice everyday!

In France there will always be someone around carrying a baguette in a long paper bag.
If you’ve been to France there are so many food varieties and not just crepes and macarons.

To me there is nothing like a good crispy baguette with a moist soft chewy centre with nice fillings.
In Hong Kong there are not many French baguette joints so I have always wanted to try their baguettes.
Delifrance has recently started serving some "French" baguettes which are quite a rip off for around $60 when you can get the real thing here and there are more choices.

 

pic I took recntly outside Delifrance Wan Chai

 

There are lots of joints for Vietnamese baguettes because of the French colonisation in Vietnam but I prefer the French Baguettes.

Anyway this shop is located at the end of Hillier Street on Manhattan Avenue, it is a nice spot to be located, away from the hustle and bustle of the other shops.
When you are on Hillier Street, keep walking until you see a building at the end of the road which saids "WRONG DESIGN" then you are heading to the right place. Chez Meli Melo is located before that.

 

Inside the shop were lots of down to earth decorations and the owner Joyce was really nice.

 

 

She was really passionate about food and doesn’t mind sharing the restaurants she has been to because some restauranteurs are always afraid of referring people to other eateries.

OK, so I was there especially for the baguettes, there were so many choices and I wanted to try the taboule as well, so I ordered half a baguette and the taboule instead of the salad. She was really nice and did not charge me the few extra dollars for changing to the taboule.

 

I ate the baguette there and she was so kind to offer me some water as well.
It was nice sitting on the bench forgetting that I was in Sheung Wan, but since I am not familiar with Sheung Wan the unfamilarity was fun and my imagination could go wild and imagine I was in LA.
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Taboule:
This was the best Taboule I have ever had, it was soft and fluffy. Every bit was flavoured and all the ingredients used in the taboule was delicate and light such as mint, lemon juice and tomato.
The mint leaves used in the Taboule was fresh which does not have that strange artificial mint taste.
All the tomatoes, mint leaves were chopped up finely.
It was so delicious I regretted I did not order the big box of salad with the carrots after reading IVYCWK's review because the carrots were vinegared.
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Gruyere cheese and ham baguette
The one I chose just had plain simple cheese and ham. The cheese used was Gruyere the ones with holes in it, and the ham was soft tender and not too salty.
The best thing was that as well as ham and cheese I could taste the melted butter on the baguette and the amount of butter was just right.
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On my next visit I hope to try the Baguette with Brie, full salad and their desserts.

MR. Vietnamese Baguette House now in Wan Chai

Previously I used to go the one at Fortress Hill, which was far, but now there is a branch in Wan Chai, but it is still too far, so I called for a delivery.

I did not have their menu, but luckily there is one on Open Rice but when I called the set I wanted to order was not on and the baguettes are now cheaper but without drinks.
You can get the Baguette set with chips or prawn crackers and a drink, but as I do not like prawn crackers I just ordered the baguette.
The chips would be soggy by the time it got delivered too so that’s why I did not get the set as well.

As a standard at this place, all baguettes have Vietnamese sausage, Julienne carrots, onions, and pate with a choice of filling: mushrooms, sardines, chicken, pork, pork floss or beef.
There are three choices for the baguette: Charcoal, Original and Black malt.

I chose the Charcoal baguette with mushrooms and the Original baguette with sardines.

The baguettes arrived well on time and the guy had change prepared when I paid.

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Charcoal baguette with mushrooms
The Julienne carrots were really nice and refreshing and they have turned an ingredient which I don’t like delcious. The baguette was fresh and crispy and the sauces were strong however there was a lot of MSG in the sauce.
The Vietnamese sausage and mushrooms were thinly sliced which made it easier to eat.
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Original baguette with sardines
This tasted the same as the above and there were sardines instead of mushroom.
The baguette for this one was slightly soggy because of the fish.
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Both baguettes were split at the top with a gap in the middle like a hotdog which are different from Western baguettes or buns because they are split at the side.
Their baguettes have kept the same standard as the baguettes at Fortress Hill but the one thing I could not taste in the baguette was the liver pate nor could I see it.

題外話/補充資料：

MR. Vietnamese Baguette House - Fortress Hill
Refreshing lime water:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2010564
Neat Baguette:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=1940541
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Price: $64
English menu: Yes, check the menu on OpenRice
Service: Friendly
Yummy factor: Delicious
MSG Levels: Slightly over
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