Cafés Richard

Ever since I had attended a coffee appreciation seminar, I am always constantly on a look out to try different type of coffee blends.

While I still love my mochas and lattes, the lure of freshly brew artisan coffee is greater and something I can’t exactly explain to you in words. You have to understand how to drink coffee before you will find the enjoyment in it.

Sky Avenue

I was intrigued when a famous French Cafe –Cafés Richard, decided to open their flagship store outside France in Genting. Aiming at bringing the enjoyment of French coffee nearer to Asians, I was glad to be able to taste good coffee at my stay in Genting.

I ordered a Mandeling coffee, on Chemex. The blend produced a strong nutty and earthy notes, light body with a medium acidity profile for my taste.

Mandeling Coffee

I felt myself transported to France with the design and decoration of the cafe. Bold white letters on black awnings, dainty wooden cafe chairs with round marble tables arranged to face the walkway, perfect for people watching.

Cafés Richard

I sat inside the ‘star’, a pretty booth seating area that looked like a star when viewed from the top of the Sky Avenue mall. The skylight rooftop floods the area with sunlight. It easily brightens up your day, just being there.

Besides artisan blend coffees, Cafés Richard also has a selection of espresso based drinks and fancy little bites. Chef Andrea even treated us with a sneak peak of a few of their spectacular afternoon tea sets concept during our coffee preview.

From left to right: Executive Chef Andrea Zorcolo, Barrista Michael McCauley and Malaysian Chef collaboration

A selection of treats for Tea

Cafés Richard Parisian High Tea is available from 2:30pm to 5:30pm.

They have a few set for selection:

Parisian High Tea Menu (accurate as at 30 July 2017)

I went to Cafés Richard the second round in end July (media preview was in Feb). This time round, I tried their French Café Au Lait and a dessert recommended by their servers.

French Cafe Au Lait

When the Café Au Lait arrived, it was definitely a show-stopped. The coffee is served on a metal platter, with the French press and a BOWL, alongside a caddy of milk and sugar.

According to the server, Café Au Lait in France is served in a bowl so that you can mix in the coffee and milk proportions as desired. It reminded me of Octa Hotel Café in Singapore (already closed) and they served their Café Au Lait this way. It has been a while since I saw another cafe doing Café Au Lait the right way.

Café Au Lait pouring service

The server helped with the first service of the Café Au Lait to demonstrate to me how it was done. Then she said I could add in sugar as I desired. I love the creamy Café Au Lait, especially after it has been “aerated” ; the coffee was lukewarm, not spoiling the milk in this. If you ever had a chance, order a Café Au Lait there.

The Café Au Lait is priced at MYR24 (Member) / MYR26 (Non-Member).

Aumônière

The server recommended the Aumônière dessert. I wanted to try the high tea set but I only had time for dessert at 12 midnight!! (Can you tell I was busy shopping?!?!?) In the menu, it was described as Crêpe filled with caramelised pear and orange, served with chocolate sauce and strawberry ice cream.

The presentation visually looked like a wonton dumpling with a chocolate stick pierced through it. While I was slightly disappointed as I was expecting some mega-fancy dessert, the taste did not once disappoint.

I took quite a while to photograph the dessert, so when I cut through the dessert, the ice cream has long melted and what it was left was liquid strawberry cream.

Aumônière

However, when I took my first bite, this came to my mind….

A scene from Ratatouille (Source: Pinterest)

Somehow, the marriage of citrus, strawberry cream with the crêpe pancake alongside a dash of chocolate was a very nice compliment to each other. The strawberry and chocolate combo seems to mellow the acidity of the citruses, making it quite a delectable palette indeed.

The Aumônière was priced at MYR22 (Member) MYR 24(Non-Member).

Overall

Overall, the Cafes Richard is definitely an experience worth going for. Needless to say, I have no complains when it come to French food and coffee.

Oh, and if you are in a rush to hit the shopping mall or the outlets, you can always get French coffee to-go!  That was what I did for one of the days! It was not too expensive really, if you look at it the coffee is about SGD 6 – 7, which is typically Starbucks pricing, but with a roast that is much more robust.

Latte-to-go

If I have another chance to head up to Genting Highlands again, the next thing I want to try on the menu on Cafés Richard is BREAKFAST.

Yum yum!

Cafés Richard Genting

Level 1, SkyAvenue
Genting Highlands
Website: https://www.rwgenting.com/dining/cafes/Cafes-Richard/

Operating Hours:
Mon to Thu: 10:00am – 10.00pm
Fri: 10.00 am to 12.00 am
Sat: 8:00am – 12.00am
Sun: 8:00am – 10.00pm

Toodles! I’m off for another cuppa!

Thanks to Resort World Genting for the media preview of Cafés Richard.
The subsequent trip update on Cafés Richard was paid for by myself and all prices were accurate as at 30 July 2017.