Jean-Paul Hévin - Taiwan, Taipei 101 Branch

Taiwan is famous for its local food, let it be shaved ice, stinky tofu, pork chop rice, beef noodles, and the list goes on. But that's not just it. Visitors around the world flocked into Taiwan not only for its traditional charm, but also for its growing international vibe.

Taipei 101, the fairly new landmark of Taiwan since 2004 sits in the heart of Taiwan's capital Taipei. Besides offices and financial institutions, a big portion of Taipei 101 is designed as shopping area, food court, and restaurants.

Well-known fashion brands flocked into this building including Louise Vuitton and Burberry. Fancy restaurants spread across the floors. Even renowned French chocolatier Jean-Paul Hévin has set an oversea branch here on the 4th floor.

In fact, this is the 2nd store here in Taiwan, which shows the market potential of this little island.

Cold drinks menu -

Hot chocolate and tea menu -

High tea set menu -

How much I wish we have one here in California, not just the Jean-Paul Hévin store, but also its quality dessert selections.

Salad and sandwiches -

Other savory items and hot chocolate selections  -

I only tried a few sweet desserts this time and would like to test out their savory dishes next time. The aroma of baked crust and creamy cheese lingered around our table a couple times, and it surely smelled tempting. Their mini pizza with crunchy crust will be on the to-eat-list during my next visit to Taiwan.

Small dessert set menu -

Macaron menu -

My raspberry flavored hot chocolate -

Jean-Paul Hévin has a series of hot chocolate - matcha, raspberry, and original. The menu states that its hot chocolate was rewarded the first place under the hot chocolate category in Paris by "Le Figaro" in France.

Dense chocolate aroma with a slight touch of bitterness. The only thing I would pick on would be its tiny portion plus hefty price. But oh well, it was so good! 

Mazaltov set -

White cheese cake and chantilly two flavors (chocolate and raspberry).

The cheese cake is light and fluffy. However, if you're looking for stronger cheese flavor then this might not be your best option.

In the other hand, chantilly, or whipped cream, is very flavorful. I can be careless about the extra flavor added on top, just the whipped cream along goes a long way. The chantilly compliments the cake by providing that creaminess to the slightly sourish scent from the cheese.

Epicure set -

Vanilla flavored dark chocolate ganache with almond biscuit and matcha flavored chantilly.

Supposedly this set comes with one macaron. However, since it's around Chinese New Year so they substituted the macaron with a chocolate decorated with a Chinese letter "fu," meaning good things and happiness.

Overall experience wasn't too bad. The hot chocolate and chantilly are both delicious and worth coming for again. Atmosphere-wise, this open spaced branch is located in the center of the floor, which means little privacy for the customers. Some people do like this type of vibe, enjoying a few bites of luscious treats while people-watching at the same time.

One other note, this place can get pretty pricey, the high tea set is about $56 U.S. for 2 people. The dessert set I had there was about $15 U.S. not including the hot chocolate.

Official website (France, French):
http://www.jeanpaulhevin.com

Official website (Taiwan, Chinese):
http://www.jphevin.com.tw/

Jean-Paul Hévin (Taiwan, Taipei 101)
Number 45, Shi Fu Road, Xin-Yi Area, Taipei, Taiwan
(Shopping Center, 4th Floor)

台北市信義區市府路45號(購物中心4樓)
011-886-(02)-8101-8152

Taipei 101 Official Website:
http://www.taipei-101.com.tw/