After my forays at Patisserie Chantilly in LA, I've been craving creme puffs! However, not any plain Jane creme puff would sate my palate, I was looking for a creme puff which would blow my mind in flavor and texture. So when I heard that Beard Papa's opened up shop in the Aventura mall I was a foodie on a mission! They're a pretty big deal in LA (or at least that's the impression I got), so they must be good, no? I had missed out on trying Beard Papa's during my LA trip because of the tight schedule we had to keep, so I was excited to go out and try what they had to offer.
So one evening, after stopping by Hiro's for dinner we dropped by the Aventura mall before heading home. I was a bit surprised that they only had a small kiosk type of area to work in (and it's a bit awkwardly positioned under an elevator), but you work with what you have.
I was all ready to try out every single custard flavor available for the creme puffs, sadly they only had two options that day: vanilla and strawberry. They let me know that they always have the vanilla custard available and that they swap out the second flavor every week. We decided to get a dozen creme puffs to go, half vanilla and half strawberry.
While they were filling our creme puffs up with custard to order, I took the chance to try out their mochi ice-cream. I haven't seen so many options for mochi ice-cream in a very long time! There were 10+ flavors, it's probably around 16 or so but I don't remember how many off the top of my head. I ultimately decided upon passion fruit and I was not disappointed. I <3 the slight chewy texture of the mochi contrasting with the smooth ice-cream. That and I'm a total sucker for passion fruit. <_<
So we headed back home with our goodies in tow. What was the final verdict? Well, they weren't bad but they weren't the BEST creme puffs I've ever had. Patisserie Chantilly's black sesame creme puffs blows Beard Papa's out of the water, there's just no comparison. However, Beard Papa's creme puffs are still leaps and bounds above your average creme puff. The puff was light, flaky, and delicious (probably would have been more light and flaky if we had eaten them right away and not driven home). The custard was smooth and flavorful, however it was a bit thicker than I would have liked. Most importantly though they weren't heavy handed on the sugar!! I know I've said it before, but my favorite desserts are ones which satiate my sweet tooth without leaving me in a diabetic coma.
The group consensus was that we enjoyed the vanilla more than the strawberry custard, but that was simply out of preference. I'll be back to Beard Papa's to try the other flavors such as coffee and green tea (I really really want to try the green tea one). It's just a matter of finding the time to drive over to the Aventura mall. X_x
Beard Papa's
19501 Biscayne Blvd
Aventura, FL, 33180
305-682-8580
