La Patisserie P on Argyle

La Patisserie P has been mentioned in a few threads (here and here for example), but I think it deserves a thread of its own.

It offers some of my very favorite pastries in Chicago including:

egg custard tart - always one of my favorite Chinese sweets, and this version is absolutely perfect. The pastry is very flaky, the custard smooth as silk, and just the perfect level of sweetness. This was the first thing I ever tasted at La Patisserie P, and it's what made me return for a whole lot more.

Red bean paste buns and green been paste buns - the bean pastes are excellent, but you can't ignore the very rich and fluffy buns . . . almost like the perfect brioche.

custard buns - filled with an amazingly smooth coconut custard. Sweet, but not cloyingly so. It's between this and the egg custard tart for my favorite item here. When the bun and custard are warm, it offers an out-of-body experience.

coconut buns - same dough as above, but instead of a coconut custard, this is more of a dense, flaky coconut filling.

red bean paste, green bean paste, taro and coconut cakes - these are similar to the buns, but the dough is dense . . . the exterior is somewhat similar to puff pastry or filo dough with the flaky layers of dough, but it's denser. In any event, they're all excellent (although my favorites are the bean paste fillings).

coconut "snowballs" - gelatinous, dusted with coconut and various fillings, including red bean paste and peanut. The texture of the gelatinous ball is so smooth, and not very sweet, with most of the sweetness being delivered by the filling.

Sesame seed-coated fried red bean paste balls - not sure what these are called, but they're always one of my favorite dim sum orders. The versions here are very respectable, but not great.

bbq pork and chicken curry buns - maybe not my favorite versions of either, but very good nonetheless.

I'm sure I'm missing a few of the items at La Patisserie P which I love, but not many. Peter (the owner) is classically French trained and you'll see a number of classic French and some American pastries here too. Some are very, very good -- others are not so good (avoid the French macarons at all costs). I've tried only a handful, but my favorite items here are the Asian sweets.

I know many here favor Chiu Quon on Argyle. And while I like Chiu Quon, I'll say that with respect to my favorite items listed above, in almost every instance I much prefer La Patisserie P. And although LPP might be slightly more expensive than CQ, they're both incredibly inexpensive (I believe that all of the items I've listed are less than $1). If you're not convinced, I suggest that you stop by La Patisserie P one morning and try some of these items listed above. Definitely start with the egg custard tart.

La Patisserie P
1050-52 W. Argyle
Chicago
773.878.3226

Nice post! Very informative, thanks!

Maybe it's just my bad luck, but I've tried the egg custard tarts at LaPP on 2 separate occasions, and I keep leaving unimpressed. I find that the pastry is actually somewhat compressed and hard. The egg custard also had a dry film on top. That being said, I much prefer the dimsum-style egg custard tarts (the ones that are usually a third the size) because I find they are super flaky and have very rich, creamy centers.

I'm going to chance it and try the tarts one more time because I just can't resist, and a mediocre tart is still better than no tart. Hopefully I'll come away with a winner!

BR,

Chiu Quon has my heart, but I am open to trying more at Patisserie P as I occasionally find myself killing time on that block while waiting for my mom to finish shopping at Viet Hoa. Have you tried any of their larger cakes? The ones they sell on top of the glass cases? I'm also curious about what looks like their version of Filipino pandesal. I stopped in on Sunday, did my usual surveying, then turned around, walked out and headed a block and a half west to Chiu Quon. I really am willing to try more. I've just been lazy about it.

I have had their chicken curry buns and jellyroll sponge cakes on top of the glass case. I like the chicken curry buns - they are a bit spicy, and have tons of flavor. It's been awhile since I had the jellyroll sponge cakes - I remember getting two flavors: mango & something else. I wasn't that impressed w/them compared to the ones at St. Anna's. One of them was really dry, so I thought maybe it wasn't fresh. I concur that of the Argyle bakeries, I lean toward Chiu Quon.

happy_stomach wrote: Have you tried any of their larger cakes? The ones they sell on top of the glass cases? I'm also curious about what looks like their version of Filipino pandesal.

I haven't tried any of the larger cakes. I've tried a couple of the cake slices they sell, as well as some of the other non-Asian pastries, and while I cannot specifically recall which ones, I can recall that they've been hit and miss (some very good, others somewhat bland). And I have not tried the Filipino pandesal you mention. I also cannot comment on the jelly-roll type cakes they sell as I've never been a very big fan of this type of dessert.

Strangely enough, I have never tried any of the Asian pastries. The French ones are so amazing that I don't have room for anything else. The croissants and pain au chocolat are the best I've had outside of Paris.

I stopped by this afternoon, since I'd paid for parking anyway in my quest for a Sun Wah duck. BBQ pork buns fine, though not notably special. But the piece of cake I got, something with chocolate mousse, was out of this world. Sweet, of course, but not too sweet. Perfect texture--cake layers firm but not dry, mousse layers cohesive but light, some nuts (I think) in the base pastry. Wonderfully flavorful. I'd put it right up there with anything from Bombon. It sounds from the posts above that perhaps I just made a lucky selection (and also that I really need to try Chiu Quon) but based on today's experiment, I'm happy to keep sampling.

LaPattisserieP website

I stopped by today and must say I was disappointed by the old fryer grease that was the predominant flavor in the sesame balls w/bean paste. Very noticeable. Very unappetizing. Very surprised. They're usually quite good.

FrankP wrote:Strangely enough, I have never tried any of the Asian pastries. The French ones are so amazing that I don't have room for anything else. The croissants and pain au chocolat are the best I've had outside of Paris.

Kismet. My husband loves the old chocolate croissants from Peets. They are also nearby. Recently, they changed vendors, much to his dismay. I have been meaning to go back here to pick up croissants and buns for him. I was in the neighborhood the other day and could not remember what street La Patisserie P was on or the name.

Will aim to get back there before week's end.

Thanks,

The chicken curry buns from La Patisserie P are one of my favorite foods from anywhere. I have a friend who brings me a dozen every couple months when she comes back to Madison to visit her family. They freeze and reheat in the microwave pretty well, not as good as fresh, but better than nothing.

Their French sweet pastries that I have tried were also very good.

If I lived in that area of Chicago, I'd be there all the time.

Peter, the owner, used to have a Filipino chef in another place, and he was able to learn recipes for Filipino breads and pastries. La Patisserie P has arguably the best pan de sal, pan de coco (stuffed with coconut filling), and pan de monay in my mind in the city, better than any of the other Filipino bakeshops/stores. He has also a pretty serviceable, and very large, ensaimada (Filipino style sweet brioche).

A coworker of mine asked me if I knew where to get a good curry beef bun a few months ago, and I had to admit to him that I had never had one before. We went in to the Chiu Quon in Chinatown one afternoon and tried theirs... not great. I told him that since I live so close to Argyle, I'd check out all of the bakeries along the strip until I found a great one. The one at Patissierie P is so far the clear winner. When I first brought a sack of them in to work one morning, he bit in to his, smiled, and said "yup... that's what I've been looking for"

I've taken to getting them for breakfast any time I take the train to work, as it's so close to the Red Line stop. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $.90/each, they're cheap, delicious, with slightly sweet dough offsetting the rich, slightly spicy curry beef filling. Good stuff.

-Dan

It sounds like most of the reviewers have done take out. Do they have seating?

jeffs wrote:It sounds like most of the reviewers have done take out. Do they have seating?

They have a couple of small round tables . . . good for seating 2 . . . 3 might be crowded. I find that very few people eat in so I've never had trouble getting a table.

My favorite offering from La Patisserie P is their version of hopia, round pastries filled with a sweetened filling. It's of Chinese origin and very popular in the Philippines.

The hopia I've tried are baboy (pork) and monggo (mung bean). I'll ask if they make hopia filled with ube (Filipino purple yam), another common variation.

The biggest difference is the flakiness and lightness of the pastry. Most hopia I've tried have a thicker and denser shell, which I didn't quite mind before trying LPP's version. It could be a bit messy to eat, though.

I've actually found all of the Filipino offerings better than anything I've had, whether here or in the Philippines. The owner's French background really shows. The pan de coco that fusionfan mentioned is definitely worth trying.

kanin wrote:My favorite offering from La Patisserie P is their version of hopia, round pastries filled with a sweetened filling.

Is that what the pastry with the slightly sweet filling and half a preserved duck egg are called? I'm not sure I've had the other varieties, but I pick up the egg ones fairly regularly. Those things are tasty!

-dan

dansch wrote:Is that what the pastry with the slightly sweet filling and half a preserved duck egg are called?

That sounds like a mini moon cake. I don't think hopia is supposed to have duck eggs in it, although I wouldn't be surprised if some verions do.

I definitely know what moon cakes are, and these aren't those.

These have half a preserved duck egg (1000 year eggs or whatever they're called) in the middle of them, surrounded by some sort of slightly sweet paste, and then a dome of slightly flaky pastry. They're always on the upper-right shelf in the case with a bunch of other varieties. I'll grab one, post a pic, and we can perhaps identify it from there (or likely they'll be labeled in the shop). Whatever they are, they sure are tasty and worth trying.

-Dan