Beard Papa @ Mid Valley Megamall

I finally got to sample a bit of the famous Beard Papa cream puffs at Mid Valley Megamall which opened last month. These cream puffs have been creating quite a bit of a stir all over the world as it seems there were long queues for the puffs when it first opened in the USA. No long queues in Malaysia though but business seems to be quite brisk. I guess all they need is some publicity in the papers as I don't think many people are aware of them unless they are major foodies. So far, I have only seen them advertising their arrival in Malaysia in the Japanese papers.



Beard Papa works on a franchise concept and originates from Muginoho, an Osaka based fast food restaurant chain. What makes their puffs unique are a couple of things: firstly it's the filling which is softly whipped cream custard. I managed to catch a picture of one of the workers whipping a batch of the custard behind the counter so I know it is pretty fresh. Can't really see what she added but based on their website, one major ingredient is the Madagascar vanilla beans.



They were also making the choux pastry shells so I caught some pictures of it. It looks like the pastry is made ahead and frozen. They will have trays with the pastry shaped in small rounds near the oven ready to be baked.

When they run low on the choux pastry shells, they will pop the trays into the oven. Amazing that the small little rounds will puff up to those big choux pastry shells.



These choux pastry shells are ready to be piped with cream when people turn up at their counter. The shells are unique as they consist of two layers - a choux pastry shell inside and a piecrust on the outside. The piecrust bit makes it crispy while the choux pastry has the layers for the custard to be filled in.

I had one puff which is being sold at RM3.30. You can buy them in multiples of three and five which they will give you a long yellow box to hold them with. Once you order your puff - they will use a metal contraption to poke a hole at the back of the puff to fill it with the whipped cream custard. Icing sugar is then sprinkled on top and it is wrapped in white paper for you to take away to enjoy.



Here is the inside of the puff with the whipped custard filling. See those teeny weeny black dots - that is the Madagascar vanilla beans they use. I found the filling to be nice and soft but you don't really taste the vanilla though. The shell is nice and crisp on the outside and soft inside making it really different from the other cream puffs in town. Usually the filling of the cream puffs we get are pastry cream or custard which is not as soft. The closest I can compare this cream puff with is to Sun Moulin Bakery's Jumbo Puff which comes with a crisp pastry shell and whipped cream piped within it. Unlike Beard Papa, the Jumbo Puff is prepared ahead and kept in a fridge to maintain the cream and crispness of the pastry shell. However I find that they put too much cream vs too little pastry shell hence it can be too rich for me. Beard Papa's proportion of cream filling and pastry shell is just nice and one will not find it too rich but decadent enough to ask for more.

Beard Papa
LG 007
Mid Valley Megamall
(Opposite KFC. Same floor as Jusco Supermarket and Carrefour.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Beard Papa + Cream Puff