I DIPPED my croissant in my coffee, egged on by French chef Bertrand Langlet at The Bakery in Ampang Jaya.  It’s what the French do, he said. I liked it!  After all it’s what we do with a yu tiao, the Chinese “croissant”.

The Bakery is in a leafy neighbourhood in this part of Selangor, and has been around since 2002. Danielle Pagnoux, its owner, has been in Malaysia that long. She introduced us to the “best croissant” in town, made with real butter, she said. Indeed it lived up to her claim – it was flaky, with crispy layers and buttery.

As it opens for breakfast at 8am, we shared a junior breakfast of two eggs, chicken sausage, sautéed mushrooms, baked tomato, toast, orange juice and regular coffee or tea.  The big breakfast would include two more sausages on the plate.

I had my eye on some quiches – the ratatouille and spinach – and a chicken lasagne. The ratatouille quiche was filled deliciously with eggplant, zucchini, red capsicum and onions and browned over with cheese. I also liked the spinach quiche filled to the brim with vegetables and mushrooms.

We liked the chicken lasagne, too, which was not too rich nor cheesy. It’s one of the meals you can take away The Bakery, together with the quiches, chicken and beef pies, tuna and chicken tartines. We also had a serving of chicken liver pate with slices of baguette, which was a meal in itself.

The baskets are filled with loaves of freshly baked bread – at least 10 varieties of them – on any given day. These include multigrain, rye, sourdough, wholemeal walnut, oats and seeds, garlic and herbs, buttermilk and brioche.

Desserts beckoned: the choux pastry with chantilly cream, crème caramel in a bottle and lemon meringue. The choux pastry was excellent – it’s so light. I sank my teeth into the thin crust, touching the generous filling of smooth, frothy cream touched with vanilla.  

The crème caramel would have been better out of a bottle; then you would have just the right amount of caramel with the rich, silky custard.

The lemon meringue was expectedly tart and sweet, with a cake-like base filled with lemon custard and swirled with meringue.  I wasn’t satisfied till I had that mini raisin snail I had spotted on the shelf. It was lovely.

For lunch, The Bakery serves macaroni and cheese with beef, lasagne, spaghetti bolognaise, soups and salads. It has specials for the day, such as hachis pamentier, a French version of shepherd’s pie, and crepes.

It’s reasonable pricing at The Bakery: a croissant is RM5.20, junior breakfast RM24.40, quiches and pies are RM9.50 each,  choux chantilly RM9, sourdough loaf RM13.60, chicken lasagne RM16.80.

The Bakery is at 2, Lorong Chong Khoon Lin 5, Ampang,  Selangor, tel: 03 4260 1606. It’s open from 8am to 6.30pm and is closed on Monday.

* Eu Hooi Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects of it, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published  a cookbook ‘Fresh Ingredients’ and also writes for her website, hooikhawandsu.com.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.