BY AIDA SETIAN

Imagine shelves and shelves of baked goods and the warm aromas of sweet coffees and lattés. You might associate this tempting vision to a Parisian café. The new Parisian-inspired café called Paris Baguette has just recently made its grand opening in the West Covina mall and has seen large crowds of hungry customers. A pleasant aspect about this café is that customers can take a tray and serve themselves, allowing for a chance to sample the many different types of foods the café has to offer. The café has a wide variety of pastries and breads like their fruit and cream pastries.

They also offer gourmet sandwiches like the croissant croquet monsieur as well as a large selection of beverages that range from wheat grass lattés to persimmon smoothies. While the variation at this café is top notch, can the same be said about the quality of the food itself? To some degree, yes. The chocolate cranberry bread was my personal favorite on their menu. However, much of the pastries offered are plain and simple and similar to one another. For example, the croissants and feuilletee chocolate braid I sampled were quite identical to one another in taste and flavor.

The only difference was that the chocolate braid was shaped into a braid and was coated with sugar. The slices of exotic-looking cakes were very thin in the display case, which was disappointing because of the extremely expensive pricing. Individual slices of cakes range from $4.50 to $5.50 while whole cakes cost about $30 each. Their whole cakes are on the smaller side as well, and are about 2/3 the size of the average birthday cake. The atmosphere simulates that of a laid-back environment and offers an adequate amount of seating. Overall, the café has done a good job of reflecting the vibes of Paris with its multitude of pastries along with Paris’ small and expensive products.

Location: Westfield West Covina across from H&M

RATING: A-