Paris Baguette: A Tempting Journey to the Register

If you think that you’ve had your fair taste of the Asian bakery world, think again.

Paris Baguette is a bakery that was originally founded in 1988 in Korea, where it has more than three thousand retail stores. It opened its first bakery in the U.S. in 2005 and has nearly 60 locations here now, including one in the Zion Market in Lewisville and another in the Korean Mall (Shops at Old Denton) in Carrollton.
Paris Baguette may have one of the biggest selections of Asian bakery items in Dallas’ food scene. With aisles stocked with flavors ranging from lavender-matcha to red bean custard, the small bakery offers something new for even the most seasoned sweet-toothed foodies.

Stacks of cafeteria-style trays await by the door, inviting customers to pile them high with however much sugar they see fit. But hold your excitement; grabbing a tray is by far the easiest part. The true challenge is the walk to the cash register.

Self-serve display cases form a pathway of sorts, leading the visitor past croissants, doughnuts, pastries and more. The walk itself isn’t too treacherous; it’s choosing what you want along the way that may break you. Selections start out fairly simple, as you walk past rows of Japanese cheesecake, a fluffier alternative to the American dessert. Lightly sweet, the Asian version resembles a sponge cake of sorts, with a hint of cheesy tartness baked into the core.

As you keep walking, options begin to diversify.
Next are shelves of the bakery’s savory selections. Definitely pick up a curried potato or crab meat croquette, a hollow dumpling filled with Asian flavors. Rolled in breadcrumbs and deep-fried, the croquettes offer a satisfying crunch on the exterior, balanced by soft fillings inside.

Next up are the sweet shelves, which start out with a wide selection of cream-filled croissants stuffed with your choice of dark chocolate, almond, matcha or coconut cream. Baked to a perfectly caramelized color, each croissant has a crispy exterior layer and a custard-like cream inside. It’s unlikely that you’ll regret adding one (or two) to your tray.
Opposite the croissants sits a tempting array of doughnuts, filled with creams such as vanilla bean, tiramisu and creme brulee.

Sprinkled throughout Paris Baguette’s aisles are other miscellaneous pastries, filled with cream cheese or sweet egg custard. Don’t miss out on the red bean and choux cream pastry, a rolled-up pastry made of flaky filo dough. The dessert is injected with a layer of choux cream — a butter-flavored cream — and red bean paste.

Right before the register is a final shelf stocked with refrigerated cakes, available by the slice or whole. Get the mango coconut cake, a spongy coconut cake stacked with layers of sweet buttercream and slices of mango. For those more adventurous, the green tea cake is made of a matcha-flavored sponge cake, stuffed with vanilla buttercream and fresh strawberries.

Paris Baguette, 2625 Old Denton Road, Suite 106 (Carrollton), 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. Sunday - Thursday; 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday