The French Bastards is a bakery and pastry shop chain that has been generating a lot of buzz on social media. Founded in Parigi in 2019, it now has several locations across the city. The hype is real, so we walked in with curiosity, hoping to leave happy and satisfied.
Unfortunately, tasting several of their pastries left us disappointed, starting with a pain au chocolat that had a lackluster dough. But the real letdown came with their "babka pistache", a soft, rolled brioche filled with pistachio cream.
The tasting: where is the pistachio?
The brioche dough is quite soft and decent—nothing exceptional, but solid. The problem, however, lies in everything that should give it its soul. The pistachio cream was barely hinted at, spread in a thin layer over the dough before rolling. During baking, this meager amount literally vanishes.
Upon tasting, the pistachio flavor is almost imperceptible. It is so faint that it’s difficult to even judge the quality of the cream itself: perhaps, in a more generously filled version, I could have formed a clearer opinion. There are some chopped pistachios on top, but it’s purely aesthetic: it adds neither flavor nor the crunch that could have improved the product. Essentially, there is no significant trace of pistachio.
Final thoughts
I dislike writing such harsh reviews, especially towards young and ambitious businesses, but the experience fell far too short of expectations. At €3.90, buying a product where the main ingredient is missing is a disappointment.
For the sake of completeness, the pain suisse was quite good, although I have had much better ones elsewhere.
As always, I hope to change my mind on a future visit, perhaps finding more careful attention to the fillings. For now, if you are looking for pistachio in Parigi, it is better to look elsewhere.
