Paris Baguette — Restaurant in Honolulu

A co-worker and I we finally able to go to Paris Baguette (PB) to purchase some pastries for breakfast. Hah, no line outside the store, just lots of patrons inside. As it was our first visit, it was somewhat difficult to figure out what you wanted. So many items to choose from … It will require follow-up visits because I was told I missed items I was looking for.

I picked up three items … An egg salad sandwich ($7.59), a chocolate croissant (it didn’t look like one but that’s what was on the display card, and I failed to record the price) and a ham / cheese pastry ($4.89). Almost $18 for three items! Sheesh! I saved the two pastries for another day and ate the egg salad sandwich. I’d been told that egg salad sandwiches from Japan are the best and what you could get at convenience stores in Japan are superior to what one could get in Hawaii. Uh, I didn’t find that to be the case during my trip last October. The sandwich at the “lucky store” up the street was better than what I found in Japan. Whoa, the PB sandwich is heavy and overflowing with egg salad. The plus: There is a lot of egg, probably two or three eggs in my sandwich. The minuses: Not enough mayonnaise and too much cucumber. Many people like to use as little mayo as possible … Not me. The bread, although nice and soft, was bare of any mayo (or butter). As such, it lacked enough flavor for me. I would have preferred lettuce to the cucumber slices.

The ham/cheese pastry was flaky and buttery but too subtle for me. I thought they forgot the ham … I could see it in the bottom of the pastry, but it was thin like prosciutto. I think it would make a great sandwich if one added some type of filling.

The saving grace for my experience was the chocolate croissant. I think it was mislabeled or someone placed this in the wrong place. It was like a round of flaky pastry with chocolate inside and topped with more chocolate frosting. WOW! I loved this but couldn’t find it in any of the pictures on Yelp. I would return just for this pastry.

My co-worker loved the cream filled almond croissant and he picked up a bag of mini croissants. Those need some type of jam or preserves. Thus, it’s a mixed bag review from me. I didn’t care for the egg salad sandwich but loved the chocolate whatever it is.

I heard they’re moving to Fort Street Mall. That will make it a little closer to our office. I think their cakes look amazing … that might be my...

Cute bakery with interesting options on par with other bakeries on island, but they REALLY need to improve their sanitization/sales flow.

I went yesterday after waiting in line for 30ish minutes at noon, and was surprised to see that there weren't any tongs put out (one previous review mentioned a request for it already), and that there were only gloves/tissues to use for grabbing pastries to put onto trays. Unfortunately, this is not as sanitary as you'd hope--one lady behind me was barehanded grabbing pasties, and she licked her fingers after grabbing a donut, then closed the sliding glass door, which is the same sliding glass door everyone else touches before grabbing their pastries.

Another lady in front of me would go between using her phone and grabbing pastries the entire time with her gloved hand while in line which defeats the purpose of wearing a glove in the first place.

I also noticed that while in line, there was a large rack of uncovered pastries sitting out and people's hair/bodies would be directly in front/against the rack at times...I might just be a hypersensitive germophobe, but these little things gave me the ick and as I result I only felt comfortable purchasing freshly placed pastries/pre-packaged items.

As for the prices/quality, the mini garlic croissants were great, and I got a free custard strawberry pastry because I downloaded the app before going which were both pretty good. I also got what I thought was a mini castella cake (based on the signage) but then the cashier did not know what it was and asked her supervisor. It ended up being a $9 cheesecake (I wanted to say something about the signage but felt too awkward with the long line and just paid). Flavor wise, it was light and moist but too eggy (yolk flavor) for my own liking.

Personally, I wouldn't say this is a particularly "must go to" sort of bakery, and it's mostly because of the way it's being run right now. Hopefully with the reviews being posted, they'll implement tongs and be more mindful of where they put...

Know what it is and you'll probably like it - so that is why I gave it a 4 star. I think if you want a coffee (which I didn't have) and pastrie you'll probably be happy, but for lunch or baked goods I wouldn't recommend. The cakes also looked great but were pretty pricey.

I came here for lunch with a friend who was vegetarian. Per the website it seemed like there would be lunch options and since it was downtown would be a good quick lunch.

I was really looking forward to a baguette sandwhich, pastrie, and to take home a great baguette (which are hard to find).

Overall, I definitely expected more bakery items and more options for lunch - there was essentially nothing for my vegetarian so she literally had a donut pastrie (which was great) for lunch. I think they have a Caprese sandwhich but there wasn't any available.

Also, the baguettes were unfortunately not any better than foodland or other grocery stores.

Atomsphere modern & clean. Somewhat confusing and very tight with only 5 people inside you are bumping into people. It's really hard to see what options you have before making a decision. I would be curious how many people pick things up and put them back. I guess it's good for sales as you pick things up and then see something else on the other side of the stand you would've preferred and end up with both. Service, it's a new place, so I think people are getting used to the flow and menu. There were a lot of people working but difficult to ask a question or know when/who to talk to. The one person we talked to about vegetarian sandwhiches or options was rude and definitely dismissive without even answering the question. I hope them the best as I know they are opening up additional locations and I would love a place to go to like this.

If/When I go back, hopefully I'll be...