Maison Bertaux (Soho)

• Good coffee and joie de vivre with a cast of characters that could have their own sitcom
• Then Maison Bertaux is your place
• Unusual woman with a dramatic air and a caring soul
• Michelle's art dealer sister Tania holds regular exhibitions in the upstairs tea room and a Bastille day tableaux is staged in the street outside every July
• Both customers and staff have frequented the place over the years and it's very easy to get a good conversation started with whatever random bunch of types is in there at the time
• The full compliment of what is available to eat is displayed in the front window and consists of a variety of fruit tarts
• The atmosphere and the company is first class
• I stopped here for lunch and was completely blown away by the quality of the cafe
• There were beautiful cakes everywhere and the owner was really friendly
• This bakery is right next door to the soho secret tea house
• Upon entering we were greeted by the sweetest woman
• She introduced the pastries and their prices to us and we were immediately seated upstairs
• The display at Maison Bertaux is so inviting
• It's filled with fresh cream cakes
• We went with this traditional French cream cake with a choux pastry base
• It was the sort of place where you just order a slice of cake and a pot of tea with a few friends and sit there chatting for hours on end
• It was very light and is a must try
• I went to this patisserie again the other day and I'd like to add that the scones are a must try too
• They were massive and tasted delicious both on their own and paired with clotted cream and jam
• Maybe they were facing the outer side of the window but there was people sitting there so couldn't see
• The range of cakes is impressive
• The portions are also large and I didn't really need two
• The Mille Feuille crumbled everywhere as it should and the creme patisserie in the tart was silky smooth

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