Since it's one of my last days in London, I decided to finally tick a few things off my food bucket list before I leave, and Maitre Choux is one of them! Maitre Choux is a recently opened patisserie, that, as the name suggests, is dedicated solely to choux pastry, i.e – éclairs, profiteroles and chouquettes. According to Time Out, Maitre Choux is opened by Joakim Prat, who is from "Biarritz in south-west France, and has a career that sounds as much of a sugar rush as the pastries he now sells. His puddings previously graced plates at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. "
With a resume like that, it comes as no surprise that the pastries here are a LEETLE bit on the pricey side- about £5 for an eclair and £3 for a little chouquette. I chose not to eat at the patisserie because there were no seats left, so I can't comment on the atmosphere or decor there and any thoughts here will be based solely on the pastries themselves. 
First of all, love the packaging. Colourful, fun and sleek at the same time.
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| From top to bottom: Multi-origin chocolate, Tahitian Vanilla with pecans, Strawberry and Raspberry, and lastly Violet and Wildberries |
I was pretty disappointed that the little signs weren't edible.
First of all, let's talk about the pros. There are just SO MANY FLAVOURS! You walk into the store and you're just overwhelmed by the choices; besides the ones that I got there were also flavours such as pistachio, lemon cream, tiramisu and a seasonal special of fresh berries. You won't just find boring old chocolate and coffee eclairs here. All the eclairs are meticulously designed to delight your visual senses and are just SO PRETTY. Inner bimbo moment here, but really, these eclairs are the pastry equivalent of a Celine bag for the rich and stylish with waspish waists.
Cons: THESE ECLAIRS ARE FUCKING TINY. Like, half the size of a regular eclair almost, for twice the price. Like, ok, it looks kind of cute and all but are you kidding me? You could eat four of these at one go and it would barely have an effect on your waist line. That being said, nobody's asking you to eat these for breakfast everyday. For an occasional, indulgent treat, I think it's okay to splurge a little.
Taste wise, they're all pretty good. I normally love chocolate, but that was surprisingly the one I was least impressed with. It just tasted really ordinary, nothing special about it at all. My top picks from the ones I've tried would be the Violet and berries flavour, and the Tahitian vanilla. The vanilla because it was far from the same ol' same ol' vanilla flavour we're all used to. It has a much stronger flavour than ordinary vanilla, but at the same time doesn't overwhelm. Take that and sprinkle the nutty goodness of the crunchy pecans on top and you've got a winner. The violet one, just because I've never really tasted anything like it before. There's just the hint of zestiness in it, with the delicate sweetness of blueberries and something else I can't quite put my finger on (the violet maybe?).
Overall, I'd give these eclairs 4.5/5. Love the concept, love the selection, presentation is flawless and taste wise, it lived up to my expectations. Minus 0.5 because of the hefty price tag, but I suppose you do get what you pay for.
So that's it! Time to think of what to have for dinner now. #glutton4lyf
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