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Mihar Dias (C) Copyright February 2023
On a rainy Saturday afternoon, there's nothing more exciting than to savour some hot home-brewed chocolate drink and try out French delicacies at a new 6,600 square feet Flagship outlet of Delifrance at Publika, Solaris Damansara.
Mention Delifrance to anyone who grew up during the 90s he would instantly remember a sandwich counter in malls that look a little like an ordinary Subway outlets that is now found in most cities in Malaysia.
Except for this Delifrance at Solaris is not like the old quick service counter selling just sandwiches with fillings pre-prepared at a central kitchen, French-style baguettes and wholesome breads.
It's a large restaurant that costs a few millions to build with rental that runs to more than RM30k a month and requiring about 30 people to man the place.
Mimi Azura, the Founder who fought hard to bring back a brand that was deregistered and left Malaysia 20 years ago is proud of her efforts committing millions for the franchise rights to open 60 more outlets in the next 20 years.
Anyway, the food is just great. They are freshly made on-site by trained chefs who are graduates from culinary schools passionate about baking and bakery, mostly of the French variety. The taste is superb. "Authentic" vouched Chef Jo Edrus the Chief Juror of MASTERCHEF Malaysia for 5 seasons.
We tried a flat pizza with a variety of mushrooms that is easily the best I tasted in years. Mimi did not want to share the name of the variety of cheeses that she used for the Pizza except for the fact that it is directly imported from France as stipulated in the franchise agreement.
You have to try her pizza and I'll bet you, you will never go back to the other franchised pizza outlets in town again.
Chef Jo and I shared a salmon quichè which we found really extraordinary because it's indeed French in taste. It's moist and soft encased in a crusty bread crust. We enjoyed it very much but it didn't quite go with hot chocolate. Instead, a hot lemon drink was a better substitute.
Next, Mimi offered us macaroons a type of light French biscuits or cookies made of egg whites, sugar, and ground almonds or coconut. The ones we had were multicolored with almond fillings.
It was not too sweet but sweet enough for someone like me who seldom have ice cream and avoid birthday cakes at every opportunity. I had to give the macaroons a bite because they looked so inviting.
The almond fillings were just perfect and the eggwhite cookies were soft and gentle with every bite.
But besides all these, she has a whole range of sandwiches too for you to try. They're definitely better than Subway's or O'Brien's or any other sandwich chains have to offer in the market.
Her best selling sandwich Mimi told us is melted tuna cheese in large croissants. On my next visit I'll have to give that a try.
She has a small selection of local favourites like nasi lemak and ayam pedas for those who do not enjoy French cuisine. But she will try to keep these to a bare minimum she says to avoid adulteing the brand image.
The nasi lemak and asam pedas look deliciius. I have no doubt of its taste considering that her background is in fact in Malay cuisine back in early 2000.
We left Mimi in awe of her entrepreneurship and enthusiasm wishing her every success hoping that it'll prove to be a successful reentry of Delifrance as a brand back into the Malaysian market.
Delifrance is located at:
Block C, Level C3, Publika Solaris, Jalan Solaris.
Check out their Instagram site: @delifrance
Tel. 6O3 64197673
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