Now… finally back to Hong Kong, and a few new places for me to check out. One of them is Lady M, which has an outlet in the IFC (and one in Harbour City in Ocean Terminal) that I have walked passed quite a few times.

I never had an occasion to sit there and eat cake by myself, but a few days ago I visited a friend in Discovery Bay and decided to bring a few slices of cake along.

Lady M is known for its signature Mille-Crepes Cake, which combines French and Japanese pastry skills. Apparently Oprah Winfrey and the first lady of home economics, Martha Stewart, rave about these creations. The brand is originally from New York City (hence these celebrity endorsements), but quite sensibly, the cakes in Hong Kong are handmade over here (and not shipped).

The showpiece creation, the Mille-Crepes Cake is made out of more than 20 paper-thin, handmade crêpes per cake, which a golden caramelised topping. There is a layer of cream between each crêpe. It requires almost 30 hours to make one crêpes cake – and only around 100 cakes are being made a day (other best-selling varieties such as banana mille feuilles, strawberry shortcake and gâteau aux marrons).

Usually there is a queue for dining-in and a queue for take-away, with a limitation on six slides per customer… when I went early on a Saturday morning, on a rainy day, I could not believe my luck that there was only one other customer queuing!

I quickly bought a slice of the signature cake plus one each of the the strawberry and matcha versions, so we could try and compare. Overall I was pleasantly surprised – the slices are not too sweet, but they are creamy, light and very flavoursome. Especially the strawberries were so fresh and juicy, they tasted like they must have been picked a few hours before. And of course, knowing my love of green tea, I love how matcha and sugar compare and contrast with each other!

Prices range from 58HKD to 75HKD per slice – so the cakes are quite expensive, but then they should also be reserved for a special occasion, don’t you think? So now I just need to find another opportunity to go to Discovery Bay and visit my friend, so I can purchase more cake …