While others are improving and new names are opening, one long-established brand is getting it wrong!
Let's get straight to the point... I've been trying to fall in love with Noura again but in vain. Even without writing a review, the photos speak for themselves. In my humble opinion, it's clear that the attention to the brand has been lost, the passion has died and the pieces have no love poured into them anymore.
When you receive a very thick Mille feuille, looking dry, the lower piece broken in half, the cream dry and stale... when the eclair is harder than biscuit and the cream dull... when last week I received a cake still frozen!!!!! Yes, a cake prepared the night before, frozen and delivered as is.
As a quick comparison Cannelle's Mille feuille is excellent; with a very thin soft dough and a rich chocolate filling the Mille feuille is flaky, tasty and has a certain finesse.
Today, I was planning to do another comparison between several famous pattiseries around town but couldn't handle the shock! I'm sorry for being negative but, sincerely, I was shocked. What happened to Noura, my Noura, everyone's Noura? One of Lebanon's oldest and most famous pastry shops... they used to have the best croissants ever, the best cakes ever, using the best quality ingredients...
Today and trying several times over the last year I've had their bûche de Noel that's below average, their galette des rois that's not up to standard and now the Mille feuille and eclair...The cakes have become chewy, over sweet, unacceptable for the price paid. I'm not sure what happened to Noura: from being the best pastry shop around to deteriorating to a quality I'd associate with the commercial bakeries that have mushroomed around town.
The Buche de Noel review back in December: Noura 30/50: soft sponge, sugar sweet finish, subtly moist but not markedly so, this Bûche has a bland taste. Honestly, disappointing for a creation by "Noura".
It's time to change... before it's too late!
