The place
On a leafy stretch of Wulumuqi Nan Lu, Monceau is a hip cafe and flower shop that caters to a local crowd of well-heeled millennials.
Named after the Parc Monceau in Paris' 8th arrondissement, Monceau the cafe is a nod to the floral things in life, and is decked out from floor-to-ceiling (quite literally) with plants, shrubs and flowers.
Out front is a semi-al fresco terrace:
Behind that is the flower shop:
And behind that is the main dining room, which is serviced seemingly exclusively by a troupe of handsome young male waiters.
Even the bathrooms here wouldn't be amiss in the Palace of Versailles.
The food
Monceau serves lunch, coffee, teas, desserts and afternoon tea from RMB118. We tried some of their desserts, and they were pretty weird.
Chocolate mousse with black currant sauce and chocolate 'soil' (RMB50). Kinda tasty, but why was it frozen?
'Pot de creme fleur' (also RMB50), with a bright green cake that tasted uncannily like mojito mix. Highly trippy.
Food verdict: 1.5/3
The vibe
A place to see and be seen, Monceau is already popular with groups of young trendy locals, whose primary activities seem to be taking pouty selfies next to the flower wall and posting pictures of cake to their WeChat moments.
Still, the vibe here is still pretty relaxed for reading, working or studying, and the service is friendly and English-speaking.
Vibe verdict: 1/1
Value for money
The food menu is oddly expensive for a casual cafe/flower shop (think moules marinières for RMB198), but desserts and beverages are reasonably priced from RMB38, and cocktails from RMB68. Including this rather good pot of rose tea (RMB50)
We could definitely imagine stopping by Monceau for a coffee break if we were in the area, but probably not for lunch.
Value for money: 0.5/1
TOTAL VERDICT: 3/5
Price: RMB50+ per person
Who's going: hip young locals
Good for: coffee, tea, dessert, cake, flowers
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