Take a coffee break at Le Matin de Paris: Annandale’s Korean-French cafe

By James Moon

Looking to meet friends for a cup of coffee or buy a cake for a celebration? Then you might want to swing by Le Matin de Paris, a Korean-operated French-inspired bakery and coffee shop at 7326 Little River Turnpike. Of the many Korean-styled cafes in Annandale, which to the untrained eye aren’t Korean looking at all, this one has the best atmosphere for small casual group meetings – an excellent alternative to Starbucks or Shilla Bakery. (Shilla can at times be a crowded noisy haunt with very limited seating.)

Le Matin de Paris (which means “the morning of Paris” in French) has couches, large and small tables, ambient music, a relaxed atmosphere, and a wide selection of pastries and cakes, each labeled bilingually in English and Korean. Prices for coffee and tea aren’t cheap (starting at $3.50), but the wireless internet is free and unfettered.

Korean pastries generally are more delicately sweet than your average American sugarfest and East Asians tend to be big fans of the small red sweet bean. If you’d like to try an Asian-styled pastry, try one with this sweet bean paste filling. If beans aren’t your thing, another Korean favorite is soboro, a sweet pastry bun with a streusel-like crumbly texture on top.

Le Matin de Paris wouldn’t be a Korean cafe without patbingsu (pronounced “paht bing soo”), a dessert made from shaved ice doused with syrup or condensed milk, ice cream, and other toppings, such as sweet bean. As with so many Korean foods, a bowl of patbingsu is usually shared.