Casamia Paris - CLOSED

Overview

No. 581 Beenleigh Road is home to only a few little shops servicing basic neighbourhood needs: a butcher, a pizza takeaway shop, a health food store, a fried chicken shop (albeit, a very good one), and a tattooist amongst them. It is not the place you would expect to find a speciality café dedicated to European style desserts, presented with imagination and flare. Nevertheless, it is here where you will find just that, in the form of Casamia Paris.

With an understated but polished interior, Casamia Paris is a real hidden treasure. The type of place you would probably never get a chance to visit if you didn’t already know it was there. Or if you haven’t just finished up a plate of chicken at Hello! Kyochon next door. It is quiet and never seems to be crowded, with only one friendly staff member holding down the fort on most days.

The display cabinet at the counter is packed with delicate looking single serve mousse cakes, prepared daily, like the chocolate pudding (cream pudding with a diverse layer of chocolate mousse and light choco crunch for the base, finished off with a thin pour of ganache). The menu lists a further collection of French and Italian favourites, including a version of tiramisu served in a cocktail glass accompanied by ice-cream and the obligatory but much appreciated toffee garnish and chocolate swirl. It’s quite bitter and not saccharinely sweet. Also on offer is the mille-feuille-like Crunchy Romance, with sheets of puff pastry sandwiching strawberries and custard alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream, capped off with a decorative tuile and some fancy sugar work.

Of the a la carte options, the crème bruelee is perhaps the best – rich and velvety with a side of vanilla ice-cream and crème anglaise in a sweet sesame cup, along with some cute swirly and spiky flourishes. It looks a little like a yin-yang. As well as the ornamental trimmings, Casamia Paris is notable for not going overboard on the sugar – everything is quite subtle; never too sweet. Also worth mentioning are the prices, surprisingly low for this standard of dessert in Brisbane – perhaps a plus of its unlikely location.