3.5 stars
After spending a month in France earlier this year I've been having some major pastry cravings, so I was excited to try The Tempered Room.
I loved the ambiance of the place, with the exposed brick, communal table and overall cozy feel.
Staff was very friendly and helpful. We ordered a couple of cappuccinos and a croque monsieur to enjoy there and a couple of pastries to go (which we ate a few hours later after dinner). We got the chocolate passion eclair and a pear tart. Also half a dozen chouquettes. All of the above ran us close to $30.
Coffee was good, the sandwich was okay. The eclair was a bit of a let-down. As another reviewer noted the choux pastry was a bit hard/dry, the flavours unmemorable and the dried passionfruit on top was much chewier than I was expecting.
The pear cream tart on the other hand was divine. The crust was the perfect texture, as was the filling. The poached pears on top were just right. The chouquettes were also very good, a little smaller than the ones I got in France but nice and tender (which makes me even more surprised about the eclair).
I'll have to go back to try the croissants - they looked amazing.