During my brief trip to Jakarta, I was mostly disappointed at the places I ate at. The one shining star I came across was Francis Bakery. They are a Japanes-French based bakery using Asian ingredients.

Francis Bakery also does regular bakery goods such as bread and bagels in addition to their “specialty breads”.

The Kyoto Choco Mochi bread, has a nice crunchy crust, and a soft chewy exterior. The chocolate chips add a nice punch of sweetness. This bread reminds me of a sweet version of “Pao de Queijo”, or Brazilian cheese bread.

The Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Bread may not be a thing of beauty, but the dark chocolate is offset by the zing of cream cheese. The amount of cream cheese is also very generous.

The Kohi Mocca Bread combines coffee and chocolate. The only problem with this bread is that both flavors were rather subdued. The walnuts added a little bit of bitterness and textural contrast. The bread was also a little dry. Definitely not the favorite.

The Choco Durian Bread has a strong, pungent scent and is dotted with chocolate chips. To me, the bread had a very strong durian flavor, but perhaps it stood out more since I am not a fan of durian. My wife said that she hardly tasted the durian, and it was on the “crunchier” side, meaning younger durian that doesn’t exude as much flavor as more mature durian.

Surprisingly, the star of Francis Bakery isn’t found on any of the shelves. The Choco Bun are placed into little bags containing 5 pieces of bread that were located right on the front counter, and kind of off to the side. If you didn’t know, you would likely pass them up without blinking an eye, and that would be a shame. The bread is reminiscent of a fudgy brownie in bread form, but there is a molten center of chocolate that oozes all over the place when you bite into the center. At 30 cents a piece, or $1.50 for the bag of 5 this is a must buy. Hoard as many of these as you can, and stuff them in your suitcase to bring back home if only visiting Jakarta.

I would definitely try more of their vast selection of offerings when returning to Jakarta, but I would be sure to bring an extra suitcase for the Choco Bun.