Game update: 24/07/13

After three weeks of carnival fun, we're heading on holiday to France.

Notification for French cafe update

This update revolves around French cafes, although there isn't a great deal of content to give us a strong flavour of France with our cappaccino:

Tables:

• Bistro Table - 2 gems

Chairs:

• Bistro Chair - 18,000 coins

Wall decorations:

• Colorful Clock - 31,000 coins

Floor decorations:

• Bedded Red Lillies - 9 gems
• French Cafe Bike - 25 gems (LTO)

Wallpapers:

• French Cafe - 8,000 coins

Floor tiles:

• Cafe - 1 gem

Counters:

• Glassed Counter - 50,000 coins

All of these items can be seen in an image on the TeamLava Blog:

Items from French cafe update as shown on TeamLava Blog

Other than the French Cafe Bike, these items don't feel very French to me, although not being French, I'm hardly an authority on the matter!

Speaking of the bike, it is a limited time offer only available for 5 days (starting from today, Wed).

French Cafe Bike limited time offer

I really like the bike and think it would fit nicely into an outdoor area (which is something I've got lined up) but the 25 gem price tag is just out of my reach at present after a recent gem splurge. Those who are teetering on the verge of making the purchase may be swayed by the fact that this is an exclusive item - after the 5 day window is up it won't be available again. You could be one of the few to house it!

The Bistro Table is a beautiful piece, but at 2 gems a go will attract few buyers I'd expect. And strangely it doesn't really go with the pink Bistro Chair. Both are nice on their own but clash when put together.

The Bedded Red Lillies are very smart and a good fit for my restaurant. I'm seriously tempted to purchase two of them (costing all 18 of my remaining gems) to flank each side of the end of the foyer area but will resist as I'm waiting to redeem my second Floral Bouquet in the Collectibles section - it will do the same job, if I ever get it!

Another pretty item is the Glassed Counter which has the added bonus of costing coins. Although at 50,000 coins each it's hardly a bargain. However I'm buying two to replace the Krona counters which are sitting in my new futuristic section as they blend in even better.

In addition to the new items on the market are another two new recipes:

New recipe for Basic Oven

New recipe for Basic Grill

It's good to see TeamLava release these recipes on a basic appliance again - you have to go back to May for the last time we had a new dish outside of a new goal set which required a new appliance.

The Smoked Salmon Potato is currently positioned third on the recipe list aboard the Basic Grill and comes in as a 4 hour dish. There are plenty of these on the go already, but this one ranks favourably. The 73 XP is decent as is the four-figure number of portions. It's knockout punch comes with its profit ability - the 2,860 net coins is surpassed on the basic appliances only by Smores (although considerably) while similar applies for its profit per hour ratio. This figure comes in at 715 coins profit per hour and is only bettered by short duration recipes which you are unlikely to be able to oversee throughout the day.

Now to the Escargot with Lamb. It is first on the Basic Oven's recipe list for now and is even better than the Smoked Salmon Potato. The 8 hour dishes are a competitive group, but this one is even ahead of last week's Breakfast Dog which itself came with a glowing reference. The 3,570 coins profit is slightly down on the Breakfast Dog, but the 137 XP is record-breaking! If it's XP you're after, this is the recipe for you when it comes to choosing what to cook overnight.

Remember that both these dishes will likely be transferred to the back end of their respective recipe lists when they are no longer deemed to be new to the game.

All in all, a reasonable update if not the pièce de résistance. Usually a new theme starts out with a set of goals if it's going to have a three or four week stay, so I'm predicting that this is a one week only job.