Tokyo Sweets Tour I

During my trip to Japan in January 2005, I visited many patisseries, some are branches of French establishments and some are shops of famous Japanese patissiers. The popularity of French-style pastry could be easily felt the minute I arrived in Japan. For most travellers new to Japan, the sight of the pastry section in any large department store's food hall is enough to tempt even the most diligent dieter. However, those who seek a more in-depth experience with the Japanese pastry scene will be deeply rewarded with a little research and preparation.

To begin my own Tokyo Sweets Tour, my first stop was the travel and cookbook section of Books Kinokuniya in Shinjuku. Although I'm not literate in the language (I can only guess the meaning from the kanji), most of the locally published travel guides are full of gorgeous photos and up-to-date recommendations on the hottest patisseries in town. I picked up an excellent directory named Tokyo Sweets (published by Shobunsha ISBN4-398-25102-2) which listed patisseries and chocolatiers in Tokyo by neighbourhood. Each listing is complete with maps, public transport directions, store hours, phone numbers, website, and mouthwatering photographs of store specialties. I also picked up a pastry magazine Sweet on Sweets! (published by Kadokawa) which contained many interviews with famous Japanese patissiers. The following are some of my notes on places that I've been to in the duration of this trip although it is by no means a complete account of my Japan pastry experience. I've purposefully left out the wagashi (Japanese sweets) stores and patisseries outside of Tokyo for another blog entry.

Lenotre

Located inside the Seibu department store in Ikebukuro, the Lenotre boutique offered some uniquely Japanese pastries not seen in their Paris locations. On the left is a "thé marron" and on the right is a chocolate mousse cake. The thé marron is a parfait of matcha mousse, chestnut cream, and marron glace.The slight bitterness of the matcha cut the sweetness of the chestnut in a very pleasing manner.

Namco Namja Town

Among the many things that I like about Japan, the themed food amusement park certainly ranks high on my list. These indoor amusement parks are usually based on one particular food (for example, ramen in the Yokohama Ramen Museum or pastry in Tokyo's Jiyugaoka Sweet Forest, Kobe Sweets Harbour) and invites representatives from all over the country to set up shop under one roof. The Namco Namja Town is a mecca for gyoza but it also contains areas for rotating themes such as ice-cream and choux. In Patisserie Atelier de Reve, their signature item is a banana caramel eclair.  The choux was very crispy with a filling of luscious pastry cream, sliced bananas, toasted almonds, and shards of caramel lattice. One of the fun feature was that customers were encouraged to vote for their favourites. The ranking of the popularity poll were posted front and centre of each store. Talk about pressure!

Pierre Herme @ Hotel New Otani

When I was in Tokyo, I had yet to acquire my copy of Patisserie of Pierre Herme book. Hoping that the PH boutique in Tokyo would carry a full selection of chef's cookbooks, I went to the Hotel New Otani in Akasaka. The boutique was must smaller than I expected and it had merely three display pedestals for pastries. I ordered the 2000 feuille and plasir sucre and enjoyed my afternoon tea in the adjacent Cafe Satsuki. The decor of the cafe was very 80's but I was not there for the decor anyway. The 2000 feuille was very flaky as expected but I particularly enjoyed the caramel taste. The plasir sucre was also very delicious. Too bad I did not try these two items when I was last in Paris otherwise I could offer a direct comparison.

Musee du Chocolat Theobroma

Recently there had been lots of buzz about chef Koji Tsuchiya's chocolate boutique Musee du Chocolat Theobroma. He was prominently featured in an interview in the Tokyo Sweets guide book. When I arrived at the boutique in Yoyogi Koen, there were a couple of guys doing magazine shoots of a strawberry cake inside the cafe. It was chilly outside so I really craved a nice cup of chocolat chaud amer. I also ordered a slice of their signature dark chocolate mousse cake to go with the hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was very smooth and intensely rich. It came in a silver pot which I poured into my own demitasse. In fact, I thought it tasted better than the chocolat chaud I had in Laduree! Unfortunately, I can't really praise their chocolate mousse cake. It was served way too cold so not only was the mousse too hard, the flavour was also very muted as well. I was rather disappointed.

(to be continue...)

Technorati: pastry walking tour, Tokyo