Tokyo Sweets Tour II

See here for the first installment of my Tokyo Sweets Tour.

à tes souhaits!

#3-8-8 Higashicho Kichijoji Musashinoshi Tokyo

0422-29-0888

open 10:00-19:30 / close Monday

One of the greatest finds in my Tokyo Sweets Tour is chef Hideki Kawamura's à tes souhaits! located in Kichijoji. This neighbourhood is definitely off the beaten track for most travellers as it is a mainly residential area near the Tokyo Joshi University. However, I highly recommend pastry aficionados to make the trek. I had the Orangerie and Mont Blanc at the cafe and I got the Acidulé (upper left) and Aurora (upper right) for takeout. The Orangerie had a subtle but refreshing orange flavour with the tartness of citrus cutting the richness of the mousse. The Mont Blanc did not have the traditional appearence of marron vermicelli. Rather, it resembled an inverted cone offering a perfect balance of creme de marron, marron puree, creme chantilly, and dacquoise. The Acidulé was a combination of lime mousse, passionfruit gelee, raspberry gelee, and genoise. Like the Orangerie, the layering of tartness from different fruits made for a complex flavour profile that was unexpected and pleasing. The Aurora was a chocolate genoise with caramel and hazelnut mousse and a chocolate glaze. Not only were the pastries picture-perfect, this patisserie was one of the few in Tokyo who made big impressions from their bold flavours. It was interesting to note that magazine photographers were busy doing photoshoots in the kitchen at the time of my visit.

Le Coeur Pur

#5-16-20 Ogikubo Suginami-ku Tokyo

03-5335-5351

Mon-Fri 07:30-21:00 / Weekend Holiday 09:00-20:00

Another hidden gem off the beaten path was chef Yoshi Suzuki's Le Coeur Pur. This is a tiny patisserie bistro located next to the Ogikubo JR station. By the time I arrived, I was tired after a whole day of walking and the warm glow of this charming bistro drew me right in. At the front of the store was a long display case of various pastries and the back was seating for the bistro. Le Coeur Pur only served a set menu in the evening. When I was there, it was a ¥980 three course dinner with coffee. Just to be a little off-topic, the first course was a creamy pumpkin soup served with choux, salad, and pate on toast; the main course was chicken gobo (burdock) risotto which was a delicious marriage of Japanese ingredients with a western dish; the dessert was a blueberry mousse cake of pate sable, very delicate mousse, genoise soaked with syrup, and a tangy glaze; the coffee was served with a piece of amaretti. This was the best value meal I had during my three-week stay in Japan. Everything was made with such high quality and the genuine love of food really shone. Before I left, I bought a white chocolate mousse dome (lower right) for takeout. I chatted a bit with the lady at the counter and she sent me home with a bag of their tasty amaretti. What a great find!

Patisserie Paris S'éveille

Tateyama bldg 1F 2-14-5 Jiyugaoka Meguro-ku Tokyo

03-5731-3230

If you are short on time and you would like to visit a few prominent Tokyo patisseries, Jiyugaoka is the neighbourhood to go. Not only is it the home of Jiyugaoka Sweets Forest, there are a number of nice patisseries as well. At Paris S'éveille, you would find a modern yet casual café offering classic french pastries. I had a piece of caramel gateau St Honoré which was so proper (for lack of a better word). Four crispy choux adhered to a flaky puff pastry base with crunchy caramel of just the right hint of bitterness. The caramel pastry cream was accented with roasted hazelnuts. It was everything a gateau St Honoré was suppose to be. I also tried their tea and lemon flavour caramel. There were bursting with flavour as well.

Mont St. Clair

2-22-4 Jiyugaoka Meguro-ku Tokyo

03-3718-5200

http://www.ms-clair.co.jp

As the flagship store of Chef Tsujiguchi, Mont St. Clair is a very chic boutique located in a fashionable residential neighbourhood. This patisserie was often mentioned as one of the top patisseries in Tokyo and Chef Tsujiguchi may even be considered as a celebrity in the Tokyo pastry scene. The store was packed bustling with customers trying to select their gateau of choice and the glass-enclosed chocolate room stood at one side of the store in all its dark majestic glory. Customers may choose their chocolate from a menu and the store clerk would carefully package them or serve them on a plate from the chocolate room with all the expected pomp and circumstances. I had a white chocolate mousse cake with pistachio genoise and raspberry gelee and also a caramel banana tart. The white chocolate mousse cake's flavour was not pronounced although the mousse was light and airy. The caramel banana tart's pate sucree crust was way too tough and it tasted too cloying. I was a little disappointed after setting my expectation so high. Chef Tsujiguchi's other boutiques include Rollya (for all things jelly roll), Le Chocolat De H, and a wagashi store in Tamagawa's Takshimaya.

Le Soufflé at Jiyugaoka Sweets Forest

As the name suggests, this salon du thé specializes in soufflés. Each soufflé is made to order and you would often find customers lining up outside the store. Unlike the main boutique, this branch only served a limited number of flavours (choice of 6) instead of 30. I had the vanilla soufflé with raspberry sauce. The soufflé arrived nice and tall and it was a joy to pour the raspberry sauce into the fluffy centre. As much fun as it was, the flavour was not particularly memorable.

Cuoca Baking Supplies

On the ground level of the Jiyugaoka Sweets Forest building was a specialty store offering baking supplies. Cuoca was filled to the bream with baking ingredients, cookbooks, and equipments it was difficult to walk out without purchasing anything. It was fun to browse the shop even just to check out all the selections.

Technorati: pastry walking tour, Tokyo

Comments

[milton]

Hello Candy,
I've been reading your blog now for acouple of years and I just wanted to let you know what a great job you've done. The tour on Tokyo was great! It brought back fond memories of an equally enjoyable trip I had there 3 years ago. I have my own list that has several other great patisserie/boulangeries in Tokyo.Let me know if you plan on going back. I'll be going on another pastry hunt in Tokyo in August. until then I can only dream of all the yummy things to come. Keep up the great work!!