TOKYO'S BEST PATISSERIE - THAT I VISITED

Must admit, some of the desserts I found in Tokyo were yet the best I’ve tried in my life. I am a dessert person, and I enjoyed the long walks and train rides around Tokyo because I know I carried my fat body, including the expectations, curiosity and excitement in the heart. I WAS MENTALLY PREPARED FOR ALL THE SWEETS! In a nutshell, pastries in Tokyo were crafted beautifully, and in a way tasted - don't know if it's the proper word - premium (probably the ingredients), less sweet (since they’re VERY health conscious), but one thing for sure: PRETTY! Unfortunately, not every patisserie allow photo-taking (but suck on that bitch I am getting mine!). Pretty sure it’s not because they raise a spiritual “pet”, but it’s just the Japanese culture to appreciate the food more without the picture taking, some outlets even have the regulations for the customers to finish the pastries right on the spot! In a way, it’s crazy and nonsense, but I found it more as awesome! Okay, gonna stop yakking now and will let you guys enjoy the list.

I’ll make sure you drool! List is in alphabetical order.

Echire

2-6-1, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

03 - 6269 - 9840

Opening hours: 10 AM - 8 PM

WEBSITE

Echire’s popularity & reputation as one of the most established butter producers needs no more recognition, but for those who don’t know, they also produce incredible butter croissants, butter mille feuille & butter ice creams. The awesome thing about their creations is the fact that the creamy butter flavor doesn’t overpower the palate with milky flavor, they’re more caramel-like flavor.

Henri Charpentier

3-6-17, Kyobashi 1F, Chuo-ku, Tokyo - Yonei Building
03 – 3562 - 2721

Opening hours: 10 AM - 9 PM (salon opens at 11 AM)

WEBSITE

Henri Charpentier is highly known for their premium desserts with high end presentation (which then came with high end pricing), but for those of you who appreciate the art of expert dessert & plating, this is one patisserie that you shouldn’t skip. I personally love their Ginza outlet, it looks like a royal tea saloon with class & elegance.

Hidemi Sugino
〒104-0031 Tokyo, Chuo 京橋３−６−１７ 京橋大栄ビル １Ｆ
+81 3353 86780
Opening hours: 11 AM - 7 PM (CLOSED ON MONDAYS)
FACEBOOK

Hidemi Sugino is one of the most popular as well as the finest patisserie in Tokyo as claimed by a lot of people. The small patisserie’s located somewhere in the alley of Ginza, I honestly didn’t expect Hidemi Sugino to be that isolated and small, but it’s still accessible by Google maps. It opens at 11 AM but the queue started to get very long at least 30 minutes before the opening hour so you really gotta come early, not to mention their cakes could easily sold out one hour from the opening hour. I know right, insane.

Hidemi Sugino is one of the patisseries that won’t allow photo taking being done inside their store, but you know me *evil smile*. I highly recommend their Ambroise (760 yen), ultra smooth pretty chocolate mousse cake (glacage au chocolat) wrapping the four layer cake: biscuit joconde au chocolat (base), mousse au chocolat noir, framboise pepins, biscuit au pistaches & mousse ala pistache, in a way, the multiple character and quality of petit gateau. Beautiful balance of flavor, texture and basically everything, and also their Bresilienne (650 yen) if you love the beautiful blend of coffee and caramel in a cake.

Laduree
銀座4丁目-6-16, 銀座三越 2F, 銀座三越 Chuo, Tokyo 104-8212, Jepang
+81 3-3563-2120
Opening hours: 11 AM - 8 PM
WEBSITE

Worldwide famous French patisserie, Laduree, also expand its existence by opening its flagship store in Ginza Mitsukoshi in Tokyo. I love their particular outlet in Ginza, especially when you’re lucky enough to get the window seating as you can see people crossing the road it’s like the mini version of Shibuya crossing. The outlet was also designed beautifully, parisian like with their signature pastel color and good access to the daylight. If you think their macarons are mainstream enough, I highly recommend their Fraise Laduree (1123 yen), the strawberry shaped cake with strawberry cream mousse, coconut flavored dacquise biscuit and some other glorious ingredients! Stay tuned as I’ll write the full review soon.

Sadaharu Aoki

WEBSITE

Sadaharu Aoki is another established Japanese pastry chef and already a household name in his origin country. Starting his career in France, the pastries are very influenced by the French pastries like croissants, macarons, and all that infused with the Japanese flavors. They also don’t allow photography taken inside the outlet, but as long as you take away, you’re fine. They are highly famous for their green tea croissant, assorted macarons (they have the genmatcha, yuzu and sesame flavor that you have to try), strawberry cakes & eclairs. The filling of the eclair was just fantastic, it's probably one of the yummiest I've had too! In Japan, they currently have four outlets (island and official flagship) located in Shibuya-Hikarie ShinQs, Shinjuku Isetan, Tokyo Midtown, and Maronouchi!

Pierre Herme

WEBSITE

When it comes to macarons, one of the most frequently asked questions is: are you team Laduree or team Pierre Herme? Well for me, I think I am stuck in between. I really like the texture of Laduree macarons, but as for the filling, Pierre Herme won me over, but really, both are awesome. One of the best pastries I’ve had on the Japan trip was Pierre Herme’s 2000 layers Mille Feuille. It was hands down, perfection! Crispy flaky pastry layered with rich creamy hazelnut custard filling, it’s a total must try! As they have several outlets in Tokyo, you should check their website for the complete address, but I went to the one in Shibuya Hikarie ShinQs.

Viron

33-8 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
03 - 5458 - 1770

Opening hours: 9 AM - 10:30 PM

Boulangerie Patisserie Viron, or simply known as Viron is a beautiful patisserie & brasserie located in Shibuya. While you can enjoy their beautiful breads & cakes on the first level, the second level is functioned as brasserie.

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EATANDTREATS JAPAN: L'OCCITANE CAFE - SHIBUYA, TOKYO

On my recent Japan trip, I travelled with a friend who’s SO GOOD at organizing and researching and I want to thank him for the smooth awesome trip! We could visit up to 8 cafes in a day (and all that included the confusing moment in train station and looooong walk!).

One of the places that I would die to visit was that particular Starbucks in Shibuya which offered the best front-facing view of the famous Shibuya crossing, but it was packed almost EVERY SINGLE TIME that I lost hope, but luckily, another cafe that we planned to visit was the L’Occitane cafe, well, frankly it was me who got a little more excited as I really wanted to experience how L’Occitane, that famous beauty brand was doing as a cafe.

Getting here was actually pretty easy, as I mentioned on my previous Japan post, once you have a running internet connection, you can consider yourself “safe”, if you take the trip by train, stop at Shibuya station and look out for “Shibuya 109” or “Tsutaya” as the cafe was located around the area and almost impossible not to notice as it's probably the only building with major yellow color.

Truth be told, I was a little skeptical about the cafe, as I initially thought the cafe would serve only cute but mediocre food, but I gotta tell you this: I WAS SUPER WRONG I should be in jail for being skeptical at the first place. The cafe was indeed pretty and located on the second level of their Shibuya store, but the dessert...OMG one of the best I’ve had in like...ever!

Since we were quite full after having Oyakodon for lunch (post coming), we decided to share some cakes and as I rolled  & rolled the page, the sweets platter (Dessert Medley) seemed legit, but I was pretty stunned as the pricing for their coffee and tea was relatively high (ranging from 750 yen). I ordered their jasmine chamomile tea (907 yen) while my friend ordered their Rose tea with strawberry sherbet (1030 yen). The Jasmine chamomile tea had this rich chamomile flavor and aroma, and indeed a relaxing treat for the day, in terms of flavor, the chamomile overpowered the jasmine, but all that still on a good state. The rose tea and strawberry sherbet was also pretty good & refreshing with lovely balance of sweet & sour!

The sweets platter a.k.a Dessert Medley (1540 yen) consist of mini size strawberry shortcake, chocolate pie, creme brulee and chantily cream dessert, I mentioned earlier how badly wrong I was for being skeptical as the sweets generally screamed fantastic, my favorite has got to their creme brulee, it was so so so good! Crystalized (in a way hardened) caramel, smooth caramelly custard at the bottom, raspeberry and mint leaves to add in the pretty factor! The creme brulee was smooth & creamy but the thing that captivated the most was the fact that the flavor wasn’t milky! I’ve tried like zillion creme brulee in my life and this one certainly falls on the top part of my list!

All that and I was pretty pleased with the live view from Shibuya crossing, even though it’s not something that I expected, but it’s still a bliss :)

Just when I thought they made amazing perfumes, soaps and hand creams, they also made AMAZING desserts! One of the cafes that worth all the long walks and the calories :P

L'Occitane Cafe Shibuya
Shibuya Ekimae Building 2-3 Fl.
2-3-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku
150-0043 Tokyo
(81) 3542 81563
Opening Hours: 10 AM - 10 PM
Average spending for two: 3000 yen
Dresscode: casual

〒150-0043 Tokyo, Shibuya, Dōgenzaka, 2 Chome−3

道玄坂2-3-1 渋谷駅前ビル 1-3階

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Map for L'Occitane Cafe Shibuya

EATANDTREATS JAPAN: OMOTESANDO KOFFEE - SHIBUYA

As an avid fan of coffee, visiting local’s coffee shops is mandatory as a part of my travelling diary, and before actually travelling, I always ask for recommendations where to hop in, but the thing is, when I am actually somewhere, I make myself forgetting all that and just bond with locals! Usually there are two kinds: one where there’s so many people queuing, and the other one when it appears unbelievably cute and in a way... convincing!

If you’re planning to travel in Japan, it’s mandatory that you have internet connection, if you can’t speak Japanese, English or Chinese, you’re pretty much fucked! Almost every outlet’s name in Japan is written in Japanese and you’re going to need that a lot for directing your walking path to your destination, well that if you don’t mind spending thousands of yen for every taxi ride, and most of the times, I found myself googling the name in English and looked out for the Japanese name and then copy that to Google maps.

I love Omotesando area, I think it’s just my kind of neighborhood: it’s just beautiful, vibrant, classy but still very social. I could spend hours walking around this neighborhood and not get bored.

Omotesando Koffee was never something that I expected, when I first reached Omotesando Koffee, I was very blown away by something I never saw before, well first of all, what a coincidence that I never googled Omotesando Koffee before, when I think about it, I found that weird because I usually get super crazy with my itinerary – and short to say, it’s one of the most beautiful coffee shops I’ve ever been.

Never thought that an amazing coffee shop would be isolated, but I guess that’s what makes Omotesando Koffee very special and literally a hidden gem located in the residental neighborhood of Omotesando and Gaienmae. The venue was small and minimalist but beautifully-naturally framed with red trees, almost like a mini garden inside a coffee shop, and I don’t why but the ambiance gave me this “Zen” energy. Omotesando Koffee occupied this petite traditional Japanese house with a little bench, a brewing area completed with a grinder, La Cimbali coffee machine, some baked custards displayed (Kashi) and all that single-handled by a man!

The menu was categorized to three mains: Koffee Kashi, Hot Koffee & Iced Koffee and yes it’s with a K like Kardashian. Cappuccino, Cafe Latte, Cafe Mocha, Mochaccino and regular Jo are available in iced, they have two special menus here: Iced Shakerato, Cafe Granita and what they’re most famous for: Iced Bailey’s Cappuccino!!! I can’t even start imagining how sexual the chemistry between coffee and baileys because I could really die.

Iced Bailey’s Cappuccino

700 yen (IDR 77k)
Never do I found any problem whenever having something with Bailey’s infused in, and just like this one, honestly, one of the most amazing grind I’ve ever had! This was creamy, rich, frothy, subtle and fragrant! Truth be told, I like the fact that the Bailey’s was just a hint and didn’t overpower or dominating the coffee flavor.

Hot Cappuccino

550 yen (IDR 60k)
Frankly speaking, I like coffee, and I am learning more about it so I won’t pretend that I know how to explain coffee in the most expert way to appear cool, but judging from the taste and aftertaste, frankly speaking, one of the best cappuccino I’ve had in my life. Technically I believe coffee shop measured their coffee and not rare that the measurement of the esperesso could be the same, probably that worldwide cappuccino ettiquette, but their cappuccino was anything but SPECIAL! It had this perfect amount of coffee and milk giving a rich but very well settled taste!

Kashi – Baked Custard

160 yen (IDR 17k)/piece
Short of say, this is like the cube version of Canele, just fragrant & perfectly sweet with caramelized coating, crust and gooey eggy inside.

When you’re in Tokyo, get lost and find your way to this AMAZING coffee shop, even if you don’t like coffee, sitting around here was actually kind of therapeutic! Hands down, one of the most beautiful and most qualified coffee shops I’ve ever been.

Meanwhile... somewhere in Omotesando, I spotted a cutie ;)

Omotesando Koffee
4-1 5-3 Jingumae
Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0001, Japan
+81-3-5413-9422
Price range: 400 - 700 yen
WEBSITE

〒150-0001 東京都渋谷区

神宮前４丁目１５−３

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Map for Omotesando Koffee