CHANTEZ Pâtisserie 穿石

终于尝到这里的蛋糕了。水准真的很高、吃得很开心很满意。

我不能一概而论、但是我拜访的三家都令人刮目相看。风格跟日本很像但我觉得台湾的法式蛋糕比日本的口感更轻盈、味道也拿捏得恰到好处、大多不会过分甜腻。

先说这家Chantez好了。台北的蛋糕业还没有日本来得竞争、所以在百货或是车站都没有注意到什么法式蛋糕店（卖什么酥什么餅的就超级多）。Chantez是台北车站唯一一家法式蛋糕店。仅供外带、本店在大安区（下次有时间会去本店因为那里有店内限定商品）。价格不超$180 （大约新币8元）以这种水准来说、非常合理了。

【雪铃】$170 椰子、荔枝、红心芭楽。刚看到时还以为时空交错来到了十二月圣诞节。巧妙的利用台湾水果为主要食材搭配椰子、让人有种新鲜感。

【春光】$180 无花果、绿茶、开心果、柠檬

四个当中最不喜欢这个因为好像有点过度复杂、失去了主题。黏稠的绿茶奶油感觉很突兀、底层的蛋糕也属于厚重扎实的。

【灰阶】$170 栗子、兰姆酒冻、黑醋栗、香草奶酪

这个好吃！颠覆一般法式栗子甜腻的形象。吃不吃什么兰姆酒、但是重点是栗子和香草奶酪的默契十足。黑白灰的造型简单却不失华丽。

$170 葡萄柚、紫蘇、优格、柚子

原来紫蘇不只是寿司才能派上用场、甜点也可以这样玩。中间的紫蘇果冻有种莫名的清香、化解葡萄柚和柚子的苦涩。即使放了一夜塔皮让然保持脆度。赞！

https://www.facebook.com/CHANTEZ31/

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Mandarin Oriental Tokyo Gourmet Shop : Fly me to Kumo

Most people don’t really bother about the pastries from hotels but I think it would be a pity to overlook those from hotels in Japan. Not every single hotel I mean because some are worse than convenience stores.
So far the most unpalatable ones I had were from Hilton. The pastries from Shangri-la and Mariott group are average.

But those from the Hyatt Group (Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt and Andaz) are excellent. No I’m not paid to write this and neither am I affiliated to any staff who work there.

Mandarin Oriental? I would rank it 2nd, below Hyatt Group and above Shangri-la. This is because this 5-Star hotel does invest efforts to ramp up its pastry boutique. It not only revamped the space but also hire new executive chef stephan to helm the kitchen. The pastries are visually attractive but the flavours were not sharp enough to create a lasting impression. Take for example I thought the Bonsai, one of the botanical inspirations, would revolve around matcha but matcha was only limited to the surface and the entire composition was predominantly vanilla mousse.

I had high expectations for the Kumo, the signature “cloud” cake launched last September and changes flavour every season. It was chestnut last Autumn and Pistachio-Raspberry this spring. The cake was massive, such that it was placed separately in a cake box that could fit a regular 8-in strawberry shortcake. Perhaps it’s a flavour issue as the pistachio-raspberry mousse was quite sweet and tasted just like an average mousse cake. My favourite part was the sturdy chocolate shell.


The Sakura Pannacotta was the tastiest of all with its silky wobbly texture and the presence of sake in the jelly.

Website: 

https://www.mandarinoriental.co.jp/tokyo/nihonbashi/fine-dining/cake-shops/gourmet-shop

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Andaz Hotel Pastry Boutique : Sakura Sweets 2018

It’s back to Andaz Hotel Pastry Boutique after nearly a year and that’s all because of the Sakura Sweets Fair which will end on 27 April 2018. 

I’ve had several Sakura sweets this year but those from Andaz stood out even though they are pretty simplistic in design.

Be it the Mont Blanc or the Roll Cake, the overall taste and texture were amazingly light while the flavour of Sakura is kept in check. What surprised me was the Sakura Cheese Tart whose tart filling was so rich and dense-contrary to the usual touch of Japanese pastries. 

However, the most regrettable impetus buy was the Vert which I spotted on the display shelf on my visit. It was a far cry from its predecessor in 2017 as the entire thing suffered a huge damage from the overuse of white chocolate. Super duper sweet. Yikes. 

I returned to my Sakura Sweets right away after taking a bite.

Andaz Hotel Tokyo

東京都港区虎ノ門1-23-4 アンダーズ 東京 1階

Tel: 03 6830 7765

Hours:

Weekdays 8:00～20:00

Weekends/PH 10:00～20:00

Dine-in seats available

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Patisserie Asako Iwayanagi : In Love with Parfaits

“I can now die without regrets.”

That’s the conclusion after stepping out of this place, despite saying goodbye to ¥8000 over two visits.
That parfait, or I should say parfaits because the first one I had left such a mind blowing impact on me that I decided to return in less than 5 days. Crazy? Well, there was absolutely no regret.

The parfaits here changes monthly or even less than a month depending on the availability of the fruits and have become the most sought after item of the shop. BUT it doesn’t come cheap—ranging between ¥2500-¥3000. The Sakura-Yomogi Parfait costs ¥2700++ which means a whopping SGD33 before taxes!! And the Parfait Bijou Citrus. But trust me you won’t me thinking about your Yen when you dig in because it is WORTH EVERY SINGLE YEN.


Every flavour and texture of the Parfait is carefully conceived and experimented; just like a venerable master of Go making wise calculated moves in a game of Go. It’s superior in all ways, without any of the mediocre ingredients which some cafe parfaits often resort to fill up space. In the Parfait Sakura, there’s amazake, lemon, Sakura espuma, sake, Yomogi jelly, soba tuile....and for the Parfait Bijou Citrus, who would have expected citrus fruits to pair with milk tea and caramel?

I think the parfaits here are the unshakeable winners in this Parfait-loving country. Of course, it might be still early to conclude as there’s been a few more rising stars in the past one year. But for now, the desserts here have secured a place in my heart. Wait a minute, I think I've already fallen in love with the pastries here since last time.

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Grains de Vanille : The Kyoto Cake Shop Visited by Pierre Herme

Even Pierre Herme dropped by this shop twice, how could I have given this a miss?

Compared to Tokyo, Kyoto seemed to have fewer cake boutiques and dominated by more standalone cafes. But this doesn’t mean that there are no worthy ones around. Grains de Vanille has been on my list for the longest time because the cakes stood out amongst other competitors like Patisserie S and Grenier de Au.

The Japanese-French pastries here are less conservative than their counterparts in Kyoto but not too bold and wild to assume bright, neon coloring that most French pastries are donning these days. They are similar to those in Tokyo, such as Asterisque or Mont St Clair. It was a challenge to narrow my selection to only 4 items and luckily only 1 turned out to be a disaster. The seasonal item was menacingly sweet— a mental torture to consume.

However, I found the Cafe Escargot interesting because very few chefs would flavour the meringue and tone down the sweetness. This was a brilliant combination of the 3cs; coffee, caramel and chocolate. The pistachio mousse was tasty but I thought the black tea chocolate st honore stood out more with its intricate layerings of tea and Cacao.

I haven’t tried many patisseries in Kyoto but I think this shop can stand in line with Tatsuhito Satoi and beat Tendresse hands down.

住所：京都府京都市中京区鍵屋町間之町通486
電話番号：075-241-7726
営業時間：10:30～18:00 (dine in available after 1pm)
定休日：第2・第4火曜、水曜

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L’ Epicurien レピキュリアン : One of the Oldest Patisserie in Kichijoji

How old is old? 10? 20? 50? Or 100?

Well, this little quaint patisserie is often reported as one of the oldest patisseries in Kichijoji despite being opened only in 1996. 22 years doesn’t seem like a long span for a shop if we compare it to those historical establishments that boast a good hundred years or above.


However, in terms of patisseries, I think it can be considered one of the earliest pioneers as the boom of French pastries only took off from 2000s. If age is not a good sign, the retro interior and the type of pastry selections will tell you all. Unlike most patisseries that offer sophisticated or colorful petit gateaus that will attract your attention, the cakes here are mostly classic and conservative French pastries. Next to the display chiller is an area where all the baked pastries such as apple turnovers, constellation tarts...who still bakes and even sells constellation tarts these days?

To be honest nothing attracted me but we decided to try the signature chibourst tart, wishing that it would change our first impression of this place but it didn’t.  It was as sweet as any other chibourst and did not have any memorable factor. The other coconut mousse cake fade into the background too.

However, the dark knight of the day was the humble apple filo pastry. Crisp, flaky and pleasantly complemented with raisins and custard. Good to know that this is another patisserie where dine-in is available but seats are cramped and the cakes won't probably convince you to come back again.

L'Epicurien レピキュリアン
東京都武蔵野市吉祥寺南町1-9-5
Tel 0422-46-6288
12pm-7pm
Closed on Wed

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