Shiseido Parlour Tokyo (Since 1902): Not Make-up Products but SWEETS and PARFAITS

Do you know that Shiseido isn't just a cosmetic brand but also a full fledged restaurant in Tokyo? It started serving western fusion dishes such as croquette and omelette rice since it opened its doors in 1902, which is even much older than the famous Taimeiken in Nihonbashi.

Maquillage: Not your make-up base but edible chocolate...even more attractive than macarons!

Occupying one entire building in the premium streets of Ginza, each floor is dedicated to a specific concept, for instance 1F is the retail space for souvenirs and petit entremets while 4/5F are reserved for fine-dining guests. 

Nope, of course I did not have the time and money to travel all the way to Ginza. Fortunately, the only pastry boutique is opened in Isetan Shinjuku and I would usually take a look to see if there is any interesting items. On a random visit, the shop was retailing two award-winning cakes produced by its young in-house chefs at the 2013 Japan Cake Show Contest Petit Gateau Section.

 

As you may tell from the name Ananas Coco, it is a caramel coated coconut mousse with mango and passionfruit centre on a tart shell filled with tarty pineapple chunks. I do not usually fancy pineapples but the use of vanilla beans soften the edginess of the fruit to my delight. However, the pastry tart has succumbed to some moisture attack and the coconut allure had not been fully extracted. 

Despite the all-too-common pistachio-raspberry pairing, this Pistachio cake was very captivating. Compared to the usual light fluffy mousse, this one is dense but not cloying.  

From the sponge wall to the filling to the rooftop pool of green sauce, every bit adhered obediently to the theme of pistachio. Not much textural contrast here but you know that the chef was not stingy on the pistachio paste. 

Nonetheless, there is still a wider selection of items at the main outlet in Ginza. It was love at first sight for Azuma Odori, a pretty cake with a mesmerizing oriental charm.

The components of white chocolate mousse, matcha mousse, vanilla custard and sponge cake might bring no surprise but I like the exceptionally milky scent in the matcha layer. Anyway, sorry to inform you that this is a limited edition item only available last summer in 2014 ! Hope you chance on something better next time.

Shiseido Salted Caramel cheesecake (Tokyo Station Limited Edition) The team behind Shiseido really knows how to market the popular flavours as limited edition items. These petite baked square cheesecakes are so dense and rich that having one at one time is more than sufficient. 

But instead of the cheesecake, I think their La Ganache Petit is definitely a more worthy investment. With a intensely dark ganache filled center, this resembles a deluxe version of a chocolate crunchie.

"An amazing, unique texture with rich flavour?" I am glad these are not just merely marketing slogans but these Chokaki (a word play of Chocolate + Okaki) are probably one of the most successful hybrids experimented by the quirky Japanese. They are not as hard as typical rice crackers but disintegrate into shambles in a few bites. The cheese version has a bonus dust of cheese powder that intensifies the balance of taste. Available only at Tokyo station and Haneda airport. 

Matcha Parfait

The quality is more like a casual cafe that does not pays too much attention to matcha. To put it bluntly, it is a cheap sundae in disguise, filled with vanilla ice cream, azuki bean paste, green jellies without shiratama dango. The warabi mochi on top were strange as it does not have any elastic stretchy texture. But for ¥920, I guess one can't bargain much. 

Do you know that Okinawa is another prefecture that produced excellent mango? This is a seasonal edition parfait featuring the sweet juicy Okinawan mango. It did burnt quite a big hole in my wallet but it was worth at least a try.

From the ice cream to the mousse, everything is made of the prized fruit, not the Creme de la Creme of the crop (i.e Miyazaki's Taiyo no Tamago Mango), but already good enough to help me tide through the sticky heat in July. 

Shiseido Parlour 資生堂パーラー

[Address] Ginza Shiseido Bldg. 3F, 8-8-3 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

[Direction] Ginza Station; Shinbashi Station

[Telephone] 03 5537 6231

[Open] 11.30am-9pm (Sun & holidays until 8pm)

[Holiday] closed Mon (except for holidays)

http://parlour.shiseido.co.jp/ginza/

Latest updates on FB page--> https://www.facebook.com/shiseidoparlour

Pierre Marcolini : Pierre Herme of the Chocolate World

If you know Pierre Herme very well, then you should know the Pierre Herme of the chocolate world, Pierre Marcolini. This former disciple of Pierre Herme had rose up the ranks to become of the most coveted chocolatier in the world and one need not be surprised at the enduring popularity of his flagship shop in Ginza.

Many, ladies especially, flocked to his cafe on 2F for the signature parfaits and waffles. But those with an extra budget to indulge would buy some of the exquisite pralines in his retail shop at 1F. 

To kill two birds (waffles and ice cream) in one stone, I instinctively picked the waffles.There are two categories here: one is Marcolini Waffles and Simple Waffles. The menu did not explicitly explain the differences but it seems like the Marcolini Waffles is blended with some extra ingredient X.

Anyway, I was relief that the quality of the waffles justify the hefty price tag. True to a classic Brussel waffle, it was light, yeasty and made into perfect regular square. It was music to the ears as the delicate crunchy sound echoes through the air. 

It is topped with fresh whipped cream that is not sweet at all. So most of the flavours emerged from the vanilla ice cream, caramel ice cream and the to-die-for salted caramel sauce. Somehow, I can feel that my waffles attracted envy looks from other tables as no one else was ordering this except me (they had parfaits). 

But the waffles come in a set, implying that one has to choose a drink no matter what. I highly recommend the Marcolini cacao tea because I guessed it is the only place in the world that one can taste chocolate in tea. Sounds illogical but the cacao flavour is highly pronounced in the pot of tea. 

While the waffles are heavenly, I think nothing beats the wickedly rich and bitter Belgium Soft Serve (see below) at his takeaway booth in Shibuya Hikarie. Despite being a bigwig in the chocolate industry, Pierre Marcolini personally searches for the cacao bean and create everything from scratch. Good to know that he has stocked up some skinny eclairs exclusively available only at this store. 

For the true gelato without incurring the dine-in cost, head to his outlet inside Tokyo station which is easily distinguished from the rest with its chic minimalist black interior. Buy the rich chocolate drink to sip on your Shinkansen ride. I bet that will attract the envy eyes of other passengers. 

Pierre Marcolini 

Ginza Outlet

〒104-0061 Ginza 5-5-8 Chuo-ku, Tokyo
TEL：03-5537-0015
OPEN：11am-8pm ※(Sun/PH)11am-7pm

For more details about the outlets and menu, visit here

Cheese Garden Tokyo : Japanese Cheese Heaven

Nope, this is not your neighbourhood cheesecake shop. It's a restaurant cum cheese grocery store that is dedicated to their royal brand of cheese "Goyoutei Cheese 御用邸チーズ. The cheese is produced at their own farm in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture. I'm not sure if they are the selected brand for the Japanese royal family but the term "Goyoutei" refers to the Imperial villa that is currently situated in the same prefecture .

 

Even before you stepped into the shop, you will definitely stopped in your foot steps as the staff will distribute generous samples of their above signature Goyoutei Cheesecake (¥1230 for a whole cake). It's rich, dense yet not over cloying like a typical NY cheesecake. One of the secret is that the cake is baked at 3 different temperatures in about 1 hour. 

But the best way to sample all their lovely cheesecakes is to get their Cheesecake Platter (¥980), which contains Shirasagi--the most expensive cheesecake of the lot (¥3300 for one whole cake). On top of the cookie base is a baked layer made with 4 types of cheese and a light sour cream made with yoghurt and fresh cream. 

The third type of cheesecake is the Sappari Creamy Cheesecake, the typical Japanese rare Fromage blanc baked in a pie with a layer of French Strawberry conserve sandwich in the middle. I forgot what the last cheesecake is but this platter is so delicious and offers a interesting contrast of cheese textures! 

Cheese Fondue? Nah....that is a little out of fashioned. The team here has created an original dine-in only dish called Pandue (pan means bread in Japanese and this is a uniquely Japanese created word combining Pan+Fondue). The bread is cusped with soft molten cheese in which you can dipped the spare greens and potato wedges into. I have no complaints about this simple platter since I can even devour the bread in the end, leaving no trace of food crumbs behind. But I do wish there were more items for dipping. 

Not a fan of cheese? The Pandue is also available in Clam Chowder, Minestrone, Curry and Beef Stew. But I doubt any cheese hater would have step into the shop in the first place. 

Cheese is front and center here, so do not leave without getting their Goyotei Cheese Cookie. Made with Edam and Parmesan Cheese, these buttery almond delights translate so well onto the palate that you question if you are actually dreaming or living in reality. There is not only salt, but black pepper and some unknown spices that kick in as you chew on. 

Eventually, I ended up not only with boxes of this cheese cookie but also cheese galette, langue de chats and the wickedly sinful white chocolate cranberry cheese bar (¥280)

This is only outlet in Tokyo that includes an exclusive dine-in restaurant. The outlets at Seibu Ikeburuo and Haneda airport are retail-only spaces. I highly recommend you to drop by one of these three outlets as their products are really of superb quality. Otherwise, keep a lookout for their shops when you are in Tochigi prefecture! At least you know now that Tochigi isn't a place just famous for its strawberries! 

 

Cheese Garden

〒131-0045  1 Chome-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida

Tokyo Sky Tree Tower, Tokyo Solachi 2F

10am-9pm daily. 

http://cheesegarden.jp

NY Gramercy: Depato (department store) Cakes, Anyone?

NY Gramercy does not refer to the famous street in NY but a Japanese-company-run cake shop that is located at some selected department stores like Takashimaya. I seldom patronize these kind of shops with many outlets as the quality is usually average. However, after giving this shop a try, I was impressed by the pillowy and moist texture of the sponge components and that was kept amazingly consistent across all the cakes.

 

Kept within the price range is between ¥500-¥700, these sweets won't really burn a hole too much as they are generally larger than the independent patisseries and not too heavy on mousse--appealing to those who prefer the traditional light Japanese cakes. 

Koicha (Matcha Cream, Black Beans, Matcha Sponge) 

Another of the memorable matcha cakes that is available without having to travel far to certain shops. My favourite item here as there is an almost full-bodied matcha taste that complemented the rest of the components. 

New York Brownie

This is unlike those dense fudged version but two cakey chocolate sponge studded with rum raisins. The concept is simple but to transform a rustic homemade treat into such elegant form is not definitely not in everyone's ability.

Anyone who walk passes the cake display would simply stop and stare in admiration. 

Melon Shower

The chef is simply too ambitious to shower the cake with so many chunks of honeydew and pineapple that cause that they fell apart before I could take this picture. Looked rather dishevelled but one can forgive the chef because the fruits are so sweet and fresh. It's a fruit + cake gateau and not a fruit cake (if you can understand the difference) so what consumers are paying is the fruits. 

The Mango Pudding is different from mango puddings elsewhere as the sweetness stemmed mostly from the tropical fruit itself and not artificial sugar. Even my picky mum who is a huge mango pudding fan herself enjoyed this tremendously.

 

Other seasonal creations include the Sakura Sponge (see top pic) and Okinawan Sweet Potato.

NY GRAMERCY グラマシーニューヨーク

Takashimaya Shinjuku, Nihonbashi

Daily 10am-8pm (except Fri/Sat until 8.30pm)

Tokyu Food Show Tokyu Department Store Shibuya

Daily 10am-9pm

Other outlets include Takashimaya Yokohama, Seibu Ikebukuro

http://www.gramercy-newyork.com/