Mitsuhashi Panjyu Shop [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Mitsuhashi Panjyu Shop
Address: 5-3 Honmachi, Ise-shi, Mie Prefecture
Website: http://www.panjyu.com/
Style: Japanese
Price: $$ 

With the other bakery in Ise closed that day, I settled for this hodgepodge shop on the main business street leading up to one of the two Grand Shrines. Mitsuhashi is, as I mentioned, quite overwhelmingly random with a dozen signs outside advertising this and that along with an ice cream cone, chairs with no tables, and a bicycle with a bucket on the seat. Amidst all this chaos, I would call them a dessert shop (though they are also advertising they have Ise udon... really, they do everything here) specializing in ice cream and their creation: panjyu.

What are panjyu? This is a clever, punny fusion between traditional Japanese manju (sweet, stuffed rice cakes) and pan, the Japanese word that encompasses all European-style bread, predominantly sweet. Mitsuhashi makes them in a variety of traditional fillings, ranging from classics like red bean to seasonal sakura, and stuffs that into what is actually more like taiyaki (red bean fish) dough than anything resembling "pan". As such, it still tastes quintessentially Japanese.

Panjyu are sold individually or as coffee combos and are priced according to filling. FYI, it's more worth it if you grab the combo, since you can pick from more expensive panjyu at no additional cost. ;) I took three: one Ise tea (100 yen), one custard (80 yen), and one sakura (120 yen).

Biting in, I liked the soft, spongy dough; there was just enough of it to compliment the various fillings. In terms of those fillings... hands down, my favourite was the custard. It was lighter than the others and the custard was well done: not too thick or gloopy. Just the way I like it. The others, well, I wasn't a fan. Second place went to the Ise tea: intense flavour, dense and slightly grainy in texture, it had a hint of bitterness and was alright. The sakura was way too strong and floral; I had the impression I was eating incense and that's never fun. I also thought that the thickness of these two more traditional fillings didn't actually match the airy dough the way they would dense, hearty rice manju or mochi. Points for creativity, but not the best end product.

Rating: **