Jizzo Parque [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Jizzo Parque
Address: 1987 Shinhama, Miyazu-shi, Kyoto Prefecture 
Website: n/a
Style: Japanese
Price: $$ 

This really is a miracle of a Cake Tour. I was staying in the town of Miyazu, because I couldn't get cheap enough accommodation in nearby Amanohashidate, fully knowing it had no bakery... to my utter dismay. It had been a pretty bad day (it seems that any day involving transportation through Osaka was a bad day), with a delayed bus/train from Koyasan forcing me to miss my connecting coach bus from Osaka. Because of this, I had to take the longer, more expensive way and got into town later than anticipated. The restaurant I had planned to go to was already closed and instead I went to an udon restaurant, which ended up being really good; from that udon restaurant, I thought I'd walk back on another street and I turned the corner... and bam! there was a bakery. And you wouldn't believe it: it was open. A bakery that closed at 8pm in small-town Japan. It truly was unthinkable. I thought I was hallucinating from tiredness. Then it hit me: I had a bakery from Miyazu!!! *tears of joy*

Ichiba Bakery Jizzo Parque does exist online, but is listed as a bagel shop, which is probably how I missed it during preliminary research. Yes, this tiny bakery does sell bagels, and it's possible it is their specialty, but they also sell various buns and breads. What they seem to lack in, in terms of selection, is sweets. Perhaps it's simply not their specialty, but how could such a cute, pink bakery not have more sweets? Granted, their mini display case at the counter had two or three cakes that were available in slices.

However, I'd been on a cinnamon spree lately and it didn't stop here: I just had to go with the cinnamon roll (210 yen). This one was simply garnished with a snowy layer of powdered sugar. Underneath, the dough was stiffer and the cinnamon mass drier than others I had encountered. The taste was pretty good; it wasn't too sticky or gooey, but at the same time, I found the overall texture too dry for my liking.

Rating: **1/2