Patisserie Genmyoan [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Cafe et Patisserie Genmyoan 
Address: 483-11 Monju, Miyazu-shi, Kyoto Prefecture
Website: facebook
Style: Japanese, European 
Price: $$$

Another unexpected bakery, this time in the heart of Amanohashidate! Unlike many bakeries I went to that attempted a sort of Old World charm, Genmyoan's bright, airy space and minimalist wood accents comes across as chicer, with a sort of Japanese sophistication to it. Gone are hot dog buns in plastic bags and in their place, you find elegant, paper-thin shortbread in a variety of occidental and oriental flavours and gift boxes filled with cookies and sweets. Up at the counter, there's a small display case of about half a dozen of cakes and baked goods, definitely more European-inspired than the items on the shelves. I recall there being some sort of scone, along with the apple cake and cheesecake I was debating between.

Finally, wanting to give the former a try, I went with the apple/almond cake (480 yen). Whether deliberate or not -- I wasn't able to decipher what it was labelled as in-store -- this reminded me of a Dutch-style apple cake; no, it was a Dutch-style apple cake, with the dense, yet soft dough, sliced, slightly chewy apples, maybe a few raisins, and sprinkling of powdered sugar. Really, I don't even know why I called it an almond cake in my initial notes; an apple cake this definitely was and, in that, it was pretty well-done and quite tasty; my one thing was that, especially the top, it tasted like it had been in the fridge for a while.

Rating: **1/2