De Tout Painduce [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: De Tout Painduce 
Address: Eki Marche 1-1 Chome 3, Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka
Website: http://www.painduce.com/detout.html
Style: Japanese 
Price: $$ 

De Tout Painduce, an offshoot of Painduce, which is also a bakery, so what the difference between the two is I'm not sure, is a slightly elevated version of the railway station bakery with baked goods laid out quaintly along a wide counter and in baskets. Admittedly, the baked goods also look better than what you'd expect from the usual high-traffic culprits (Vie de France, DonQ, for example) and feature more unique, almost more artisan-looking products; however, with items costing 200+ yen, you also won't find the same ridiculously cheap baked goods as elsewhere. It appears to me that their specialty seems to be brioche-like buns featuring both sweet and savoury toppings in the middle.
Wanting to just pop in and out because of the fact I had my suitcase in tow, I had a hard time quickly gauging price and baked good type/flavour based on appearance. I could identify "red bean" on a few signs, there was a chocolate one and melon buns, but other than that, it wasn't that easy.

One thing I could discern was the cheese/custard tart, sold as slices from a larger cheese flan (240 yen/slice). I wanted to grab something quickly and examining it afterwards, I was genuinely wondering why I had picked it. For one, I had once tried those trendy cheese tarts and was, to put it nicely, far from impressed. Secondly, this particular tart didn't exactly look very appealing; it reminded me of a white-sauce pizza with baked cheese on top. Yes, I was skeptical and not too pleased with myself, but one fearful bite later, I realized it wasn't so bad. Actually, more than that, it was good. It really was good! Yes, the cheese mass was a bit slimy, but it tasted like a mix of pudding and cheesecake with the dough being perhaps that same brioche I had spotted on other baked goods. Maybe I would try something else the next time around, but De Tout Painduce managed to win me over.

Rating: ***