Isuzu Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Isuzu Bakery 
Address: 1 Chome-11-18 Motomachidōri, Chūō-ku, Kōbe, Hyōgo-perfecture
Website: http://isuzu-bakery.jp/
Style: Japanese 
Price: $$ 

The hostel I stayed in during my trip to Kobe had a series of homemade folders and maps on what to do and where to eat in the city. These went from fairly standard attractions and Kobe beef restaurants to something a bit more interesting; one of these leaflets just happened to be the best bakeries in Kobe! So a few of the stops I went to came from this list. :)

According to the author, Isuzu Bakery is *the* quintessentially Kobe bakery and whenever those native to Kobe return, a trip to one of Isuzu's several locations is an absolute must. Is this all purely sentimental or is it more to do with taste? After all, there were a lot of award-winning baked goods on the three walls of shelves, though I found that most were savoury, including a big chunk dedicated to sandwiches, croquettes and other light-lunch items. The sweet selection is, however, fairly standard and typical of many Japanese bakeries with a few unique items like tarts and some sort of muffin-shaped treats.

This time, I passed by the stuffed buns and cinnamon rolls and opted for something that wasn't available everywhere: a sort of coffee cake with fruit (183 yen). Honestly, I'm not quite sure what the fruit was: peach? It wasn't mango or orange.... The taste was rather indistinct, giving the heftier sponge cake a bit of flavour and moistness. That being said, it actually was quite good. I liked the texture of the cake dough (reminding me a lot of Asian "cupcakes"); it had a nice amount of mystery fruit -- ha ha! -- and the sugary streusel bits here and there were a tasty touch. Maybe it wasn't *the* bakery for me in Kobe, but it's a good choice nonetheless.

Rating: ***