Espoir [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Espoir (パン エスポワール)
Address: Kiralis Hakodate 1F, 20-1 Wakamatsucho, Hakodate, Hokkaido 
Website: http://pan-espoir.com
Style: Japanese 
Price: $$ 

Pretty much the only bakery that's open late(r) in downtown Hakodate, I admit I was a little daunted to give Espoir a try because of the abysmal ratings, probably the worst I'd seen in my bakery research. Luckily for me, Espoir wasn't really that bad. This, one of its four or five locations in the area, is located in a mini shopping mall and is quite small, with just two small tables of baked goods along with many in a large, open fridge. I have to admit that, coming ten minutes before closing, it wasn't too promising to see a full array of baked goods; good for me, obviously, but by this time at least the good stuff should have been taken. Also, a lot of bakeries have a pre-closing sale and you can score some pretty good deals, but Espoir doesn't appear to participate in these kinds of promotions....

Amid the standard bakery fare, both sweet and savoury, they had a few signature items that included milk cream buns, various fruit and cream danishes (both sold refrigerated) and the subject of a big poster and colourful signs: the apple danish (216 yen). 

I'm all for bakeries having their specialty, so I bypassed some of the more "Japanese" baked goods and decided to give the apple danish a try. Flaky dough with big chunks of baked apples and a pretty lattice on top. The highlight were the apples, though some could have been a little less crunchy, but overall I found the end product a bit on the bland side. The dough had no distinct taste of its own and even the filling could have benefited from at least a little cinnamon. Honestly, something I'd expect from a supermarket; a bakery should be better.

Rating: **1/2