Pain de Campagne/Tsuboya [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Tsuboya/Pain de Campagne (壺屋総本店)
Address: 1 Chome-2-7 Sakaemachi, Biei, Kamikawa District, Hokkaido
Website: http://www.tsuboya.net/
Style: Japanese
Price: $$ 

While listed online exclusively as an offshoot location of Tsuboya, an Asahikawa confectionery that makes classic Hokkaido cookie and cake gift boxes that you may encounter at airports and gift shops throughout the island, it's actually shares the space with Pain de Campagne, a local bakery that operates from the back of the building (towards the train station). All the real excitement is back there: a small display of creamy cakes by the cash and rows of buns, mostly sweet, featuring some English labels (on select items) and a few more unique treats like pumpkin loaves, several chocolate buns and a surprisingly wide variety of doughnuts. And who doesn't love doughnuts?

 I certainly do. That's why I grabbed a cream doughnut (140 yen). They're not the most common, after all. This humble, eye-shaped doughnut with a simple dusting of finely granulated sugar on top was soft and moist. It could have been a little more fried on the outside, in my opinion, but the texture was good. The custard cream on the inside was thick and quite generous, a bit overwhelming in place, especially towards the middle, but I liked the taste: not too sweet and not too decadent either. My pick for (my very unlucky trip to otherwise lacklustre) Biei.

Rating: ***