L'hotel de Kitakurabu [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: L'hotel de Kitakurabu (ロテル・ド・北倶楽部)
Address: Hokuyo Building 1F, 9 Chome, 4 Jodori, Asahikawa, Hokkaido
Website: http://www.robakashitsukasa.co.jp/kitakurabu/
Style: Japanese
Price: $-$$

 The name itself may not exactly evoke a bakery, but L'hotel de Kitakurabu does indeed sell baked goods. Actually, it appeared a lot more daunting and expensive than it really was; well, perhaps daunting is the wrong word. It looked like the sort of confectionery that just sells pre-packed gift boxes. The kind that fill the food floor of any Japanese department store. And while they do sell fancy sweets and elegant baumkuchen boxes, I was surprised that they also have a small selection of very well priced baked goods. I don't know if it was because I came so late (around 5), but there wasn't much selection at all and the staff were especially attentive - free tea while the other worker was ever so carefully packing my goodies! I felt like a VIP. *-*

 As a matter of fact, the aforementioned staff sent me on a bit of a guilt trip, because they were so obliging that I felt bad getting just the one melon pan for a measly 125 yen. So I got a red bean doughnut (125 yen) as well. Looking back, I don't quite remember if I knew it was a red bean doughnut or it wasn't labelled... because I didn't want a red bean doughnut. Oh well. It didn't have much stuffing inside. The outside was nicely fried, but there was a bit too much sugar in place, resulting in this hard crystallized sugar layer. Not the best.

Similarly, the melon pan was simply too soft and homogeneous. The thing that makes a melon pan so good is that baked crust that you crack open to reveal a soft yet dense dough. When the crust is too thin and lacks the texture of that signature crust, the effect is lost. For all the fanciness, it could be better.

Rating: **1/2