Recent Reviews
Gontaran Cherrier Shinjuku, a popular bakery in the Shinjuku West Exit Hakuhinkan Department Store. Located on the 1st floor of the Shinjuku West Exit Hakuhinkan Department Store, it's a 2-minute walk from Shinjuku Station West Exit. I arrived around 7 pm on a weekday and the store was sparsely populated. I was able to check out quickly. I purchased a Kouign Amann for 378 yen. Kouign Amann is a Danish pastry made with generous amounts of butter. The surface is coated with caramel, giving it a crispy, crunchy texture. The inside is moist and has a rich, buttery flavor. The balance of sweetness and saltiness is perfect! I enjoyed it until the very last bite.
This bakery is located on the first floor of the Keio Department Store in Shinjuku Station, outside the station. I'm so happy it's back in Japan. You order at the counter. **Croissant** (¥324) I always have to get a Danish pastry when I come here. That's why I chose this one. It uses Isigny butter. The flaky, buttery croissant dough is really good. It was delicious. **Melon Pan** (¥378) This melon pan has a crispy cookie crust. I personally like the base too. It looked kind of handsome (lol). They accepted PayPay and other digital payment methods.
I visited on a Saturday morning. There was one other customer. The store is a bit small, so it seems like it would be full with five people. This time, I purchased a ginger and mitsuba egg sandwich, a croissant, a pain au chocolat with banana, a rice flour ciabatta with dried tomatoes, and a tradition basil fromage. We shared it with the family. The popular croissant is, of course, delicious with its rich buttery aroma and crispy texture, but I was blown away by the ginger and mitsuba egg sandwich made with that croissant! It's a bit pricey at ¥745 including tax, but the combination of the rich croissant, fluffy scrambled eggs with ginger, moist ham, and mitsuba is just too good! The ginger flavor is especially exquisite and addictive! The rice flour ciabatta with dried tomatoes is a simple bread with a chewy texture and the aroma of tomatoes. It goes well with sausage, ham, omelets, anything. The tradition basil fromage is a bread with basil and cheese inside. It has a sophisticated flavor. I didn't eat the pain au chocolat with banana, but my family loved it. The store is on the first floor of the Odakyu Hakuhinkan, but it's not inside the department store, it's on the south side of the building, facing the street. Thank you for the delicious meal!
During the Golden Week holidays, I planned to conquer Gontran Cherrier (GC), and for my first visit to GC, I went to the Shinjuku store. I arrived at the store around 7:45 am. It was 15 minutes after opening, so there were fewer items available. I bought a croissant with ham and a rice flour ciabatta with dried tomatoes. The dried tomatoes in the rice flour ciabatta were a bit lacking in flavor. I was hoping for a bit more texture and a sweeter taste, but it was a bit salty. It wasn't quite what I expected. The croissant with ham had a cream sauce and ham inside, and it was delicious. The paper bag was complimentary. The staff were also very polite and welcoming, and they even said, "Please come again." Thank you.
The bread is delicious. The "Queen Ama" something has a guilty pleasure kind of flavor that I love. They use butter generously and lots of sugar, so it's definitely going to make you gain weight, but it has that delicious, decadent taste. The quality is so good that it's worth paying the price of a cheap cake for just one loaf. However, the staff is always a bit off-putting. I don't get irritated that easily at other places, and I'm usually forgiving of mistakes, but the staff here just seems to exude a "I don't want to work, I'm tired" vibe. The only thing that should be oozing out is butter. It's like this in the morning and at night, so it's not just a specific employee, but maybe it's the company culture... or maybe the manager just likes that kind of girl... I can't tell. Anyway, the bread is delicious, so I go there occasionally, but I just order quickly and leave. Even then, I always feel a little uneasy. It's amazing in a way.