Hidemi Sugino, Tokyo

We didn’t get to research much on food, especially for Tokyo since it wasn’t even planned! I usually do a cursory search through Chubby Hubby, but I have to say, we have different palates (and pockets too). Nonetheless, since I discovered Pierre Herme through him, I usually am quite curious about the other patisseries that he recommends. And one of the uniquely Japanese pastry chef mentioned is Hidemi Sugino.

Upon further research, turns out this dude is a legendary mousse cake maker with adoring Japanese clientele, and THAT is a huge vote of confidence. Furthermore, a snaking line usually develops before the store opens for business, and cakes get sold out really quickly. Sigh, how can I say no to that? What can I say, I’m a sucker.

Anyway, being the sweet wife I told Thad to sleep in and I’ll make the trek myself and bring him some goodies for breakfast when he wakes up (in actual fact I was afraid it will be REALLY disappointing so I try to avoid making him search things with me and it turns out to be in vain).

The store is located in the most obscure of locations. Blink and you miss it. It’s NOT on the main stretch of Ginza, not even on a street off Ginza. And so I arrived at 10 am… and the store only opens at 11am!!! ARGH! I woke up so early, was running for trains and hurrying on the streets… only to be an hour early. *facepalm* And I have a soon to be awake husband and no way of contacting him. Should I head back? Should I wait? ARGGGGH!!

No, I’ve come to far to turn back now. Must. Persevere. So off I went in search of free wi-fi and sent him a quick message that I’ll be a tad longer. By the time I came back (10.40am), there was ONE dude in line. I was happy for some company, but kinda pissed too that someone robbed me of “1st Customer In Line” when I was here SOOOO much earlier. Hrmph.

ANYWAY. 10.50am and there was probably 15-20 people in line. 5 minutes to opening time and a little lady comes running out rattling a slew of Japanese. Probably “thanks for waiting”, “we’re opening soon”, “have some free cakes” maybe?

ANNNND we’re in! It was all very neat and orderly, and even with the long line behind us, there was no hurrying and everyone respectfully waited their turn (though there was a palpable sense of anxiety that the cakes would run out soon). The cakes on display were very, very pretty.

Was a little overwhelmed by the choices, and to make things worse, the prettier ones were all for dine-in only!! After selecting a few, I decided to have a quick dine-in because the peach and lychee mousse cake looked too pretty to let go. Eeee!

So here’s the stash I brought back:

Foreground: Mangue Cassis(Y650). Can’t remember what’s the one at the back. Erm. It was O-K. It was… flavoured mousse.

New item: A caramel pistachio nut tart (Y630). We enjoyed this much, much more than the mousse cakes.

Yum. We Like.

Sous Bois at the back, and a peppermint or pistachio one in front.

The mousse cakes had beautiful anatomy. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a proper knife.

If you can’t already tell, this was a rather anti-climatic affair. Perhaps my arduous journey to the store raised my expectations, all ready to be blown away. The long lines, the “Sold Out” stories. More objectively speaking, I think we just aren’t mousse-cake people. The texture was airy and light (I imagine that’s what biting into a cloud tastes like), the decorations were flawless and I can appreciate the effort that went into the layering, but at the end of the day, nothing helps if you aren’t into mousse cakes!

But if you ARE into mousse cakes, well, I’ve never had better ones!

Address:
Kyobashi Building 1F, 3-6-17, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-3538-6780