Bakery #02: Donguri, Sapporo

After eating Gyu-Tan with my friend, we found a great bakery called “Donguri” near by Kotoni train station. This is a bakery chain, so you may find one in your area if you live in Sapporo city. According to my friend, the bakery Donguri became popular because TV program introduced their “Chikuwa Pan”, which I tried this time.

Most of their items looked great. Their items were various and took time to choose. The size was bigger than other bakery so far, which was great for me! I’ve been frustrated to eat petite foods in Japan these days. lol


I bought five pieces of bread, but I accidentally ate one before I took some pictures. From the top right, Chikuwa Pan (ちくわパン) (136 yen), Saku Saku Curry (Crispy Curry Bread: サクサクカレー) (147 yen), Puchi Kuromame (Petite Black Beans: プチ黒豆) (52 yen) and Cheese Age (Fried Cheese Bread: チーズ揚げ) (68 yen). Deep fried breads were so crispy but it was nicely oily, so it is better to have those for lunch.

Among those, my favorite was Crispy Curry. Usually, curry breads are filled with curry sauce, but cannot find any veggies. But this one came with large pieces of veggies and meats, like regular curry sauce we eat with rice! Wow...

Chikuwa Pan

Their signature item, Chikuwa Pan, was an amazing idea. Chikuwa (ちくわ) is a Japanese food made from fish surimi. It is a tube-like food, so they put Tuna into the hole of chikuwa, and wrapped with the bread, mayo on the top of the bread. If you like tuna, you definitely like this Chikuwa Pan!

I definitely go back to Donguri and want to try other items.

Total: 529 yen (for 5 pieces)

Donguri
1F, Daiei Kotoni Branch
2-2, 2-jo 4-chodme, Kotoni Nishi-ku
Sapporo
011-788-5518
8:00-21:00
http://www.donguri-bake.co.jp/

Bakery #01: Johan Paris, Sapporo

Ham and Creamy Cheese, Sausage & Potato Salad, and a cup of tea

For recent years, the competition among department stores in Sapporo area has been heated up, and several stores unfortunately already closed. Since Daimaru department store opened in front of Sapporo JR station, people does not go to Odori Park area anymore, the area Mitsukoshi and Marui-Imai were popular. Now, an old-established store, Mitsukoshi department store, is in danger. I barely go to Odori area, but I had an appointment on that day, so I stopped by at Mitsukoshi. This department store is for rich, elder people. They do not have much clothes or bags for younger people; the price is expensive. There are a few things that I liked, which is “Le Salon de Nina’s”, a tea station, and “Johan”, a popular bakery from Paris, are located in this store.

I am not a huge fun of bread, but I have not eaten any from Johan for a long time. So I bought some pieces looking-good bread. It was on Saturday afternoon, but the choice was a bit limited. I chose some non-sweet breads; Ham & Creamy Cheese, and Sausage & Potato Salad. It looked fine, and I ate those for dinner on that day.

When I bit Ham & Creamy Cheese, I was surprised that the firmness is perfect; not too hard, not to tender—well baked. Ham was nothing special, but I really liked the cheese. It was creamy camembert cheese, gives some tenderness in my mouth. Rich flavor of the cheese kept the good balance of the smell of the ham. I liked it. The other one, sausage & potato salad, was also pretty good. Potato salad is one of my favorite dishes, and it was actually quite match with a taste of sausage. The bread was shiny, and it was fun to eat. The ingredients are fully baked with fresh breads, and there is no space between them.

Both were tasty, and were quite better taste than years ago. I believe Johan has been improving to beat up other stores, and keeps creating some new ideas. It would be fun to take a look what their new ideas are sometimes.

Total: 357 yen

Johan the Bakery, Paris
B1F, Mitsukoshi department store
8, Minami 1-jo Nishi 3-chome, Chuou-ku
Sapporo
011-271-3311
http://www.mitsukoshi.co.jp/shop?EcLogicName=storeinfo.storetopInfo&tenpoCd=19