Le Pan, Yasutomi Yuzu and Praliné Paris-Bres, Gateau Le Pan, & Chocolat Orange

My first choice was Yasutomi Yuzu and Praliné Paris-Brest. The choux pastry was typical. The Yuzu cream was fine. The pâte pralinée was quite dense, like the chestnut paste of a mont-blanc, which I don't have any problem with in general. The cake was good and did balance some different good tastes, though maybe the whole wasn't exceptional compared to the parts. Still, a good cake that increases my confidence in this shop.

The second cake, which I only had one forkful of, is called just Gateau Le Pan and is a standard Japanese strawberry shortcake. It seemed good to me and was confirmed by the other partaker.

The third cake we could agree was the best, the Chocolat Orange. While a traditional combination, the balance is not automatic. This was a very rich chocolate which went with what was like a mikan orange, though I don't know the details. I say rich, but it was not dark chocolate, but rather Valrhona milk chocolate mousse, apparently (I found their whole cake ad). Anyway, it works for me. I'm going to label this was great, as I'd like to have it again, which makes my first great Kobe cake, though that's from a small sample that isn't likely to get that much bigger, as I don't get down here so much as I might have first expected. What I can I say: Tokyo is more comfortable for all evolved. Anyway, next time I come back this shop should be my top priority, as I think I've visited all the main ones that aren't available in Tokyo. I'm curious about the main shops of a couple of those, which might have something to explain their longevity despite the low level of good they exhibit in Tokyo. 

Le Pan: Saint-marc Praliné and Tanba Chestnut Mont-blanc

I ran first and got a pastry from Pane Ho Baretta, a d'Amonde Chocolat (?). Definitely good but heavy, as expected, and pretty messy, as there is chocolate on the outside. They had a lot kinds of d'Amonde, though just a few of each on display.







Just from Googling, I had found Le Pan as a cake source in Kobe. I've probably seen the sign pointing upslope on the lateral road between L'Avenue and Gregory Collet Patisserie, but assumed they just have cake. I got cake for later before putting the borrowed bicycle in working order and going around photoing shops for Kobe Patisseries map, being maybe less discriminating than I should be, since there are places that I seem unlikely to visit, though a note to that effect might be useful later.

The cakes were Saint-marc Praliné and Tanba Chestnut Mont-blanc. The saint-marc was good but did not stand out. The supposed mont-blanc was the third cake in that many days that was not much like the conventional form, or like any other. This one actually had very little paste, though there was a little more chestnut inside. The main body is rum cream. It had very nice flavor and texture, so I'll say it was excellent.

I seem to having a lot more luck in this second pass through Kobe cake shops, though that may because I've sticking closer to the central cluster rather than visiting every neighborhood shop that managed to get in a guidebook. I'm also willing to visit the old brands, like Juchheim, sometime, even though I consider them fairly low-level brands in Tokyo. Like Tooth Tooth, I'd like to at least give them a chance in their own shops (though, actually I don't think I've seen any Tooth Tooth cakes in Tokyo, just they have a French restaurant).