Henri Charpentier is a famous dessert shop that has been in business in Ginza for 40 years. Lately it has kept opening branches, mostly in department-store food halls, and unusually, even those branches get very good reviews. Still, desserts, like any other food, are mostly at their best right after they’re made, so I suppose the branches can’t quite match the main shop.
After leaving the tempura place, I was thinking of cafés worth going to in Ginza, and this one came to mind right away. The exterior is classic and luxurious, and I’d always wanted to go in. But once inside, the interior was classic all right, but the tables were more cramped than I expected. I’d thought it would be a bit cozier. Maybe that’s just what happens when a place is this popular..
Water glass
It was a hot day so I just gulped it down without paying much attention, but they do use nice glasses.
Strawberry shortcake
What a lovely cake~ Fresh, just-whipped cream and fresh strawberries are what make or break a shortcake, and this one is close to perfect on both counts. It felt like looking at the textbook shortcake.
Rouge
The red coating on the outside is framboise, which I absolutely love. It’s not just the sweetness of the berries; the fresh tartness is what makes it so appealing. The sponge inside is made of colourful layers, and the cream layers in between seemed to have pistachio and a few other nuts in them, giving it a nutty flavour too. Every one of the sauces on the plate was delicious as well, a flawless cake. It sounds like I’m patting myself on the back, but my restaurant pick was a success this time too.
Grapefruit juice
The juice and coffee, though, were very expensive and not that good either. Just drinking water might be one way to go. Having cleansed our palates lightly with cake, we headed straight on to the next place, as a proper foodie crew should.