By nature I’m not one to become a regular anywhere. The world is big, and I’m busy enough just chasing new and interesting things; sticking to one shop, however good, feels like a minus in life. All the more so when you live in a metropolis like Tokyo. Suminoe, a bakery in a Shinjuku basement, is the one place that made a regular even out of me.
The storefront.
I remember posting about it before. That was my first visit; now I go regularly. Their bread is the style I love: hard and crusty outside, soft and tender inside. It’s not that there are no better bakeries than this one. I think the bread at VIRON or La Boutique de Joël Robuchon could hold its own anywhere in the world. But this place gets pretty close to those heavyweights while charging only 60-70% of their prices. On top of that, you get 1.5 to 2 times as much. In terms of value for money, there’s just no contest. And anything below this level is, from where I stand, simply unacceptable.
They’re open until around 9 p.m., but after 8 the good bread is all sold out. You have to hurry. Just three of their loaves easily cover about two meals. I mostly use them as a light stand-in for dinner, or for breakfast when I’m too busy in the morning to sit down to a proper meal.
It’d be nice to keep going to a place like this for a long time. Not yet, but someday I’ll probably get friendly with the staff too. I’ll start wondering what new items have come out. I think this is how I’ll gradually settle into life in Tokyo.
I’ve added photos of the bread. They don’t look like much from the outside, but they’re packed full inside.
Fig bread
Berry Berry bread
Walnut bread
Raisin bread
Orange bread
Onion bread
Today’s special, a raspberry croissant
Raspberry croissant, close-up
Everything on the menu is delicious. ^_^