Oyamadai is the neighborhood right next to Jiyugaoka. I had heard that lately some top-level dessert shops and cafes have been clustering in the residential areas hugging Jiyugaoka, namely Todoroki, Oyamadai and Kuhonbutsu, so I bundled them all into one day. I ate a whole lot of cake that day..

A shot of the neighborhood from the station

It is a quiet residential area, but this has always been an affluent neighborhood, and being so close to Jiyugaoka, they say young people come here often too.

A bakery like this too..

It looked like it had some serious skill behind it, but it was not open, so I could not go in.

The shopping street

At a glance it is a typical residential neighborhood, and it does not have the feel of a place that would hide a dessert shop as formidable as Au Bon Vieux Temps.

The front entrance of Au Bon Vieux Temps

So far I had only been to the Nihonbashi branch, and the size of the main shop is staggering. I am so glad I came.

The display case

Bread and cakes by their nature have to be baked every day, so making this many kinds is quite a feat.

Baked goods

There are so many kinds that it is almost frightening. I could not buy them all, and there is the storage problem too. If I lived around here I would come by often and try them one at a time.. once I make a lot of money I really need to get a house in Setagaya..

Chocolate

The selection here is no joke either, and the chocolates in the box at the top left really looked like a jewel box. I bought one to take home and enjoyed it thoroughly..

Fruit jellies (pate de fruits), nougat and so on

There are so many kinds, but as you know, Au Bon Vieux Temps does everything well, so the problem is that you cannot just walk past any of it..

Cakes

At least the cake lineup is similar to Nihonbashi, so I had already tried many of these.

Other cakes

These were cakes I had never seen before. The more I looked, the more I regretted coming alone.

The deli

They sell sausages, terrines and all sorts of things. It was not lunchtime so I did not order any, but I get the feeling that even four people could not do it justice.

I sat down in the cafe space.

Having come all this way, I could not just leave. I ordered a few things. The cafe space itself is not big, but even at that early hour a few local residents were already sitting there.

Cake, nougat and fruit jelly

The only word for this taste is art. The detail on that cake.. This was my introduction to a whole new world of desserts.

Oyamadai is not the easiest place to get to, so I always hesitated, but had I known it was this good I would have come much sooner. It is not too late, so I will be coming back often from now on.

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