This post was written in 2005. Shop details and prices may have changed since then.
Just because a place is a chain with branches everywhere doesn’t mean it’s as bland as McDonald’s.
That’s especially true in Japan: at places like Pepper Lunch, the tendon (tempura rice bowl) chains, or the Saint Etoile bakery, whichever branch you walk into
you get decent food at about the same level. It may not be the finest taste out there, but it’s cheap and
great value for money. That’s exactly why the chains are all over the place..
Saint Etoile is one of those, and you can find it all over Japan. There’s even one in front of
the office I work at. I think I’ve mentioned before that Japanese bread is good ^^ and the bread
here is pretty tasty too. It may fall a bit short of the bakeries in Kobe or Osaka ^_^; but for a neighborhood bakery
this is really excellent.
Below is the basic format of the lunch^^ I eat almost every day. Warm milk and one bread,
and sometimes I’ll have a few mini breads on top. If I’ve had breakfast before coming in, or if I’m running late,
lunch ends up being really awkward, so I often drop by Saint Etoile.
My favorites here are anything fresh out of the oven, and the curry bread. Curry bread fresh from the oven
I love even more, of course ^^ The one in the photo is a cheese bread, and the whole top is mild, delicious
cheese. It tastes really good~ Besides this there are all sorts of other breads.
Everything in Japan is so expensive that eating out is a pain, but if I keep it simple with bread it doesn’t cost
that much and it tastes great, so I’m very happy with it. The only problem.. is that I should bring my camera
when I head out for lunch every day and take pictures, but I’m too lazy to actually do it,
I guess? ^^
Anyway, now that I’ve got a camera, I should update the blog more often.