Boissier, the Daimaru Tokyo cafe-style outlet of a French patissier, is a place that I noticed in passing once when taking the elevator up to the Daimaru restaurant floor. You wouldn’t think it, but there are cafes on most of the intermediate floors too. And they (this one at least) are enormous. I was expecting to use hack phrases like ‘a jewel box of a cafe’ to describe this place, but its relevance to that sort of cafe is akin to a walk-in closet’s to an actual jewelry box.
It’s cool though, isn’t it? I genuinely like the way they mix new and old with the furnishing style, bright colors, and decor. Look at the mural – if you get up a little closer, you’ll see that the classical motif has been ‘enhanced’ by pixillating it digitally. In more interesting matters, look at the cake case. That’s why I wanted to go.
Well, cakes doth not a diet make, and you have to eat something more substantial first. Unfortunately your options for lunch are limited to…the sandwich set. This is a pathetic sandwich, isn’t it? Too bad. At least it was egg salad, which I find extremely comforting.
The tea was very nice too – served in an iron pot, with a timer to manage the steeping period, and an interesting cup to drink from. You’re picking up, I think, that you need to derive some satisfaction from the style and environment if you want to have a good lunch here. You won’t be full or entertained, savory-wise.
Another thing that helps is that you can sit and look out the window. Of course, the Bocuse branch upstairs has a much better view (9 floors will do that for you), and better food, and…let’s forget it. One must try new places, mustn’t one?
Well, that brings us to dessert, and I was very happy with this macaron cake. Eating something this size (3-4 inches, sort of 2-3 times regular macaron size, and with a higher filling-shell ratio) isn’t the same as eating a macaron, but the shells were still pretty robust. The chocolate cream was good, but the very heavy coffee cream inside, and the cracked coffee beans on top, made this something special in my opinion.
Boissier’s chocolates are top-end, at least price-wise – a box of 4 will set you back $12-14 depending on what you get. The cakes are much cheaper, so a nice way to see what they can do. I shan’t be back to this place, but I’m happy I went, and I’d keep it in mind if you happen to be one of my readers who shops at Daimaru all the time while her husband works at the company and the kids are at private school.
A large segment, that.
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