On our way home from Granville Island, we stopped by Aberdeen Centre to pick up some Beard Papa’s cream puff. This store is the first Canadian store for this Japanese sensation.
The cream puff craves for Beard Papa’s is like the crave for Krispy Kreme in North America, with long line-up. When we were there just after 2pm, we have to line up for 1/2 hour for the cream puff.
The shells of the cream puff are baked in customized ovens placed within visibility of the customers. The custard is filled into the shell just before they pack them up for the customer and I guess this is to maintain the freshness of the product. I remembered seeing a sign which says it’s recommended to consume the cream puff immediately after purchased or refrigerate them and consume within the same day.
There is also a sign posted at the cashier that says each customer is limited to only 1 dozen of cream puff. It is visible from the sign that the original limitation is 2 dozens. That shows that the business is so good that they can’t cope up with.
As for now, only the original custard cream puff is available at the store. It sells at $1.75 each and $9.50 for half a dozen.
The shell of the cream puff is lightly crunchy and the custard filing is creamy and smooth and not too sweet. Ben and I love this but my kids just said so, so.
I’m looking forward for their new products to be introduced in the Richmond store which includes a cream puff that will be dipped in chocolate like an Eclair and a fondant au chocolate which is a single serving of chocolate cake that oozes Belgian chocolate like a lava cake.
I tried these in Hawaii, but I wasn’t too impressed. Definitely, not enough to stand for 1/2 hour for them. On a related note, there will be an opening of Red Mango in Bellevue, Washington. Red Mango is a Korean-inspired yogurt place that’s taken California by storm. Some say these yogurts are addicting. If you heard of Pinkberry yogurt, Red Mango is supposedly similar. I’ll have to try it out to see what all this fuss is about. Check out:
http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-et-pinkberryaug04,0,7985455.story?coll=la-home-style
i love beard papa! i especially like that the pastry is a little crunchy and salty.
i had it in hawai’i though and heard it is even better in japan. (although i don’t know how this is possible.)
Beard Papa cream puffs are pretty good, but don’t have much staying power. After an hour, they become pretty mediocre. A friend of mine from Singapore recommended freezing them and having them as a cold treat. Apparently that method of eating them is all the rage there.
Different suppliers / different sourcing = different results.
I stood in line for almost 40 minutes when Beard Papa had opened in Aberdeen, just to see what the fuss was about. They are good, but are expensive and don’t have much shelf life. 🙁
Wow! Those look delicious. I wonder if Beard Papa already have a branch here in the Philippines… I want to try those! =)