The delights of TOMO pastry

Have you seen Naomi Kawase’s movie “Sweet Bean”? (Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_ySsqUptJs). If you want to sample these famous dorayakis but also many other delicacies, the Tomo pastry shop is the address we recommend and have tried and tested for you.

To discover this place located a 15-minute walk from the hotel, you can cross the Palais Royal. The walk will be particularly pleasant. Please note that the pastry shop opens at noon and it’s better to avoid the rush hour (4 pm) when there may be twenty or so customers waiting in the street.

The business is run by a young Frenchman, Romain Gaia, and a Japanese man, Takanori Murata, who comes from a family of pastry chefs and is the former head pastry chef of the starred restaurant “Aida” where he met Romain Gaia. Romain Gaia is a pastry chef who has lived in Japan, speaks Japanese and has immersed himself in the world of wagashis (traditional Japanese pastries). I was unaware, but it was he who welcomed me and informed me about his products. He is very kind.

Although there are 2 Tomo pastry shops in Paris, all products are made in the respective workshops of each pastry shop. Only the production of “Anko” (Azuki red bean confit) is centralized. The pastries are produced for the day, so none of the pastries you will see in the stalls are more than a day old.

The place offers a tea room.

The offer is seasonal. I have retained, for the pleasure of my team, 5 dorayakis and 2 mochis. To put it simply, dorayakis look a bit like a pancake, but their taste and texture are more refined. This base is then processed and added to other ingredients to form a pastry.

Mochi is a preparation based on glutinous rice which constitutes the outer shell. Its filling is processed in layers of different constituents.

Let’s begin our tasting session:

Baba dorayaki with Nikka whisky and vanilla cream from Madagascar: It is very caramelized thanks to the excellent whisky and a successful combination with the dorayaki and vanilla. Subtle and not too sweet. Our rating: 7.5/10

Kurogama dorayaki (on the right in the photo above), with a black sesame mousseline and seasonal red fruits (we had cherries and raspberries). The black sesame cream is delicious. The cherries are slightly candied. We noticed a few small salt crystals. The dorayakis are absolutely delicious. 8/10.

Tropézien dorayaki, infused with olive oil and Madagascar vanilla, orange blossom cream: A subtle taste of thunder. Less impressive than the first two. No big surprises. 6/10

Strawberry dorayaki. Vanilla diplomat cream, strawberry brunoise, strawberry jelly and oat bran topping: The strawberry is excellent. A dorayaki-style strawberry adaptation. Less surprising and less exotic but exquisite.7/10

Let’s move on to the mochis.

Peach domyoji mochi: crushed rice, white bean cream, peach. The texture of the rice is grainy and very original. The peach, slightly candied, and the white bean are a very good combination. It’s very reminiscent of spring, like a refreshing, gentle breeze. Truly delicious. 9/10

Fig daifuku mochi: Red bean jam and fresh fig. Excellent jam.

All in all, the pastries we tasted are very light. This seasonal selection is well suited to summer. The flavors are refined, not very sweet and the assembly is beautiful. The place is rather pleasant and the welcome is also pleasant but also instructive. Average price of a pastry : 6,20€.

TOMO
11 rue Chabanais – 75002 Paris
Ouvert tous les jours de 12h à 12h
https://patisserietomo.fr/