Ginza Kimura-ya Tokyo Bakery and Café

The Honolulu outpost of this venerable Japanese bakery opened quietly and with little fanfare about 4 months ago.  I haven't had the opportunity to stop in to try the baked goods until now.

Ginza Kimura-ya was founded in 1869 and was the first Western-style bakery to open in Japan.  And believe it or not, this bakery is still open to this day.  They are most famous for their sakura (salted cherry blossom petals) an pan which was created at the request of the Meiji Emperor.

Because of this bakery's history, I was almost obliged to sample it's an pan.  Instead of just trying one of the bakery's offerings, I decided to get one of each that was being offered.

sakura an pan (salted cherry blossom petals, US$1.50)...

shiro an pan (white bean paste topped with sesame seeds,US$1.50)...

ogura an pan (azuki bean paste,US$1.50)...

When I bought these, they were fresh out of the oven.  Nice and warm, I took them straight home to be enjoyed.

I started with my favorite, shiro an pan.

The bread itself was so light, soft and fluffy.  The white bean paste was sweet and smooth.  And the ratio of bean paste to bread was perfect.  The sesame seeds provided the perfect finishing touch.

Next I sampled the famed sakura an pan.

The sakura an pan was also very delicious.  Soft, fluffy bread surrounded azuki bean paste (I think) and in the middle was a bit of the sakura (salted cherry blossoms).  The saltiness of the cherry blossoms provided a perfect foil to the sweet bean paste.  I think this may just become my new favorite!

Last was the ogura an pan.

The bread was the same as that of the other 2, soft and fluffy.  It surrounded a lot of nice, smooth azuki bean paste.  This was my least favorite of the 3.  Why?  Well, for one thing, I thought the flavor of the azuki bean paste was a little over powering.  I normally like to have a bit more bread than filling, and in this case, there was a lot of filling.  The second thing?  I just like the other two more!

This has just become my new FAVORITE place to get an pan from.  I'll be sure to come back here again next week!

Ginza Kimura-ya Tokyo Bakery and Café
Kahala Mall
4211 Waialae Avenue 
Telephone:  808.735.9600

Comments

[santos]

looks delish! when you were at kahala mall, did you say hello to jack lord's head over by macy's? it's my new favourite thing :-)

http://not_even.blogspot.com/2004/07/busted-on-june-17th-bust-of-jack-lord_08.html

[Min]

Healthier than my krispy kreme lunch heh heh:p

[umami]

Yay, an pan!

One of my favourite too, ever since (the now defunct) Yaohan introduced this to S'pore over 20 years ago- I remember the long queues very well. I've never had sakura blossoms before, hmm wonder if we'll ever get to try these in S'pore.

[Cathy]

Hi Reid - these are fascinating. I'm not familiar with them, but they look really good. I like the cut-away views!

[Reid]

Hi Santos,

No, I didn't get to see Jack Lord near Macy*s. Will keep an eye out and snap a pic for you next time I'm down in that area.

Hi Min,

It might be a "little" bit healthier than your Krispy Kreme, but I don't know if it's any more delicious! =)

Hi Umami,

Long time no hear! I love an pan! They are my favorite Japanese pastries. If you'd like, I can bring some of the sakura ones for you to try when I come to S'pore in November. Just let me know. =)

Hi Cathy,

If you've never tried an pan, they are a bit like baked char siu bao except the bread is fluffier and these normally have sweet bean paste fillings.

[Mariko]

Ohhh, yum, and thanks, too, for the chocolate cake recipe! You know what is funny is a friend was JUST telling me about Kimuraya and their famed steamed cake. She sent me a recipe for it (a weirdly translated one), and it has shoyu in it! I need to make that one of these days. That anpan looks SOOO good.

[Reid]

Hi Mariko,

Thanks for stopping by. Ginza Kimura-ya has some delicious pastries. I just went by there again to have the sakura an pan. It is really delicious! I've never had their steamed cake before. Please let me know how it turns out. =)

[anthony]

Love Japanese food but I'd have to put Japanese bakeries down there with Japanese wineries. Favourite anko treat though are the hot fish shaped taiyaki. Takes a little while to get over the flavour/shape dissonance but after that, well I guess I never expected chocolate Easter bunnies to taste of rabbit.

[Reid]

Hey Anthony,

Is taiyaki the fish-shaped cake that's fried and filled with red bean paste? If so, then I like it too. I can get it at one of the shops here that sells Japanese food. I'm going to buy one and post it up soon. =)

Not many people that I know are fond of Japanese breads for some reason. What's really funny is that most of the Japanese bakeries in Hawaii sell French-style breads and pastries.

[anthony]

The very things. Very popular as festival food and often you'll find them as makeshift stalls on the streets. They also do chocolate and custard ones.

[Reid]

Hi Anthony,

The custard ones sound great!

[Stella Ting]

With blessing I walked into Ginza Kimuraya, Tokyo some 8 years ago (bringing my sister home to Singapore - she hurt her back) . Seeing the long que for the bun I bought some to try. Wow! today I am still in love with its taste and bite. I hope to bring Kimuraya into Singapore. Lord, grant me this desire.

[Reid]

Hi Stella,

Thanks for dropping by the site. Yes, I loved Ginza Kimura-ya when I went to Japan, but never got to try the famed sakura an pan (it was always sold out). I'm glad they decided to open a branch here in Hawaii, now I can have this at least once a week!

[mincy]

Please email me the recipe for your haupia anpan..

[Reid]

Hi Mincy,

Welcome to the site. Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe for haupia anpan. Perhaps you can do a search over the net for one. Good luck! =)

[Tim]

In a round about way I was reminded of the delicious Anpan I ate at from your store in 1969 and 70. We used to visit the Ginza store after school at the Japanese Language Center which was near the Tokyo Tower. My wife Misa and I recently flew JA LAX to Kansai Airport and our stewardess was a Mrs. Kimura. Some how we found out she is married to a son of Kimura Pan Ya. She loves working as a stewardess for JA, and has three very cute Shitsu dogs that she showed us pictures of. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such beautiful photographs of dogs. Mrs. Kimura is a delightful person and I am grateful to have been reminded of those nice treats from so long ago.

[Reid]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for stopping by my blog to share that wonderful story. I went to the original Kimura-ya years ago, but for some reason I don't even remember eating the an pan there. Hope to get back there sometime soon so that I can compare. It probably tastes much better in Japan!

[Sandy]

Hi Reid

I was wondering if you have the Anpan recipe, if you do please send me a copy because i'm working on a project in school and i really want to introduce Anpan to my class thank you very much!!!

[Reid]

Hi Sandy,

Thanks for dropping by my blog. =)

Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe for this bakery's anpan. I wouldn't even dare to make something like this. It would take too long, and probably be too costly for the one or two that I'd be likely to eat in one sitting.

If I can find a recipe, I'll let you know.

[elif bengu]

hi,
I'm desperately looking for an "anpan" recipe...

anyone able to find one?

do yumind to share with me, my email adress is benguelif@gmail.com

thanks and have an nice day

[Reid]

Hi elif bengu,

Thank you for stopping by my blog. Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe for an pan. If I do come across one worth sharing, I'll be more than happy to pass it along.

[Tolkien]

I recently had the Roast Beef Sandwich and House Salad, probably the best RB I've ever had.

[Reid]

Hi Tolkien,

Welcome to the blog.

The food at Ginza Kimura-ya is quite good. I haven't tried the roast beef, but the salads are amazing. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll try the roast beef next time.