Eating is not merely a material pleasure. Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship. It is of great importance to the morale. —  Elsa Schiaparelli

Kumori Japanese Bakery is a grab-and-go kind of kiosk that sells Japanese breads and pastries.  The stall displays an array of goodies that ranges from buns to whole cakes.

I’ve read that Kumori is a well known brand of bakery in Japan because of their quality bread. Moreover, these freshly baked goodies should be consumed within two days because they don’t contain any preservatives. According to them, their products are natural and handmade (meaning no stabilizer or emulsifiers used). Sounds like I am in my Pharma class. 🙂

My eyes twinkled upon seeing their display and my salivary glands started to hypersecrete. Everything looks really gastronomic. It feels good to have more and more Japanese goodies in the Philippines even if they come in small stalls.

The food here may come a bit pricey (P45+) to most (especially for a bread) but it is utterly worth it if you want something Japanese, or if your taste is looking for something novel. There offering is something that will surely placate your saccharine cravings.

Here are some of the pastries I have tried:

Soft Matcha (Green tea) Bun

I am a matcha lover so I may sound a bit biased! Sink your teeth into into this delicious soft bun with green tea cream filling drizzled with powdered sugar and Japanese matcha powder. This is where the delicate sweetness comes in. Very palatine satiating!  

Salmon Bonito

This soft bun filled with a savoury salmon filling with teriyaki sauce, is sprinkled with smoked bonito flakes.  (FYI, bonito – known as katsuo-bushi in Japanese cuisine, are flakes of dried, smoked bonito or tuna kind of fish). The taste reminds me of takoyaki.

Peach Brioche

This fruity pastry is topped with peach has a soft texture just like the matcha bun. (I also have a soft spot for anything with peaches). This, to me, is perfect with a cup of milk, or my favorite tea.

Apple Buns.

Try to visualize an apple pie that is dipped into a candy-gum mixture. Allow it to cool down until it somehow forms a thick glaze. Take a bite and slowly munch it. Lovely, juts lovely to the taste. Another sweet delight that my stomach quivered with excitement!

They have a lot more of these appealing goodies like the tofu cheesecake, their signature pastry — Kanjuku cheesecake and other buns like the Fuwa-Fuwa Bun. All these I plan at trying out the next time I visit them.

My Kumori experience was one of a kind. Every bite is indeed heavenly; it is as if you are on cloud 9!! (Trivia, “kumori” means cloudy in English).

Kumori Japanese Bakery is Now Baking in the Philippines! Pay them a visit at their two branch locations: Basement, Landmark Makati, Ayala Center. Mon-Sat, 8:30am-9:30pm. Sun, 8:30am-8:30pm. +63 2 8943306. Lower Ground Floor, SM Makati. 10am-9pm.