La Boulangerie Richer - ラ ブランジェ リシェ

Astoundingly Average Bakery

Visited on Sunday morning near opening time, and there were a few people, but it wasn’t extremely busy. The lay out of the store is simple, but I can imagine the slightly narrow aisles among the bread offerings could be cramped when the store becomes busier. Tried the banana bread, but it wasn’t too my liking. I enjoy banana mashed into the batter and baked into the bread rather than a whole banana baked right into the middle of the bread, but the flavor of the loaf overall was good. I went in search of bagels, and bought a blueberry and a plain, and after eating them, they were more of what I’ve come to expect from most Japanese bakeries, circular bread. They taste fine, but they lack the sinewy texture that I got used to eating them in America. The Japanese palate may just be different. The variety of breads and sandwiches was varied, and the pistachio and raspberry croissants looked flaky and delicious, but this bakery also does this odd thing of not putting out all of their baked goods before opening. Most of what’s on offer is out, but then a staff member methodically delivers a few more croissants or other baked goods throughout the morning. The staff overall didn’t seem very enthusiastic about the running of the store which was a bit of a departure from the stellar customer service that I’m used to. I may try a few different breads, but based on my experience and the bread’s just above average quality, I’ll most likely stay in my local area for baked goods.