Patisserie Aigre Douce エーグル・ドゥース

Stepping into this shop is like entering an old pastry shop with warm wooden tiles decor. This is Patisserie Aigre Douce, a popular patisserie in Mejiro with ratings higher than most pastry shops which I have reviewed so far. The first thing that struck me was the wide selection of more than 10 petit gateauxs. Second, the kitchen seems rather efficient at stocking up the cakes as hardly any item ran out of stock despite the steady flow of customers.
Chef-owner Terai Norohiko opened his shop in 2004. He directs his energy towards producing cakes that must be delicious and rigorous on techniques. Any fanciful decor is largely frowned upon. His signature item is the long pound cake sticks which I have absolutely ZERO interest in.  

But it did have one petite gateaux that made my heart flutter and that is the Salted Caramel Tart. Once my knife to cut through it beautifully to expose the neatly divided inter layers, I knew this would be awesome. Indeed, I found myself dumbfounded by the magnificence of this simple creation.

Milk chocolate mousse, gooey salted caramel ganache and caramel nuts in a crumbly tart shell. The components are so straightforward, but yet very few had succeeded to stir emotional responses within me. This what I call a TRUE salted caramel tart.  

The Ivoirine (560 yen) reminded me of a flamboyant campfire with its poking meringue sticks. It looked gimmicky, but nothing more than white chocolate mousse, orange compote and a moist sponge. Nevertheless, the texture was extremely airy and pleasurable.  

The Tiramisu Eclair (560 yen) was less crusty than the ideal cookie choux crust like the ones by Le RCinq. It was literally a tiramisu transported to the middle of an eclair shell.All the necessary components like the coffee soaked finger sponges and mascarpone cheese were on standby. And the dust of cocoa powder on top was definitely was not in scarcity, for I was nearly choked by the thin layer of cocoa-covered chocolate layered on the eclair.However, the Caramel Chantily was a more dependable cream puff as the choux puff was crunchy, toasty and stuffed with an unbelievably amount of custard cream beneath the caramel fresh cream despite the featherlight weight.

Gilotto (cassis chocolate mousse, white chocolate mousse, cassis and sponge) 

Delice Au Poire (Pear Gelee, Pear Bavaroise, Sponge, Sable Base)  

The Gilotto and Pear Mousse Cake are colors apart but they were both too sweet. The distinct flavour of cassis and pear were muted and the structure lacked sophistication, considering the fact it is one of the highly reputed patisseries in Tokyo.I cannot not add a few packs of the shiny florentines into the shopping basket. Shaped like a flattened cookie sandwich instead of rectangular bars, the black sesame version is filled with real bitter chocolate while the Earl Grey version contained really assertive white honey. They are as nutty as those by Atelier de Florentines, but chewy and pliable. So good that they are more invest-worthy than the mousse cakes. 

Overall, I did not find myself falling in love with this place as much as I wanted. The hasty service did turn me off on following visits too. But the Salted Caramel Tart and Florentines will be something I would remember of Aigre Douce.  

Aigre Douce  エーグル・ドゥース

Thurs-Tues 10am-7pm 

Closed on Wed 

Shinjuku-Ku, Shita-ochiai 3-22-13 

Nearest station: JR Meijiro 

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