Sadaharu Aoki 2

As i was really depressed today so i needed something to cheer me up. So of course, i went to Xinyi area, and of course, i ended up in the basement of Bellavita to look at Sadaharu Aoki’s pastries. At first i wanted a flan or a religieuse, something simple, that you can find everywhere back home, like a  comfort food. But the weather was turning nice, and for me nice weather= refine pastries. And as Sadaharu Aoki had just reopened this week, well, i decided to go for it.

I first picked a strawberry éclair, just because i couldn’t resist its look. Like a love at first sight. You see it, you want it. Even though i’m neither a strawberries lover nor an éclair one. But look at those colors and the little flowers. Can you find something cuter? But anyway. Verdict?
The dough is nice, not too soft, not too hard, which is perfect when you cut it, because the cream doesn’t flow everywhere. The frosting is also nicely done.
However i must say that i’m not really fond of the strawberry cream. Why? Because i find it too sweet first, and because i think it has a chemical taste. It doesn’t really have the real strawberry flavor. It’s ok once you get used to it i guess, but just i wasn’t expecting this. Nice looking but a little disappointing in taste.

Then i went for the mille-feuille, what i originally came for. Vanilla is my chocolate we could say. I’m not a chocolate fan, but i could die for vanilla. The main problem is that i’m often frustrated when it comes to vanilla desserts, because they don’t have enough vanilla flavor (that is except the Infiniment vanille tart from P.Hermé). So how was this vanilla mille-feuille…

the pastry dough was really good. Crispy, with a thin caramel layer, well it’s one of the best i’ve ever had so far. For that, the mille-feuille was worthing it. But again, the vanilla cream is just a little bland compared to the caramelized dough. The good point though, are the crispy pieces on the vanilla cream. So i think even though it’s not the best ever, it’s really good, and surely the best in the city. Go for it if you can.

And finally, the Yuzu-vanilla tart. Everyone in Paris was Yuzu here and there when i left last-year, but i didn’t know what it was exactly except that it was Japanese (not too hard to guess with its name). But just by tasting, you know that’s a citrus.

Now, i was expecting vanilla, because that’s what is written first, but that’s more a yuzu tart. Vanilla is only here to soften the yuzu taste. You nearlycan’t taste anything since the yuzu is quite strong (just like lemon and vanilla:you can forget about the vanilla flavor).
I tried the mousse alone and it’s the same. The flavor isn’t really existing. However the yuzu cream is really good. In fact, it should have been called a Yuzu vanilla tart. Again the name was tricky, the real star of the pastry is the Yuzu, not the vanilla.

If you like Yuzu, go for it, it’s delicious. I really recommand it. I think i’ll try more pastries with Yuzu in the futur to have an alternative with lemon.