A yellow box with Beard Papa brandingAt a barbeque recently, someone brought dessert to the party in a familiar yellow box and I immediately wondered why they’d reuse a pastry box from another city. Because the Japanese chain Beard Papa’s had many locations all around the world – but not in Toronto. UNTIL NOW. There’s always been a fascination with Beard Papa for me. During a visit to San Francisco years ago, it happened to be the first thing I would eat after 15 hours of travel. I ordered two (vanilla and matcha) with a large cup of Earl Grey tea and got down to business. At that point, I had gone past hungry to being not-hungry, so I slowly enjoyed my first meal of the day sitting on a cool metal chair in the breezy coastal air. It was quite lovely. So with some too much giddiness, I discovered that Beard Papa had opened a location in Pacific Mall. Serendipitously for me, I already had plans to visit this Markham mall the very next day. Didn’t take much to locate their shop on the 2nd floor in the North food court and notice the small crowd along its perimeter. A crowd that had greatly increased by the time I had my very own box of cream puffs in vanilla, matcha, and banana. I took-off with my haul and a mental triumphant “squee!”. Vanillia is a classic and my favourite. Creamy and not very heavy – it’s perfect. Green Tea is a close second with the faint bitterness of matcha (which I like) on the tongue. The banana I tried had a very fresh banana taste, but I would get the vanilla over the banana any day. While I know this isn’t the pinnacle of cream puff-ery, I enjoy eating these not-too-sweet treats nonetheless. Light and airy, this is a lovely afternoon (or after breakfast, or after dinner…) snack.

My favourite: Vanilla.

Coincidentally (RFD must have known about my love of Beard Papa… and that I’d post today!), today’s (Oct. 20, 2010) Deal Of The Day over at Redflagdeals.com is $10 for a box of 2 vanilla, 2 green tea, and 2 “feature flavour” puffs, as well as 2 cheese cakes and 2 fondue chocolate cakes. I’ve already snagged my coupons!

  • Beard Papa’s, 2nd floor, Pacific Mall, 4300 Steeles Ave East, Markham

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More Beard Papa’s

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