“Gheureux” closed permanently on Sunday, March 14, 2020.
A Pastry Shop in the Old Downtown
Tucked into a corner of a run-down shopping street in an old downtown neighborhood, this is a pastry shop run single-handedly by its owner.
There is nothing flashy about it; anyone passing by for the first time would have no idea whether it was even open. The sign sits inside the shop, so it hardly stands out, and since the owner generally works at the back of the counter, it is hard to tell whether the place is open at all—making it a very difficult shop to step into. This is the pastry shop known as “Gheureux.”
Gheureux
About a ten-minute walk from Shin-Okachimachi Station, there is a quiet little shopping street called “Okazu Yokocho.” Far from bustling, it has an atmosphere that rather calls to mind a street of shuttered storefronts. The pastry shop “Gheureux” on this street is run by its sole owner, who opens on an irregular schedule.
Inside, there is none of the display case you would find in an ordinary pastry shop; the products are simply arranged, somewhat haphazardly, on a wooden desk. Only price tags are set out—there are no cards naming the items—so it is the kind of shop where you cannot really tell what each cake is without asking the staff.
After you have been in the shop for a while, the owner of “Gheureux” appears from the back—and she is a woman. Young, beautiful, and cheerful, at that. It comes as a bit of a surprise.
Custom Cakes
As you can tell from the photos on “Gheureux”‘s Instagram, you are sure to be impressed by the wide-ranging versatility and artistry of its custom cakes.
And now I would like to show you the cake we ordered this time.
The motif is this—a work by the well-known Yoshitomo Nara.
The cake itself was delicious too—a chocolate cake that isn’t too sweet. Inside it had a crisp, crackly texture, as if thin sheets of chocolate had been layered in. You can also discuss all sorts of options for the cake’s flavor.
Plenty of berries, too. The flavor isn’t cloying, leaving a light, clean finish.
Gheureux （Cake / Shin-Okachimachi Station、Asakusabashi Station、Kuramae Station）
Lunch overall rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
