Thessaloniki’s love for flaky pies is actually pretty impressive. It probably helps that it’s a great, quick breakfast that you can eat on the go. Seeing people munching on a slice of pie in a paper bag is an extremely common sight in the morning.
Trigona Elenidi has been serving up trigona — a triangular Greek pastry filled with a custardy cream — since 1960. And while they also serve a handful of other desserts, trigona is clearly the main attraction. It’s right there in the name.
I stumbled across Archontis while wandering around Thessaloniki one morning. They seemed to have a decent crowd going, so I figured I’d give them a shot.
There’s a Greek dessert called tsoureki — a sweet, bready pastry that’s typically served for Easter, though some places serve it year round. One of those places: Terkenlis, a Thessaloniki bakery that serves a beloved take on the dessert.
Sure, you could eat a healthy breakfast. Or you could eat a slice of bougatsa, a pastry that finds a sweet, creamy filling wrapped in crispy phyllo dough. It’s served with an extra sprinkling of powdered sugar and cinnamon on top. It’s basically dessert for breakfast, and it’s great.
After my absurdly horrible ramen experience at the Sapporo airport, the Food Gods clearly decided to take pity on me, basically dropping an amazing pastry right in my lap.
Though you can find cheese tarts all across Japan (and across the world — at least a couple places have opened in Toronto that serve these things in the last few years), they’re originally from Hokkaido.
There are about a million Choco Cro locations in Sendai (or is that St. Marc Cafe? The sign says both, but “Choco Cro” is clearly bigger). Eventually, after passing one for twentieth time and seeing the display of chocolate croissants outside of the store, my curiosity got the better of me. I had to check it out.
Rue de Passy actually does a pretty great job of recapturing the vibe of a Parisian patisserie (apparently the owner learned to make pastries in France).
Add this to the always-growing list of line-based discoveries. The line-up at Yanagiya Taiyaki is pretty intense, even by Tokyo’s line-loving standards.