Chez Shibata  

I've bought 2 coupons at $88 each. We can choose any 3 cakes with one coupon. A pretty good deal. But we have to finish 3 cakes in one time for 2 persons.

There seems not much cakes left. As I am afraid those nicer cakes will be taken by people who came after me (also holding coupons), I didn't spend much time in thinking what cakes to choose. So, I order the following:

(1) Must order item: Ceur des bois (Red heart-shaped signature cake) $38

Only one left. I think I am lucky to get the last one. Very nice looking. With rasberry filling. Tastes a little bit too sour (or may be I've tried the other sweet cakes). A really soft mousse filling. (I think that's called bavarois?!) This cake seems like the one that I've tried in Petite Amanda. I think their ingredients are pretty much the same. But I think the one of Petite Amanda tastes better. But this one looks better~

(2) Saint Marc (Caramel, vanilla and chocolate mousse) $36

It looks rather typical. But I was attracted by the cream inside the cake (I am a super cream-lover) and the ingredient: caramel.I can say I quite like this~ the cream is a very soft and smooth one (Good!). The caramel is not too sweet and is also balanced by the bitter chocolate mousse. But as a sweet-lover, I don't mind if the chocolate mousse is a sweet one too. But it may turn out to be too sweet to most of the people.

(3) Mont Blanc ( Crispy Almond Meringue coated with 62% Dark Chocolate with chesnut cream on top) $40

This is the most 'complicated' one among the three. It consists of chesnut cream on top, chocolate, almond meringue & some almond crispy thing (sorry, I don't know what exactly it is! ) Chesnut cake should be my all-time least favourite. But as this looks really nice and costs $40, so I don't mind choose it!!! And it turns out to be my favourite among the three. The chesnut cream is really soft, smooth and tastes really good. Mixed up so good with the extra crispy almond thing inside.

I still have one coupon left and I can't wait to try another three cakes.

various products with beautiful decorationreserve our cakes before dinner timeMangue Cassis $40Coeur des bois = $38, Mont blance = $40high-quantity cakes which excited both of usquality good coffee & summer-special good place for chating during weekdaycouple which can deduct $50 after $100 expense;
meet friend with a light-meal after a crazy-tuesday: we enjoy the chating time with no other customer within 1.5 hours;
praise should open to public since the "red-heart" really move us either the performance or the taste, though weather is hot & the light keep "melting' our cake, the taste just right for the balance between sweet & sour, thus the chocolate should be a strong attraction to those chocolate-lover; the rest 2 taste (take-away) is not bad: chestnut-cream is rich but a little bit too sweet, compare with the mango is better with the pudding inside, what a lovely day with lovely person for the dessert time ^^!!

searching on openrice to check on my several experience before:
1. http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2147862
2. http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?shopid=48350&commentid=2146340,
i found myself both giving only OK for mr japanese.
however,today i was definitely giving him a GOOD~!!i chose Chocolate banana cake$36...4.5/5
as hommy described,
this cake was in eight layers,
with chocolate brownie cake,
chocolate mousse and banana mousse.
here i wanna make a clearer,
which i was mislead that the white layer was banana mousse,
but it wasn't.white one was just whipped cream,
where the taste of banana was actually infused in the second layer of chocolate mousse.
the middle layer of chocolate cake was soaked with strong wine,so it was wet and strong,
but as the first and bottom layer of brownie was not made the same way,
the whole cake was well balanced.
i love the chocolate sauce on top,
because the banana flavor in the cake was quite strong that now the extra chocolate sauce gain back some attention of "choco".next target will be PRAY FOR JAPAN as its description was the longest ( something like hazelnut and chocolate plus white chocolate and pistachio...),
haha~!

When a Japanese patisserie chef is so famous that shop branches range from Japan, Shanghai and HK, diners would have reasonable expectation for the quality of cakes bought as the price should correspond to its taste. However, my friend and I concluded that the cakes of this Japanese crossover Western style pattiserie might not worth such high price. Its appearance is quite attractive, like the heart-shaped Coeur des Bois, which would be a pleasant gift for your loved ones. However, the taste wasn't as outstanding as other pattiserie like Tony Wong/ cake shop in Mandarin Oriental which value similarly. The moouse inside is not smooth enough and there is not much surprise, apart from its appearance.La Venus is another cake which might be overvalued. The chocolate taste is rich, but that richness cannot be compared with the best ones, and not even the rich chocolate taste of Cova. A bit disappointed with the chocolate taste here. But the layers of cakes and crust underneath was acceptable.

Eclair is out of my expectation, the crust is soft and the caramel fillings were not rich enough, a bit watery.

last time tried the diamond tart..........
this time order their signature........
chocolate蛋糕上的dark sauce稍軟..........
rich chocolate flavor..........
but Le Salon De Thé de Joël Robuchon which having a similar cake with caramel pear inside is much better........
because this mousse inside is a bit same texture wth the outside chocolate layer........
so become boring and not as surprise as Le Salon De Thé de Joël Robuchon............
cheese cake 餅底脆身..........
味道佳............
好吃.............
cheese層milk味突出.........
輕柔的cream added on top頗夾cheese cake.......................
使蛋糕不會too膩............
反之酸酸的fruits too little and very sour.........
yee?
i remember last time i so much recommend their sweet sweet berries~!

Was at Elements the other day and passed by Chez Shibata, a famous Japanese patisserie and tea salon. So I picked up two signature cakes to share with my family at home.Coeur des bois ($38) - This was the first cake I chose without hesitation. It stood out from the rest because it was bright red, it was heart shaped, and I love raspberries! The Coeur de bois is a vanilla bavarois with a raspberry jelly and a light sponge cake layer on the bottom. The bavarois was light with an airy texture, which contrasted nicely with the tart jelly in the middle. The thin sponge was a bit too wet, which made the texture kind of grainy.Tranche Maccha ($40) - I love green tea and chocolate, so I decided to get this one too. It's a chocolate sponge cake layered with green tea mousse and chocolate mousse, decorated with chocolate pearls and a chocolate ribbon. This cake was okay - I didn't like the fact that again, the sponge was soggy. It was soaked in an orange liquor, which didn't work so well with the green tea and chocolate. There could be a better balance between the chocolate and the green tea - while I do love some strong dark chocolate, it made tasting the green tea difficult.

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. There was a huge hype about this patisserie, and the cakes do look like art on a plate. Sadly, it just didn't taste as good as it looked, or as good as it costs. Probably won't be a next time.

http://pleasuresofeating.blogspot.com/2011/02/nibbles-chez-shibata.html

Was standing in line waiting to pick out a selection of cakes, instead of serving the next in line the waitress was just randomly helping whoever stuck their hands out first. I told her I was in line but the waitress did not respond even though she saw I was there waiting. First person cut me off thats fine, until after she finished helping her instead of helping me she took the order from the person next to me. So forget it I left, but as I walked by again I heard the waitress talking about me so I get fuming mad and ask to see the manager.
Manager was apologetic but I wasn't in the mood for cake anymore. All I wanted was to try your cakes, too bad cause you lost a customer.

Chez Shibata is a Japanese-French patisserie which has been franchised in Shanghai and in September, Hong Kong. My first visit to Chez Shibata was shortly after its opening, and tried out the first five reviewed desserts below, and on a second visit, tried the two signatures plus one croissant. My experiences with each cake varied, but nonetheless good overall.


"Tranche Maccha" ($40)
green tea mousse, chocolate mousse, sponge, green tea powder and crispy chocolate balls
this was naturally my first choice, since i love matcha and chocolate (both separately and together!). but i must say this was one of my least favourites from Chez Shibata, since this was poorly executed. the cake comprised of green tea mousse, chocolate mousse, and (orange?) sponge, all of which were overly 'wet' and not very pleasant in the mouth. green tea mousse could have been stronger, and so could the chocolate mousse. sponge layers were so thin and drenched you could hardly taste them. i have no idea if they are always like this, or if it was just my unlucky day, but a pastry chef should know when his batch of cakes have gone bad and therefore not allow them to be sold... 4.5/10

"Mont Blanc" ($38)
chesnut, cream, chocolate flakes, chocolate sponge
this was E's first choice, as she loves all things chesnut! as far as I remember, the top underneath the chocolate flakes were chesnut puree and beneath that layers of sweet cream and chocolate sponge. the whole dessert was not too sweet and was quite good, balanced, but again towards the bottom of the cup was wet cake... 7/10

"Macaron Emotion" ($34)
cream, macaron, strawberries, custard, jam.
my favourite so far, the crispy macaron shells were surprisingly not overly sweet, and the filling of fresh strawberries, custard and strawberry jam worked very well, was balanced, and very enjoyable. 9/10

"Verrine Plaisirs" ($36)
white chocolate mousse, chocolate mousse, passionfruit jelly, mango
mousses were not set properly (i.e. liquid when spooned), and I didn't really think the sour fruits went with the white and milk chocolate mousses at all... 2/10


"Mi Cuit Fromage" ($36)
cream, berries, cheesecake
this cheesecake was a toned down version of the American cheesecake - a lot smaller and much less sweeter for the Asian palate. one thing we noticed was the lovely strong fragrance of the cheese when we opened the box, and the taste and texture definitely did not disappoint. before you reach the biscuit base there's a thin layer of berry puree as well. would definitely recommend if you like baked cheesecakes! 8.5/10

"Éclair au caramel" ($32)
choux, caramel, salted butter cubes
upon examination, this eclair is slightly different to the standard pastrycreme filled choux pastry and a glaze. this thinner and longer version had no pastry creme, but only layers of a strong and wonderful caramel. the cubes of salted butter melted instantly in the mouth, and matched nicely with the already-perfect caramel (strong in flavour yet balanced in sweetness). my only complaint would be the texture of the choux - if it could be crisper this pastry would have been peerrrrrfecttt! 8/10

"Couer de bois" ($38)
sponge, peanuts, mousse, raspberry mousse, raspberry jam, red sugar, raspberries.
this, being one of Shibata's signatures, as well as its perfect red heart shape prompted me to pick this. the red exterior is simply coloured sugar (very thin layer), and inside is a very light mousse-type layer, sort of like whipped mascarpone, not very strong in taste. in the middle you will find raspberry mousse and raspberry jelly, which gives the cake a tangy/sweet punch of flavour - quite refreshing indeed. lastly, at the bottom is a thin sponge as base sprinkled with some peanuts, which I disliked passionately. I believe the purpose was to add crunchiness and textural differences to the cake but the taste of peanuts really did not match the sour raspberry and light (mascarpone) mousse...! 7/10

"Raspberry almond croissant" ($20)
croissant, custard, jam, almond topping.
definitely not something for breakfast. this pastry is sweet with its raspberry jam and custard filling, as well as the sweet almond and butter topping. again, better if the croissant could be more crisp. 6.5/10

on both times I had the desserts to-go, but had them around 10 minutes after being packed. There are a couple tables in-store if you wish to have them there, but this will cost you an extra $5 per piece, plus 10% service...

original post and pictures, visit
http://gastronomerr.blogspot.com/2010/10/chez-shibata.html

Date: Tuesday 12th Oct 2010 9.20pm

Ordered: Signature Cheesecake半熟芝士蛋糕 + Custurd cake 焦糖香草忌廉蛋糕 + Almond Cream Puff 鹽味焦糖泡芙

Taste: Cheesecake 半熟芝士蛋糕 It was delicious. At first I was sceptic. How can a half cooked cheesecake be good. But it was rich in flavour. i loved the texture, it was dense but with moist unlike some cheesecake it could be very dry. You can taste the cheese but you can taste a rich flavour of egg. it was very weird but i liked the taste. it reminds me of eating egg Mayo. that creamy egg taste but with cheese. served with some cream on top with extra creamy taste and moist. it was very good indeed. too bad it was so little.

Almond puff-鹽味焦糖泡芙 This was very disappointing indeed. The puff was not a puff, was very soggy. seemed to me it has been there for a few days. usually puffs are light and fluffy with abit of crispiness.. it looked vey good and in generous size. It just did not seem fresh at all.

Custurd cake 焦糖香草忌廉蛋糕 I ate this 3 days after buying it so it has been sitting in the fridge for 3 days. I expected it to have gone stale, and taste like my fridge. But it was not at all. It was probably not as fresh as it was meant to be, but still better than other cakes from other shops. I can taste the strong custurd. It was so tasty. It is probably not worth nearly 40 hk dollars, but it was good, and I liked howit is crunchy on the top and it is not too sweet.

Conclusion: I expected alot from Chez Shibata as it is from Japan, but it was quite disappointing as japanese have high standards. . There are plenty of high end cakes for cheaper or same price but better than this like my favourite, Tony Wong. If it was cheaper then it is probably worth the money, but it was 36 odd hk dollars.

I longed for visiting this cake shop after the reading the newspaper.
The cake shop was quite small with only about 12 kinds of cakes. Although the chef is a Japanese, and he had two cake shops in Japan, I think the look of the cakes are not similar to the typical ones in Japan. The color of the cake was quite strange, very yellow, very pink, or very green. They were not natural at all. Was there any colour added?

The cakes were about $36-$40. After reading the review on Openrice, and seeing the actual cakes in the cake shop, I had only bought one 女神特濃朱古力慕絲蛋糕 ($40) to try.
The packing of the cake was 100% Japan. Dry ice was provided and the cake was fixed in the box with cardboard.
The cake was delicious. The chocolate was so smooth and rich. The soft spongy cake in the middle reduce the sweetness of the chocolate. The "crispy rice" inside the chocolate made it more interesting. There was also cherry in the heart. It was very lovely.