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Beard Papa comes to Vancouver

sanrensho

By sanrensho
in Western Canada: Dining

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sanrensho

sanrensho

Posted
Posted

I have it on good authority that the Beard Papa location at Aberdeen Centre is now open for business. Actually, I received a box today from my parents.

My expectations were overly high from reading all the hype, but these were very nice and what I expect from a Japanese cream puff (filled with lightened pastry cream, NOT whipped cream). The crunchy shells are also a nice change from the standard choux dough.

I imagine that Chocomoo will be all over this.

http://www.aberdeencentre.com/en/activities.php

Baker of "impaired" cakes...
Kentan

Kentan

Posted
Posted (edited)

Beard Papa cream puffs are seriously addictive. There was a small shop right next to the Shibuya train station in Tokyo that I used to frequent, probably waaay too much. They always had a lineup no matter what time of year.

Sanrensho, I guess that pastry cream is basically whipped cream + custard? The website says the filling is whipped cream and custard, but the ingredients look the same as pastry cream - see #1 and #2 under "About our sweets":

Beard Papa website

Whatever the ingredients, they're awesome. :rolleyes:

Edited by Kentan (log)

健啖家(kentan-ka)：A hearty eater

He was a wise man who invented beer." - Plato

prasantrin

prasantrin

Posted
Posted
Beard Papa cream puffs are seriously addictive. There was a small shop right next to the Shibuya train station in Tokyo that I used to frequent, probably waaay too much. They always had a lineup no matter what time of year.

Sanrensho, I guess that pastry cream is basically whipped cream + custard? The website says the filling is whipped cream and custard, but the ingredients look the same as pastry cream - see #1 and #2 under "About our sweets":

Beard Papa website

Whatever the ingredients, they're awesome.  :rolleyes:

The newer seasonal cream puffs (in Japan) usually have whipped cream filling. Maybe that's what they're referring to? They suck! I miss the custard seasonal ones.

sanrensho

sanrensho

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
Sanrensho, I guess that pastry cream is basically whipped cream + custard? The website says the filling is whipped cream and custard, but the ingredients look the same as pastry cream - see #1 and #2 under "About our sweets":

I make pastry cream quite a bit, and the filling sure seemed like it was lightened with whipped cream.

I just stole another quarter of a puff from my daughter, and I have to say that I really like how the shells stay nice and crispy. I wish I had the recipe/technique, because it would make it a lot more feasible to bring filled puffs to friends (no soggy shells).

Baker of "impaired" cakes...
MissMegan

MissMegan

Posted
Posted

I have just returned from a trip to Richmond and Aberdeen Centre and YES, Beard Papa is most definetly OPEN. They just have their regular cream puffs right now, but it looks as though the other flavours (matcha, chocolate, earl grey, etc) will all be Coming Soon, as well as their cheesecake sticks, chocolate lava cakes, and eclairs. Mmmm, heaven!

The cream puffs. incidentally, were divine! Just as I remembered them from Japan - excellent. Although they do have a 2-dozen / person limit on them at the moment. :blink:

If anyone does figure out the trick to that crispy puffy shell goodness (their literature says it's "choux pastry on the inside, pie crust on the outside") I would be *very* interested in hearing it!

PaoPao

PaoPao

Posted
Posted

We happened to be at Aberdeen Center Sat, my bride wanted to see Daiso (the $2 Asian store) so as I was walking around and saw the buzz.

When I got there and decided to get in line there must have been 100 ppl ahead of me. After 30 min. I was able to get a dozen. Unfortunately they were not selling the "Who's your Papa" T-shirts yet. Between the two of us the dozen only lasted till the next morning.

I asked my chaquita how many she had eaten of the now empty box. She replied "half". I then clarified you mean 6? She said no, half of just 1 ... chock up 11 for me then :blink: , but damn they are good.

I remember what must have been the owners, two guys in suits with their mouths wide open taking pictures of the mad rush and huge line-up.

Kentan

Kentan

Posted
Posted

If anyone does figure out the trick to that crispy puffy shell goodness (their literature says it's "choux pastry on the inside, pie crust on the outside") I would be *very* interested in hearing it!

If I remember correctly, in Japan they would be filling the shells with the choux pastry as people ordered. That would certainly lengthen the time that they stay crispy after purchase...not that I ever had any just sitting around. :laugh: But is that the way it's done here?

健啖家(kentan-ka)：A hearty eater

He was a wise man who invented beer." - Plato

Kentan

Kentan

Posted
Posted

If anyone does figure out the trick to that crispy puffy shell goodness (their literature says it's "choux pastry on the inside, pie crust on the outside") I would be *very* interested in hearing it!

If I remember correctly, in Japan they would be filling the shells with the choux pastry as people ordered. That would certainly lengthen the time that they stay crispy after purchase...not that I ever had any just sitting around. :laugh: But is that the way it's done here?

I just found the other part of the answer here: Article on BP cream puffs

"The shell itself is of a high order. It has two tiers: the outer tier is made of pie crust for crunch, while the inner is a pate á choux pastry that puts a chewy hold around the custard."

It sounds like a painstaking process!

"...making the cream puffs involves 10 steps, beginning with beating egg yolks with sugar to an ideal texture, then hand-scraping expensive Madagascar vanilla bean from stubborn pod to luscious pulp (it takes about 30 beans for one cream puff), and ending when a secret blend of ingredients."

Cream puff....craving....beginning...

健啖家(kentan-ka)：A hearty eater

He was a wise man who invented beer." - Plato

sanrensho

sanrensho

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
It sounds like a painstaking process!

It might not be that bad, although extra work for sure. There are quite a few Japanese recipes for crunchy (saku saku) puffs, and most seem to involve folding squares of pie dough over the choux pastry.

http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/breadrecipe/diary/200701180001/

I'll have to try this some time. The filling is a breeze, I actually prefer a slightly more assertive vanilla flavour since I started working with actual beans instead of extract.

Baker of "impaired" cakes...
  • 4 weeks later...
chocomoo

chocomoo

Posted
Posted
*snip*

I imagine that Chocomoo will be all over this.

Normally, yes. But not when I have to stand in line for an hour! Plus, I'm going to Hong Kong & Japan soon, where there are Beard Papa shops everywhere :wub:

fud

fud

Posted
Posted

I'm amazed at how popular this place is! 40 minute line-ups for cream puffs? :blink:

I will say they are pretty tasty but definitely not worth waiting in line for. I'm sure as the "hype" dies down so will the lines. My friend was at beard papa in Hong Kong 2 years ago and she said the hype had already subsided there.

Has anyone looked at the franchising information? It's pretty steep - again for ceam puffs!

"There are two things every chef needs in the kitchen: fish sauce and duck fat" - Tony Minichiello

sanrensho

sanrensho

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
Normally, yes.  But not when I have to stand in line for an hour!  Plus, I'm going to Hong Kong & Japan soon, where there are Beard Papa shops everywhere  :wub:

Does this mean we can look forward to a future sweets/pastry report? :wub::wub:

Baker of "impaired" cakes...
chocomoo

chocomoo

Posted
Posted

Maaaaybe...if I'm not too lazy! I'll also have to see whether my parents & sister will be patient enough to let me take pictures before they eat the pastries!

I still haven't posted my Toronto pastries report (5 pastry shops in 1 day! :wub: For the record, my favourite was Clafouti)

  • 3 weeks later...
Kentan

Kentan

Posted
Posted

Beard Papa's appears in the Vancouver Sun:

Record-breaking start for cream puff vendor

"...even though the company's head executives in Japan originally thought the Vancouver market was too small to support a store, Richmond has broken all its North American records for first-month sales, including those for New York and Los Angeles."

"Sometimes they put out a sign that says, 'From this point, the wait is two hours.'"

Man, are we cream puff obsessed here in Vancouver or what! :laugh:

You can see a video of the lineups if you go to the Vancouver Sun site:

Vancouver Sun

健啖家(kentan-ka)：A hearty eater

He was a wise man who invented beer." - Plato

Daddy-A

Daddy-A

Posted
Posted

I enjoyed a couple of these yesterday. The standard Puff is really nice. Light, airy ... everything a cream puff should be. The Macha Puff was like eating a mouth full of eggy grass. I really don't get Macha ... but I'm sure others would.

But at the end of the day, these are just cream puffs. Nothing to justify huge lineups.

What Beard Papa is selling is hype. There are line-ups because we are told there are lineups. Then, like sheep, the general public says "Wow, they must be good if there are lineups" and rushes off to fuel the hype.

Brilliant. Wish I'd thought of it.

A.

Panda

Panda

Posted
Posted

Another reason to go to Aberdeen. I'll try going in the next week or two and hope the lines die down. I think I'll try everything but pumpkin, just not a fan.

"T"

"T"

Posted
Posted
Another reason to go to Aberdeen. I'll try going in the next week or two and hope the lines die down. I think I'll try everything but pumpkin, just not a fan.

My sister brought a doz over tonight for our yearly Oyama cassoulet night. An odd choice for dessert but whatthehell. We all thought they were good but not worth the wait. Dinner on the other hand was great along with the wines. Conde de Vimeoso 2004, Baron deOna Riserva 1998, Ch d' Aydie2000and a Selvapiana Riserva Bucerhiale 2001 finishing with Talisker 10 and Couer de Lion Calvados xo. Glad i have the day off on tuesday.

slowfood/slowwine

canucklehead

canucklehead

Posted
Posted

I think the Beard Papa is a fun little phenomena - people like them and they are pretty tasty. Are they worth a 2 hour wait? Well, very few things are worth a two hour wait - but you know - they are a fun little treat. People wait in line for hot dogs at Pink's in LA, so why not fresh cream puffs in Richmond?

Sometimes embracing the silly is part of enjoying food.

  • 3 weeks later...
Kentan

Kentan

Posted
Posted

Just saw the #98 B-Line bus all covered in Beard Papa advertisements. I'm sure they bought the ads before the store opened - they certainly don't need any more publicity!

健啖家(kentan-ka)：A hearty eater

He was a wise man who invented beer." - Plato

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