Bakery Sakurai さくらいパン
What? Bakery Sakurai (Sakurai-pan), a bread and pastry shop close to the Oarai train station.
Where? Isohama-cho 1306-1, Oarai-machi, Higashiibaraki District, Ibaraki Prefecture, 311-1301/茨城県東茨城郡大洗町磯浜町1306−1/
Open: 11 am - 6 pm (weekdays), 11 am - 4 pm (weekends) Closed on Mondays
About
A brand new shop in Oarai (opened in January 2020)~
Bakery Sakurai offers a range of baked goods, which include freshly baked bread, baguettes, buns and pastries. Quickly gaining popularity among the residents and tourists alike, this small bakery specialises in baking buns filled with either savoury or sweet filling. Their range includes classics such as melon bread, chocolate fondant, custard cream bun and curry bun, as well as items you will rarely find in other shops, such as oyaki (pan-roasted buns made from fermented buckwheat dough).
Their products are made with flour from Hokkaido, and do not include any additives, making them extra healthy. Every day, Sakurai Bakery makes two kinds of bread, soft (Japanese-style) and hard, which resembles European-style crunchy bread a bit.
Watch out, as some of their bread products sell out really fast! But not to worry, you can also book your baked goods in advance~
Their five most popular items include:
1) Kinpira oyaki きんぴらおやき - oyaki filled with garlic and soy souce perfect for a snack
2) Takana oyaki 高菜おやき - contains Japanese mustard green leaves, the texture of the filling is a bit more sticky, so some people liken it to cheese
Left: takana oyaki, right: kinpira oyaki
3) Curry bun (kare-pan) カレーパン - very crispy outside, rich and flavoursome on the inside. A bit spicy and contains a piece of beef in the middle
4) Melon bread (melon-pan) メロンパン - Sakurai Bakery makes their melon-pan slightly less sugary than in other shops, making the pastry not as sickly sweet (it resembles a butter cookie a bit more). They also turn their melon bread into thinly sliced baked cookies (カスク), that go well with tea or coffee
5) Custard cream bun カスタードクリームパン - a sweet bun containing vanilla custard cream, not oversweet!
Other items include:
Fondant chocolate bun: chocolate cream inside resembles Nutella-flavoured pudding cream; silky smooth and delicious!
Mentaiko (spicy pollock roe; 明太バター) bun, salt-butter bun (塩バターパン): salty, buttery, very popular among gentlemen~
Walnut & sweet potato bun (くるみおさつ): soft bun baked with lots of walnuts, filled with sweet potato chunks (fluffy!)
Walnut sweet (くるみスイート): clover-shaped pastry baked with a hefty serving of walnuts, this bun is an afternoon snack that goes perfectly with tea or coffee~
Left: Walnut sweet, right: curry bun
Sakurai Bakery has already become quite popular in Oarai, and in summer they plan to expand their menu; something to look forward to! The bakery might be a small shop, but they do offer a counter sitting for customers, so you can also enjoy a treat inside the shop!