Mont St Clair

Mont St. Clair is a dessert shop with delicate French patisserie. It is quite far away from the Jiyugaoka subway station, but you can take a little further route to visit the Kumano Shrine and Mini-​Europe in the area.
There isn’t minimum charge, but make sure you come early for desirable desserts in the limited seats.
We ordered chestnut chiffon, match chocolate mousse, and fruit Mille de feuille. They are all delicious and not too sweet, especially the match chocolate mouse has a quite liquid texture that is barely seen.

I love love love their cakes! The portion is usually very small but on the other side you get to taste many different cakes without being too full. The cakes are not too sweet and the flavours are really subtle. I shared 3 small cakes with my mother and we both wanted more! We will definitely be coming back next time when we visit Japan.

How could you go to Jiyugaoka without having a cake? I mean, since I already called on the first war zone of sweets in Tokyo, checking the most popular patisserie sounds very reasonable and essential. For people who have done some research about the sweets in Japan, especially in Jiyugaoka, it is impossible for them not hearing the name — Hironobu Tsujiguchi.
The master Tsujuguchi established Mont. St Clair in Jiyugaoka and has attracted hundreds of thousands people to check here. Although this patisserie doesn’t locate around Jiyugaoka station, it’s quite pleasant to walk from the station to there. Along the road, u can shop groceries and would be distracted by some interesting vintage stores and western or Japanese style architecture. After around 10 minute walking, u will find out the destination easily.
The time I got there was around 3pm, and unfortunately, some of the cakes were sold out already. But luckily, when I was ordering the cakes, the white pentagon shape cutie was served on the shelf. Without any hesitation, I took it home.
You may think the appearance of this cake seems a little bit boring, but this is the work from Master Tsujiguchi, and no, he won’t let us down. After cutting the cake, u can see how he hide the surprises inside and your every mouth will be filled with different layers of enjoyment. You may think it is a little pricy for a cake in such a tiny size. Please don’t forget you are in Tokyo and actually, this experience is quite worthy indeed.

Mont St. Clair is a café/​patisserie owned by the celebrity chef-​owner Hironobu Tsujiguchi, know for their award winning «C’est La Vie», which won Tsujiguchi the individual competition of coupe du monde de la pâtisserie in 1997.
**Shop**
This shop is located a bit out of the way (10min walk up from Jiyuugaoka station), but always seems to be busy.
Their café area is very small, so I suggest getting your cake ‘to-go’…unless you go there right when the shop opens. They’ll provide dry ice in the cake box, which typically lasts an hour, more or less.
Oh, by the way, this shop is cash only!
**Cake Review**
The size of the cakes are fairly small and they are all a bit pricey. (But then again, that’s kind of the norm in Japan)
C’est La Vie:
Sorry, I’m not a fan of white chocolate so I didn’t try this one… :(maybe next time!
Mont St. Clair:
A dome-​shaped cake which also happens to be the name of the store, is a coffee/​hazelnut flavored cake. It has a sticky/​crunchy coffee biscuit foundation with intense coffee butter cream (which reminds me of rum balls) in the middle, all surrounded by hazelnut/​almond praline cream and covered with caramelized nuts.
I seldom choose cakes that1.) look too sweet and/​or 2.) not chocolate… but since the cake is one of their most famous, I thought I’d give it a try. I liked the different textures and layers of flavor of the cake, but I was glad the cake was small,.I think I’d get tired of the sweetness if it were any bigger.
**Short n Sweet**
— One of those famous cake shops you should try just to say ‘Yea, I went there’
— Most people love it, but not my favorite
— CASH ONLY

Mont St. Claire prides itself in high quality sweets and cakes. It’s very focused around artisan designs and works, and this definitely shows. Their hexagonal cakes are petite and expertly made, incredibly rich and soft and very impressive both in style and taste. The work is incredibly detailed and the location is also very well furnished.
It definitely feels like high-​dining here, even if it is just for sweets and confectionery. The prices are expensive, but if you can afford it, give it a try and you won’t be disappointed. It really is a very wonderful establishment.