Beard Papa

Their cream puffs are outstanding! I had one original custard and another was milk flavor. The milk flavor was fantastic. It tasted a lot like vanilla bean. Either way, this is a new must have for me!

Beard Papa specializes in only one food and does it EXTREMELY well; Pâté a Choux. They have about 300 stores worldwide, 250 of them in Japan. I have only had Beard Papa pastries in Manhattan and Japan.
The assortment of fillings and shapes of Choux Cream pastries has expanded slightly, but that is the only variance you will find. This location has Choux pastry in size small, large, and doughnut ring shape— all hollow and ready to be filled on the spot, as soon as you order. So everything is fresh and not soggy.
The cream filling is light, like a whipped cream, and not too sweet. Since these are Japanese style Choux Pastries, the cream –not– the gross eggy pudding kind. This location had three different kinds of filling when I visited; regular cream, green tea cream, and seasonal flavor cream. Luckily, Earl Gray tea flavor is popular right now, and that was another option.
This is the Beard Papa location in Kyoto JR Station. Most pastries are under 300 yen, and totally worth it. I recommend buying two, because you will be sad when it is over.
Sadly, some of the best Kyoto restaurants are in the train station, and not in the city center. However, Japan is really good with taking all of the best restaurants and convincing them to move the main or a second location into the train station for convenience and more customers.