St. Marc Cafe from Japan formally opened their first store in SM Fashion Hall. St. Marc Cafe is a popular chain that opened it’s first store in Ginza, Japan in 1988 and now has over 350 stores in Japan alone. Their signature product is the Chococro or chocolate croissant, is a butter croissant wrap around a slab of rich chocolate made from a blend of Ghana and Ecuador beans.
The store in SM Mega Fashion Hall is located on the 1st floor, in between Salon de The and Chez Karine.
We’ve actually passed by the store many times and bought both the ChocoCro (P55)and the Strawberry Daifuku Choco Cro (P60). The daifuku is a mixture of mochi and azuki red bean paste plus strawberry and is just slightly sweet. Lauren loves the ChocoCro, after getting a taste in Osaka last April. She would demand we buy two for her every time we pass by the St. Marc Cafe store in Shinsaibashi and the same here. Lauren loves the crunchy and flaky crust and the BIG slab of chocolate in the middle.
I love the fake food display placed in front of the store. This is way better than a menu in front because you don’t need to imagine what a certain item will look like even before ordering it.
The food counter is half bread store and half coffee shop/cafe. You get a tray and put your ChocoCro and other pastries then order dessert creations and drinks then finally pay at the cashier. You can actually see the staff doing the baking, assembling your desserts and making your drinks right behind. Kids and adults will find this quite interesting.
The cafe has a pleasing orange and brown color scheme but I find the tables too cramped.
Here’s my pick for the best seats in the house, these are located beside the counter and is decorated in black and grey hues.
St. Marc Cafe founders Naoyuki Katayama and Ritsuko Fujii flew in from Japan to witness the grand opening. They took part in the ribbon cutting ceremonies together with Ben Chan of the Suyen group, who are the local franchisors of St. Marc Cafe in the Philippines. The Suyen Group under BV Cuisine runs Paul Patisserie and St. Marc Cafe as well as the soon to open Pablo (target date is Dec. 2014) who are popular for their cheesecake in Japan.
I was sitting with a couple of media people so we decided to get a couple of pastries and just share so we can get to try more. I recommend the Yuzu Custard (P75), French Toast (P85) and the Curry Bread (P85) aside from the ChocoCro. I actually spied a Banana ChocoCro box in the display case outside and am eagerly awaiting its introduction.
photo from St. Marc Cafe
I got an Iced Matcha Latte (P130) and loved it, it’s strong like what I tried in Japan. We also got to try a few of the iced desserts like Nara (P230), Kyoto Delight (P250) and Kintoki Milk (P230). My favorite was the Kintoki Milk which had shaved ice with milk, a big swirl of milk soft serve and a dollop of red bean paste, simple and delicious.
photo from St. Marc Cafe
The next branches set to open are Greenbelt 3 in December 2014 and UP Town Center (early next year). They plan to open 40 stores in the next 8 years to spread the ChocoCro madness.
Lauren thanks BV Cuisine/Suyen Group for opening St. Marc Cafe in the Philippines and letting her have ChocoCro always.
St. Marc Cafe
Upper Ground Floor, SM Megamall Fashion Hall Edsa cor. Julia Vargas Ave.,Ortigas, Mandaluyong City,
Metro Manila Contact No.: (632) 531-8062
Facebook Page: Saint Marc Cafe Philippines
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