Hyperlocal Tokyo

Along the main street of Asakusa, there's this dimly lit shop that made me wonder, 'What kind of place is this?' As I got closer, I realized it was a rice flour bakery! The name is simply KOMEPAN 😁. While they don't use 100% rice flour, it's generally 80%. The bread is well-baked overall, and the loaf bread 🍞 is finely textured and delicious. Wait a minute... this place is surprisingly affordable! It feels more like a local price than a tourist spot 🤩. The crispy bacon epi was also tasty, and the staff were calm and pleasant.

This bakery specializes in bread made with 80% rice flour, and they also offer gluten-free options. The taste is reminiscent of how 20:80 ratio is considered the best for Japanese buckwheat noodles (soba), suggesting that this might be the perfect ratio for bread as well. The texture is chewy, and you can feel the springiness not only when you eat it but also when you tear it apart. Each loaf is relatively small (even the baguette), ensuring that you can finish it without any waste. They accept contactless IC cards and QR code payments.

People with wheat allergies should be careful. They prominently feature rice flour and even have gluten-free POPs, so I bought some without checking properly. I ended up feeding it to my family member who has gluten intolerance, and they immediately got diarrhea. It seems that only a small portion of their products are wheat-free and gluten-free. I wish they would clearly indicate the crowded conditions in the store.

Gluten-free rice flour bread 🍞 While it's definitely different from wheat bread, it was truly delicious. Toasted, it had a crispy, fluffy texture with a hint of sweetness. I heard they also have a rice flour and wheat bread (80% rice flour, 20% wheat) so I might try that next time. The shop was new, clean, and stylish.

Kome Pan's bread is all incredibly delicious! The dough is chewy but light, and the balance between the bread and the fillings in both sweet and savory breads is excellent. The matcha and coffee bean paste bread has a wonderful aroma and melts in your mouth. I personally love to eat it chilled from the refrigerator! I also love the cranberry and cream cheese bread, and the beef stew bread is delicious, even though beef stew can sometimes become sour when baked. Sometimes when I eat bread from other popular bakeries, it feels greasy, maybe because of the ratio of flour to oil? My mouth sometimes gets irritated. But Kome Pan's bread doesn't have that problem. I hope this bakery continues to thrive! I'll definitely be back. (*´ｪ`*)