Sadaharu AOKI, Taipei (Bellavita Mall, B2)

Not the best of locations for this branch of the Patisserie Sadaharu AOKI in Taipei. The basement of the Bellavita mall was very quiet when I was there at 3pm today and ominously the concession next to AOKI seemed to have closed down. Can this food court survive? Maybe if we get out the word about the brilliance of this confectioner, who I've loved in Tokyo for years. I went for a Verrine Bamboo, following the pictures on this excellent blog. And yes, for me, it was just as good as it looks - mixing creamy and crisp textures and toffy, biscuity and almost fruity tastes. I can see why the blogger didn't like it: it was pretty busy -- a real mash-up of flavours -- but Tegel and I scoffed it down with no second thoughts. Oh, and nice touch, the freebie water that came with the dessert was lemon flavoured. Nice touch indeed. Refreshed by further AOKI cleverness I was ready to hit the 30 degree heat again...