I Heart Beard Papa's

I'm totally obsessed with Beard Papa's. If I had one near me, I'd be there all the time. Seriously. Like once a day. 3-4 times a week, at least. And I am not exaggerating people. Not one bit. It's only 220 calories per cream puff. That's nothin! If I had one for every meal, instead of my meal, that's still less than 750 calories. So then if I had one for dessert with every meal, it'd still only be 1500. This would be my ultimate meal replacement.

For those of you who have a Beard Papa's near you and have never been, I behoove you to go. For those of you who like cream puffs, you know the little ones you can get at Costco or you get in a dessert tray, GO and you'll never look at those little ones the same. Once you go Beard Papa's, you never... you catch my drift.

This japanese chain is only closest to me via NYC, and it's actually been quite awhile since I've been to the big apple. When I go to the bay area, I try to get to one whenever I can. And during this trip to Seattle, I went to the one in the H Mart and I also went to one in Vancouver. Yes, it's worth crossing the border for! How could you not want to eat whatever this bearded pipe-smoking puffball hatted cutie is selling?
These aren't your normal cream puffs. First off, they're huge. They're about the size of a fist, and so they're definitely not something you can just pop in your mouth. Unless, perhaps, you have a flip-top head. But for us normal folk, you definitely need to take multiple bites. The pastry is freshly baked. And here's the key to their tasty freshness - the cream is added only when you order.
See these little metal vats? They're filled with creamy goodness. Regular vanilla is probably tops, but they also have additional cream filling flavors, including green tea. And there's also other options aside from the plain cream puff, but I'm a traditionalist. I just want the original cream puff.
After they inject the dream, I mean cream, they dust on a lovely little layer of powdered sugar to finish off the little beauties. And if I am near one, I wolf it down in about 5 bites, if I can be that patient. Actually, having a flip-top head could be useful when it comes to cream puff inhaling!
I want one right now. Or a dozen.