“Freshly fried curry bread is ready! How does it look?”
A cheerful voice rings out through the shop, filled with the fragrant aroma of freshly baked bread.
There are so many kinds of bread, aren’t there?
There’s a wide variety, from soft to chewy, and from sweet to generously filled.
In Mabi, there’s a bakery where everyone can find the kind of bread they like.
That bakery is “pain porte (Pan Porto).”
The home and shop were damaged in the July 2018 Heavy Rain Disaster, and the bakery reopened in a temporary prefabricated shop on September 19 that year.
Then, on July 19, 2019, it fully reopened at its current location.
Here’s a look at pain porte (Pan Porto), a bakery serving delicious bread in Mabi!
The information provided was current when this article was published in November 2019. Please note that it may differ from current information.
What is pain porte (Pan Porto)?
pain porte (Pan Porto) opened on July 19, 2013.
It is located in central Mabi, a three-minute walk from Kibinomakibi Station and near the Kurashiki City Mabi Branch Office.
However, the bakery reportedly struggled to attract customers when it first opened.
But little by little, word spread that “a delicious bakery has opened in Mabi,” and more customers began coming from farther away.
Just as sales were steadily growing and the bakery was about to celebrate its fifth anniversary…
The July 2018 Heavy Rain Disaster flooded the home and shop up to the second floor.
While they were cleaning up the shop, many people sent messages of support to Pan Porto on social media. This reportedly encouraged them to reopen in Mabi.
On July 19, 2019, the shop reopened in a newly rebuilt building at the same location.
Many customers reportedly felt relieved to see that the exterior and interior were almost unchanged from before the disaster, saying, “You’re back.”
A look inside pain porte (Pan Porto)’s kitchen
We were given a look at how bread is made in pain porte (Pan Porto)’s kitchen.
“Nut Rusk,” with an irresistibly crunchy texture
▲A sauce packed with walnuts and nuts.
They quickly spread it over the sliced French bread!
After baking it in the oven, the rusk is ready, with a satisfyingly crunchy texture that keeps you coming back for more.
It’s one of my favorite rusks, too.
Fried bread with a cute, curled shape
Next, a bread with an adorable shape appeared.
Before it was fried, it was hard to tell what kind of bread it would become, so I asked, “What kind of bread is this?”
It’s exciting to wonder what it will turn into!
The sizzling sound and aroma as it fries are so appetizing.
After a little while, it turned a lovely golden brown.
A dusting of white sugar gives it a finishing touch, and it’s done!
The “twisted doughnut” is ready, with fluffy bread that pairs perfectly with the smooth sugar coating.
It’s a popular treat with children, too.
Packed with the flavors of vegetables and meat: a sandwich with smoked beef, tomato, and balsamic sauce
We also got to watch a sandwich being made.
The bread is nicely toasted.
It looks delicious just as it is.
They cut a straight slit in the bread and spread it with butter.
They add fresh green leaf lettuce, then thinly slice a tomato.
Then they sandwich it together with tender-looking pink smoked beef.
The hearty “sandwich with smoked beef, tomato, and balsamic sauce” is ready, bringing together the delicious flavors of vegetables, meat, and bread in one bite!
Watching it being made made me hungry.
Lots of bread—enjoy choosing your favorites.
Trays and tongs are provided just inside the shop, on the left.
Choose your bread, then pay at the register.
Looking at all the bread lined up on the shelves, it’s hard to choose because everything looks delicious.
The top shelf is lined with loaves of bread, the second shelf is mostly sweet pastries, and the third is mainly savory breads, offering plenty of variety.
▲Loaves made with natural yeast and multigrain bread.
▲Adorably round cream buns and walnut bread packed with fragrant walnuts.
▲The fried chicken sandwiches and shrimp cutlet sandwiches are generously sized enough to satisfy men, too.
The central display table is lined with bagels, natural yeast bread, French bread, and the popular curry bread.
Pudding and almond tofu are also available for dessert after your meal.
You’ll want sweet bread, as well as bread with a satisfying chew and savory breads, too.
Starting from the left and going clockwise, the writer chose “Mentaiko French Bread,” “Pizza Bread,” “Salt Bread,” and “Uji Matcha and Sakushu Black Soybean Round Bread (half).”
We recommend cutting the bread into easy-to-eat pieces and toasting it, or spreading butter or jam on plain bread.
By the register, we spotted a donation box for button badges made by Mabi Cleaning, a group that continues to volunteer to clean photographs damaged in the disaster.
Donations are accepted, with each button badge costing 200 yen.
The money is used to fund Mabi Cleaning’s activities and support pain porte, so if you’d like to help, please ask the person at the register how to donate.
The owners of pain porte, Minoru and his wife.
We spoke with his wife, Yukari Tozawa, about how they came to open their shop in Mabi and “now,” after overcoming the torrential rains of July 2018 and reopening for business.
pain porte information
| Name | pain porte (Pan Porto) |
|---|---|
| Address | 1174-1 Yata, Mabi, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Contact | 086ｰ451ｰ2512 |
| Parking | Available |
| Hours | 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. |
| Closed | Tuesday, Wednesday |
| Payment methods |
|
| Reservations | Accepted |
| Smoking | Entirely non-smoking |
| Website | Pan Porto Instagram |
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