Bagels, Sandwiches, and Amazing Baked Goods

You have probably read or heard me talk about my favorite coffee van, Coffee Bar Stove. Stove is usually open on Tuesdays and Fridays at the Namiki Mujirushi in Tsukuba. To get there, I have to go towards Tsuchiura AEON and take Route 123 which takes me straight to Mujirushi. While driving down that street, I always noticed a bakery on the left side that seemed quite busy or closed. I made sure to check out that bakery one day. That day finally came last week on a Thursday morning. Instead of heading to Namiki, I turned into the parking lot of Trail Bakery in Tsuchiura.

Trail Bakery and Bake Shop

Trail Bakery, as I wrote earlier, is located on Route 123 near Tsuchiura AEON Mall. It is also near Come On Ramen which I wrote about a long time ago (make sure to try their curry cheese gyoza if you go). A few of my Tsukuba people might be scratching their heads in confusion thinking "Wasn't Trail Bakery in Tsukuba?" They were. I remember visiting the Trail Bakery in Tsukuba many years ago. I think they shut down the Tsukuba location and opened the Tsuchiura location fairly recently. If I am wrong and the Tsukuba location is still open, please let me know. I'll fix the article as soon as possible.
I have to be honest, I was a bit frustrated with Trail Bakery. Every time I drove by the bakery, it was closed. I was about to give up on trying this bakery until I went one rainy Thursday morning and it was open. I couldn't believe it. I parked my car and headed inside.

Inside

I was unfortunately alone for this adventure. Mrs. Ibaraki Eats was busy at work and could not join me. Not to worry, I brought her back some baked goods to try when she got home later.
When I walked into Trail Bakery, I noticed it was like most Japanese bakeries. It had tongs and a wooden tray to pick up your baked goodies and pay at the cashier. Three things surprised me about this bakery though. One, they had an eat-in section to the bakery. Two, there was a sandwich menu which I will get to. Three, they have bagels! Bagels in Tsuchiura!? The bakery gods have heard my prayers. The bagels looked exquisite and I couldn't wait to try some. I picked up a bagel and some other baked treats and then headed to the sandwich menu.

Sandwich Menu

Sorry my non-Japanese readers, the menu is in Japanese only. I am a nice guy though so I will try to translate the sandwich menu.
The sandwich orders start at 10:40 am. The bakery opens at 10:00 am so you have to wait a while until you can order a sandwich.
A two-ingredient sandwich is 480 yen and a three-ingredient sandwich is 550 yen.
The ingredients are as follows (minus the bread and lettuce):
Roast ham, smoked chicken, smoked salmon, Milano salami, cream cheese, Colby Jack cheese, potato salad, pumpkin salad, hummus, burdock and lentil salad, egg salad, sliced carrots, mushroom ahijo, red cabbage and almond salad, ratatouille, celery mashed potatoes.

While looking at the menu, I realized why this place was closed all the time. A huge line had formed behind me and people were starting to line up outside the door. So this bakery is always closed because they sell out of everything quickly.
I got nervous about how many people were waiting and decided on a smoked salmon and hummus sandwich. I know. I should have picked cream cheese, but I panicked and didn't want the line of people to get bigger.
After waiting a few minutes my sandwich was ready and I decided to head home. I was starving at this point so I had my sandwich in the car.

Hummus and Salmon Sandwich

Once I got in my car, I opened the paper wrapping around my sandwich and took a bite.
First off, let me tell you that the bread for this sandwich was fantastic. It was so fresh and fluffy. It held the sandwich together quite nicely. I could use this bread on all the sandwiches I have from now on.
The salmon was also great. It went well with the bread and was a great addition to the sandwich.
The hummus was not great but not bad with the salmon. Cream cheese would have been better. The hummus tasted good but I have been spoiled by the best (Dippy Dip) so it was an OK hummus. I did like sandwich and I can't wait to try the other sandwiches on Trail Bakery's menu.

My Bounty of Baked Deliciousness

So what did I bring back home?
I brought back banana bread, a raisin bagel, a croque monsieur sandwich, and a small round fig bread.
About the banana bread which is to the right of this picture, it was OK. Nothing very special about it. It was banana bread and it was good, but nothing out of this world.
The croque monsieur sandwich was also good but again nothing out of this world. I would have this again for lunch but I would probably pick a sandwich from the sandwich menu.
Now to the good stuff.

Raisin Bagel

When I opened the bagel's wrapper and was able to grab the bare bagel with my hand, I could already tell from the texture and touch that this was going to be an excellent bagel. It was soft but had a great structure to it. I cut the bagel in half and took a bite without any cream cheese. The bagel tasted divine. I am not a huge fan of raisin bagels, but I am a fan of this raisin bagel. After trying the bagel by itself, I spread some cream cheese on it and that is when the bagel took its deliciousness to the next level. The cream cheese and the bagel were just so right for each other. I couldn't stop eating it, and I didn't. I am ashamed to write this but I didn't leave any for my wife which she was not too happy about. I promised her I would get more bagels in the future for her and that I would not eat all the bagels before she got home.

Fig Bread

I know I have gone on and on about Trail Bakery's sandwiches and bagels but please read this next sentence carefully. If the fig bread is available, get it (unless you are not a fan of figs). This bread is on another level of baked goods. It can only be made by these genius bakers at Trail Bakery. I bit into this bread and got an explosion of fig mixed with fresh soft dough that rocked my world. My wife tried it and gave it her usual thumbs up. I looked at her and said "This is more than a thumbs up, this is a masterpiece. The only part of this bread that was disappointing was the size. I needed more of it and I will get more of it. I promise you that. Well done Trail Bakery.

Trail Bakery, I do believe you are now my favorite bakery in my town of Tsuchiura. Not my favorite in Ibaraki, you still have a long way to go for that, but you are in the running. I hope to go to your bakery soon and hopefully, you will not be sold out of everything when I arrive. So get those sandwiches and fig bread ready because I will be back soon.

So if you are looking for an amazing bakery and are around the Tsuchiura AEON Mall area, why not give Trail Bakery a chance? Who knows, you might see me there, grabbing my precious fig bread while ordering a new sandwich to try. I also can't forget to grab some bagels for Mrs. Ibaraki Eats.
Enjoy!

For more information on Trail Bakery, check out their Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/trailbakery2010/