I had to look up ポンパドウル. I don't think I've ever been to one. Looking at the photos here T ?????? | POMPADOUR???????? | ?????? this looks like a good offering in Japan's pretty decent croissant game. I can't say without trying it but I probably would be more enticed by the flakiness of the bottom one than the smoothness of the the top. I've been pleasantly surprised by a few croissants to not judge them on looks alone.

I'll just put out that the really good artisan bakeries around my area can charge $4-6 per croissant and I consider them worth every penny and calorie. Then again, the average supermarket croissant around here could be substituted with a crescent roll and some people might not notice.

Food preferences make things interesting. Even artisan level Parisian croissants are different https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jI6...p_eNxv&index=8