Ah, I've never really been a huge fan of breakfast, but having this bread with black coffee was fantastic. At least for me, the black coffee really brings out the flavor of the bread, similar to the way it enhances dark chocolates. While the...er..."expanding waistlines" phenomenon had never been something I had aspired to, it may be worth the price for their bread. I can eat this every with black coffee--sure beats donuts & coffee!

Tried it this morning along with various other of their bread offerings. While it didn't hit me as the Hokkaido milk bread did, it was good and something I'd enjoy have with some regularity. Also, noticed some locals grabbing an item and decided to follow suit. Not sure how to explain it, but had a very unique texture, kind of a gummy bear chewiness but with bread--it was incredibly tasty and probably my favorite one! No idea what it was or what it's called though.

There's just one Mont Thabor store in Tokyo, right? How early should we go to not be late? :p

The one in Azabu Juban is the original store, but there are others in Tokyo

https://mont-thabor.jp/map/?cat=8

Where are you based?

As this is a thread for newcomers to Japan, here is MrLapLap’s explanation on how many companies in his country add value and status and appeal to their products whilst keeping the reigns on the monetary cost to the customer: exclusivity. Queues are great marketing tools, and in this time of shrinkflation, the most cost-effective way to increase the value a customer places on an item is to increase the effort (and not just the know how) needed to acquire it.
This has always been baked into the Japanese economy but, with less staff and rising costs and a customer base seemingly willing to play along and contribute their time and effort in increasing the value of products and services, it’s as much the time and effort to the consumer that is increasing as the shrinking of the products and the rising of the prices.

When is too late to arrive? Popular items come and go at Bakeries, each company finds its own way to incentivise their customer base and maintain/increase profitability.
Whether it is getting seats on certain trains, in certain carriages, booking slots at museums, finding a place at a lunch venue, acquiring a particular bread or pastry, even ordering a coffee, it’s either easy and straightforward or more tricky and inconvenient than ever.

As Q Shoe Guy puts it, the option is often to “turn on a dime” or find your peace with alternative choices (place your value on what you have rather than haven’t - very easy to do when there is a yellow discount sticker on it!)

Simple answer to the question is that Mont Thabor closes at 9pm. There will be products on the shelf right up to the point it closes.

The ebisu store and the main store (azabu-juban) are probably the best access for a tourist. Kiba station is third closest

Do each of the stores have the same baked goods? Or do certain locations specialize in different items?

The Ebisu shop is actually a concession area within a particular branch of the upscale Peacock Supermarket chain. It cannot hold the range of items that the main store - which has a bakery full of dedicated machines for folding and laminating on the floor above it - has and continues to put out still warm on the shelves throughout the day.

As has become the convention, it introduces very seasonal and very limited runs of certain products not all of which will be available at every branch. I think the specialisation is more to do with seasonal promotions than location, except that the main store at Azabu Juban is inevitably going to have the widest choice overall.
I’ve only been to the main store as it is local to my family’s home in Tokyo.

I frequented the one at Azabu Juan--the M line literally drops one off within a block or two. It's so convenient, had I known of it during my prior visits, I would've been coming here every morning rather than spending my....er...."waistline allocation" to those hotel breakfasts. If this were the States, I'd start in on that Hokkaido milk bread the moment I step out rather than waiting until I get back to my hotel.

I dropped by during the weekday at around 9 am and the shelves were filled with their fresh backed goods including the Hokkaido milk bread. On Sunday morning, I dropped by at 8:30 am right when they open, and the Hokkaido bread was still being prepared. Really fabulous place and so glad I was lucky enough to read iSquare's post raving about the milk bread and clued me in to the collective insights here. I can literally come here every morning especially since it's so convenient, at least for me.

OT, but I always thought it was LSquare.

LOL...I just thought or assumed he was paying homage to the iSquare super malls in HK.

I'm a fan of lowerCamelCase, except when the first letter is ambiguous by sans serif.

Went to the small Mt Thabor branch in Ebisu in our last few hours in Japan. At 12:30pm they only had 2 original Hokkaido Milk Breads and a few coffee-flavored ones. We grabbed some and enjoyed it with coffee at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery nearby. Would have gone to the main store but we were short on time and my companion wanted to check out the roastery and the wait was 80 minutes; we grabbed the milk buns in between. Very good cold; I'll have to leave the warm version to my imagination for now.

What is it with foreign tourists and the bakeries here? The only food my parents showed genuine enthusiasm for when they visited in 2018 was bakery food. They'd disappear for a moment and return absolutely beaming with two bags full of pastries and rolls. It started to become a bit of a joke between my husband and I, and anytime we saw a bakery, we'd ask my folks if they wanted to stop lol.

Because bread is close to being the same foundation basis as a meal for Westerners as rice is for Asians.

There’s a whole psychology field describing “attachment”. Children use attachment figures as a secure base to explore from and return to and we continue to do this as adults. Our emotional support food, if it isn’t rice, is likely to be bread. And what East Asia is giving us now is the chance to go exploring whilst holding on to a dependable and beloved attachment food.

Bread, uniquely softened by yudane, or infused with a koji fragrance, may be the conduit you’ll need to begin a love affair with anko, or mentaiko, or reboot your relationship with curry, or with Mornay sauce, or plug you in to an appreciation of contrasting textures. And, with these new friendships forged, there’s the potential for surprise when the croissant or bagel you sink your teeth into is superior to any equivalent you ever had (comparing perhaps with that one exception in Paris or New York)

There are coffee-flavored ones? Have you ever tried them, LapLap?