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May 03, 2024
 

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DESSERT WATCH

Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jan 20, 2017
Chocolate and 'yakisoba' just can't work out their differences
Here's a sure-fire way to make sure your Valentine's Day crush never replies to you: Tell them you'll cook them some chocolate yakisoba (fried noodles). This isn't even an appealing combo on paper, but the folks behind this ungodly mutation know enough knuckleheads like me will buy it for the novelty. The snack (¥180) combines regular convenience store-grade noodles with cinnamon-accented chocolate cubes and a pungent chocolate sauce. It's a marriage that's doomed from the start: the savory noodles and cloying toppings clash, and the result is a deeply miserable experience.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jan 13, 2017
Baskin-Robbins caters to strawberry lovers with new winter sundae
Lovers of fresh strawberries, rejoice. Until early March, Baskin-Robbins stores across Japan are offering a new Fresh Strawberry Sundae, which goes all in on the juicy red berry.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Dec 30, 2016
A sweet treat for the Year of the Rooster
Dessert chain Cozy Corner is celebrating 2017 with a small cake resembling the Chinese Zodiac animal of the next 12 months, the chicken. It's a sweet, photogenic addition to any New Year's parties or family gatherings you might be attending in the next few days. This fowl delight (¥540) features a rich chestnut cream surrounding a bird's head, which looks cute but offers a sugary contrast to the nutty flavor of the cream. The fowl is tasty, and Cozy Corner says it will bring you good luck for the Year of the Rooster. But act fast, the promotion ends on Jan. 4.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Dec 23, 2016
Celebrate Christmas with a rich snowman
Seven-Eleven won't be offering its limited-edition Christmas desserts for much longer. After Dec. 25, the convenience-store chain's specialty treats will be replaced, inevitably, by the next limited dessert.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Dec 16, 2016
Cold Stone Creamery's intimidating velvet cheesecake
The big piece of red velvet cake on top of Cold Stone Creamery's Snowy Velvet Cheesecake looks a little intimidating. Staring at your waffle-cone bowl (¥530 for the basic size), you might wonder how you're going to get through it to reach the cheesecake-flavored ice cream and raspberries below.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Dec 2, 2016
Christmas-themed baked goods have finally hit Tokyo
Christmas has been threatening to descend on Tokyo since the moment Halloween ended. Now the holidays are wholly here and bakery chain Hokuo is among the first to roll out seasonally appropriate treats, with a line of sweets embracing the Yuletide glee. Let's keep it simple, though, and focus on the store's Christmas Choco Reef (¥190). This is a doughnut done up in holiday colors and with a mistletoe-shaped paper tucked in the middle. The sweet white-chocolate icing and sharp Belgian chocolate cake are solid, but not exceptional. It's a simple, tasty way to welcome winter.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Nov 18, 2016
Vegan muffins on the far side of Tokyo
Far from Tokyo's dessert meccas of Harajuku and Omotesando, new bakery NY Muffin opened near Shin-Nakano Station in September. It sells a selection of vegan muffins — with no eggs, butter or milk. However, the shop doesn't make things easy for customers: besides the out-of-the-way location, it is only open on Wednesdays from 12 to 6 p.m. But visiting is worth the effort if you're seeking cruelty-free muffins. Especially noteworthy are the monthly specials, highlighted in November by a Sweet Cornbread muffin (¥400) topped with tart carrot jam.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Nov 4, 2016
Ca Ca O finally brings its rich chocolate eclair to Tokyo
The newly opened Food Depot in the basement of Shinjuku's Lumine 1 department store features a lot of intriguing eateries, with a number of dessert shops among them. Ca Ca O, a chocolate store originally from Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, offers a variety of goods made from rich cacao beans. The Ca Ca O eclair (¥350), available for the first time outside the original Kamakura location, is the way to go. It's heavy on the store's trademark cocoa, with sweet cream and crunchy chocolate chunks surrounded by a soft cake. If you need to satiate your sweet tooth on your way through Shinjuku Station, this is a good takeaway option.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Oct 21, 2016
Dominique Ansel's Omotesando bakery is possessed by the Halloween spirit
The Omotesando branch of Dominique Ansel Bakery has an impressive and photogenic set of Halloween desserts available during October. The Halloween Religieuse (¥680) is the most flavorful and visually impressive. This double-decker dessert's bat-on-a-pumpkin design might look too quirky to eat, but don't let that stop you. Beneath the flaky, frosting-coated exterior sits a mix of blackberry cream and zesty mandarin orange jam. The ingredients are more seasonally appropriate than spooky, but you won't mind once that delicious tartness hits your tongue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Oct 7, 2016
Is the 'Phantom' the best spooky dessert this Halloween season?
The Dalloyau chain of sweets shops are officially in Halloween mode, with a new range of spooky seasonal desserts. The highlight of the bunch is simply called "Phantom": It's a cake made up to look like a ghost, with white frosting carefully folded around apple jelly and with pieces of chocolate fashioned on top to look like a grinning mouth and eyes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Sep 23, 2016
Mister Donut dresses doughnuts as Snoopy for Halloween
Halloween-themed desserts are starting to arrive in Japan. Mister Donut dressed up its doughnuts earlier than usual this year, introducing two whipped-cream-filled varieties shaped like the world's most famous beagle, Snoopy. These delicacies (¥183) come in two flavors: white chocolate and chestnut.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Sep 9, 2016
Seven-Eleven Japan unites a pudding and a roll cake in holy matrimony
Few things in life can top the joy of two desserts coming together to form an super-treat. Seven-Eleven's new Perfect Circle Pudding Roll Cake does just that, plunking the former right into the center of the latter.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Sep 2, 2016
Classic New York brownies lurk underneath Shinjuku
Another week, another New York eatery opens up a Tokyo location. The newest comer is Baked — a bakery that specializes in brownies and cakes — which opened in the basement of Shinjuku's Isetan department store.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Aug 19, 2016
Classic summer treat gets a granola makeover from Kellogg's
Wa Kitchen Kanna (2-43-11 Shimouma, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo) gives its tastiest offering, kakigōri (shaved ice), a breakfast-ready makeover in cooperation with cereal maker Kellogg's. The limited-edition dessert takes the store's original kakigori, adds a hearty amount of condensed milk to the top and surrounds it with granola. This ¥1,000 treat tries to replicate the feel of breakfast cereal — and comes close when everything starts melting together, making for a cool, fruit-accented taste. For a little extra, double up on sauces and fruit, but the basic form is just as refreshing.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Aug 5, 2016
We gather here today to wed ice cream to french fries
Pretty much anything with ice cream sounds good when you're a kid, but not so much when you're all grown up. However, that's not stopping Belgian-style fries restaurant And The Friet from teaming up with Ben & Jerry's for a limited-edition "Ice And Friet" (¥500). Available at the restaurant's outposts in Tokyo's Hiroo and Harajuku neighborhoods, the snack puts thick fries next to a scoop of Baked Alaska ice cream (vanilla covered in marshmallow sauce and chunks of white chocolate). The combination works pretty well, it's reminiscent of dipping a potato chip into melted chocolate. Just don't load up on these before dinner — Mom will get angry.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jul 29, 2016
Tokyu Hands goes diving for its new range of summertime desserts
Tokyu Hands' Ikebukuro outpost is offering some deep-sea desserts until Aug. 23. Its "Aquarium Sweets" series features 16 unique cakes, each shaped to look like a different sea critter, ranging from a cuddly otter to a sea slug. The cakes (ranging in price from ¥500 to ¥650) each has a different flavor, but the tastiest is Shirowani (Sand Tiger Shark), which tastes of tart apple-cinnamon. You're bound to find one aquatic creation to suit your tastes, so head over to the seventh floor of Tokyu Hands and see which grabs your attention.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jul 15, 2016
French toast gets a summer makeover with 'Melon The Rocks'
Fukuoka's Ivorish excels at french toast, but this summer it has put a fruity spin on their savory desserts. The awkwardly named "Melon The Rocks" (¥2,000) includes french toast inside half of a honeydew melon, with chunks of green melon and jelly to drive home the seasonal theme. It's a big treat — served with dry ice, for dramatic effect — and a great way to chill out on a hot day, especially if you find yourself near its Shibuya outpost.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jul 1, 2016
Baskin-Robbins gives the Japanese summer an icy welcome
The heat might not have reached peak levels yet, but ice cream chain Baskin-Robbins marked the start of summer this week with two special crushed-ice treats for 2016. Each dessert (¥450) includes two layers of flavored shaved ice and is accompanied by a scoop of your preferred ice cream on top. The “Tropical Beach” variety looks refreshing, with its assortment of fruity flavors, but the watermelon offering is more eye-catching. It mixes watermelon and regular melon flavors together, creating something that resembles and tastes like melon soda. The inclusion of chocolate chips as “seeds” adds a welcome sweetness.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jun 17, 2016
Sweets for exhausted men arrive just in time for Father's Day
If you waited until the last minute to buy your dad something for Father's Day, Candy Show Time has you covered. Their "Thank You Dad" set of bite-size candies (¥560) features five varieties of sweets complete with father-friendly designs, such as a glass of beer.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jun 3, 2016
Minimal bean-to-bar chocolate stand opens in Ginza
Since 2014, Japanese chocolatier Minimal has been championing the single-source bean-to-bar movement from its store in Tokyo's Yoyogi-Hachiman neighborhood.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Saudi Arabia steps up Gaza-related arrests as Israel ties edge closer
The arrests for Gaza-related posts indicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s regime will take a hard line against citizens not toeing the line when it comes to normalizing ties with Israel.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

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