Kashiyama Daikanyama Cafe and Coteau: From Basque cheesecake to rooftop vistas of Daikanyama
The Daikanyama district continues to mushroom new developments, most of them notable more for their architecture than their carefully curated content. It would be tempting to lump the new Kashiyama building in that category, but there is definitely gastronomic substance to be found along ...
Carbo-load: Convenience store breads pile on the sweetness
Japan's big three convenience stores — Lawson, FamilyMart and Seven-Eleven — have plenty of rich (and caloric!) bread-based desserts to satisfy any sweet tooth.
Sarabeth's PBJ French Toast is a twist on the classic brown-paper-bag lunch
More and more non-Japanese foods that were once impossible to find in Tokyo have become available in recent years. The quality can be hit or miss, but it is out there, waiting to be devoured. But what do you do when you get a ...
First Kitchen's Dessert Potatoes: An overpowering addition to the chocolate fries scene
We're currently living through a race by fast food chains to see who can best transform French fries into a dessert. Is First Kitchen up to the challenge?
American Cherry Pie Frappuccino: Crust crumbs distract from otherwise tasty treat
We all can use a little indulgence from time to time, especially in such exhausting times. Thankfully, there's always an eye-grabbing dessert being wheeled out by a chain restaurant in Japan to focus on. Starbucks Japan's new American Cherry Pie Frappuccino is the latest to ...
Asia's top pastry chef Kazutoshi Narita on what inspires his creations
Over the past three decades, master patissier Kazutoshi Narita has worked in half a dozen countries alongside some of the world's most acclaimed chefs. He is executive pastry chef at one of Tokyo's finest French restaurants, and also runs his own dessert counter in the ...
Black S'more Pancake: More than the sum of its many parts
Sometimes, simply piling sweet tastes onto a dessert is a winning strategy. As it happens, The J.S. Pancake Cafe chain is offering up a chocolate Black S'more Pancake until the end of February. At ¥1,180, the treat features two thick chocolate pancakes, a mix of ...
Look! Chocolates are getting the jump on autumn
In the same way that shops jump the gun on Christmas by getting the Santa decorations out on Nov. 1, konbini (convenience store) shelves begin stocking autumn-themed treats while the mercury is still well above the 30 degrees Celsius mark. Sweets company Fujiya is one ...
Handels Vagen's frozen treats will have you singing Handel's 'Messiah'
Premium ice cream is never out of season. But the timing could hardly have been better for the arrival of Handels Vagen at the start of this summer. Located in the basement of the new Tokyu Plaza in Ginza, it boasts a modest footprint ...
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 ...
Tokyo serves up some frozen delights
Ice cream and gelato has been the go-to for cooling refreshments for centuries, evolving from the Romans eating fruit-juice flavored snow to the vanilla, chocolate chip and other popular dairy-rich products we see today. But who says we have to stick to the regular ...
Pocky goes for the gold with Brazilian Orange-flavored snacks
Let the race for clever marketing tie-ins with the 2016 Rio Olympics begin! Pocky's newest limited-edition variety, celebrates one of Brazil's biggest crops by merging citrus flavor and chocolate. Brazilian Orange (¥162) initially tastes a bit off-putting, the chocolate coating on the outside relies ...
