Here is a collection of desserts that will make your heart melt in Tokyo (Volume 1). ♥
This city has no shortage of of aesthetic foods so I will continue to share cafes that I stumble across in future posts!
Roll Ice Cream Factory
Roll Ice Cream Factory opened just 2 years ago in central Harajuku and has a colorful array of flavors and toppings that you can mix together to form quite beautiful creations. Similar to the New York style of roll ice cream, you choose the base flavor you want and watch them craft it into tiny little rolls. I chose the “American Dream” combo and added a taiyaki to the top of it for fun. This is patriotism at its finest! Roll ice cream isn’t quite the same as soft serve ice cream, but it still is worth trying at least once in your lifetime. They also have matcha and delicious chocolate rolls that you can try as well.
Harebare Pecori
For some of the most monstrous milkshakes in Tokyo, stop by Harebare Pecori in Shinjuku! Here you will find colossal shakes with ice cream, cotton candy, lollipops, cookies, whipped cream, and many toppings to completely satisfy your craving for sweets. Finishing one shake by myself proved to be a challenging quest, so I suggest you share one of these with a friend. I enjoyed the massive amounts of whipped cream and the creative placement of all of the toppings.
Milky Way Cafe
Now this place is classic. Likely if you’ve researched desserts in Tokyo, you’ve come across Milky Way Cafe in Ikebukero. This cafe has a different parfait for each sign of the Zodiac, and the quality of the food is really amazing too. You really can’t go wrong with anything you choose here because the presentation is amazing. I loved the mini chocolate cake on top of my parfait! It definitely made my day worth the trip.
Micasadeco & Cafe
This place became a meme due to its wiggly jiggly fluffy stacks of pancakes. You can wobble the plate and the pancakes will still stick together as if they are compelled by a magic force. I highly recommend taking a trip to Micasadeco & Cafe in Shibuya if the opportunity arises. I think these are some of the fluffiest pancakes I’ve seen in a while.
Patisserie Potager
If you are looking for cakes with interesting flavor combinations, look no further than Patisserie Potager! Here I found tomato cake and avocado pudding as well as other unlikely French-Japanese fusion cuisines that tasted amazing. Most of these desserts are lighter on calories than regular cakes so they are a healthier option.
Sakura Cafe Mukojima’s Tokyo Skytree Parfait
Like Tokyo’s infamous landmark, this Tokyo Skytree parfait at Sakura Cafe Mukojima mimics the real thing standing at 63.4 cm high, as the actual tower is 634 meters tall. Loaded with jelly, ice cream, fruit, mochi, and a giant soft-served ice cream cone, this dessert does not disappoint! I ordered the matcha flavor, but there are other fruity flavors available for purchase. I was very impressed with how they balanced all the ingredients to make it stand up.
Nanaya
On the subject of green tea and ice cream, Nanaya is another store that should not be missed because it has 7 different intensities of green tea ice cream and other flavors. I ordered three scoops and tried #1 (the weakest flavor), #7 (the strongest flavor), and the green tea rum raisin flavor. In my opinion, the less intense and lighter flavors tasted the best. The store name “Nanaya” means “Shop of 7 (flavors)”, so be sure to choose wisely!
Dominique Ansel Bakery (Now Closed)
Previously I wrote an article on Dominique Ansel Bakery in Omotesando praising their delicious pastries, but I am very sad to see that they have closed their Tokyo branches as of summer 2019. I will never forget the delicious hedgehog cake I had for my birthday last year, as well as the Zero Gravity Chiffon Cake that was light enough to float in a balloon. I am hoping that they open a similar cafe in the future!
Thank you for reading Volume 1 of my dessert cafe expedition in Tokyo. If you have any recommendations, please drop them in the comments! I will be writing Volume 2 very soon!