Here is a collection of desserts that will make your heart melt in Tokyo (Volume 2). ♥ For reference, please see Volume 1 here.
Sweets Paradise (Akihabara Branch)
Sweets Paradise is an extremely popular buffet-style dessert restaurant with multiple branches in Tokyo. You can choose from an unlimited selection of multi-colored pastries for 70 – 90 mins. However, the branch in Akihabara offers a take-out option with cake that looks like actual ramen! Even the toppings are edible and have an extremely sweet flavor. The “noodles” are actually just thick layers of frosting. This is probably one of the most unreal sweets I have ever eaten (appearance-wise), but the taste was definitely worth it!
New New York Club
New New York Club became a meme because of its rainbow bagels stuffed with delicious cream cheese. These bagels sell out fast so sadly I wasn’t able to get one, but they do have multi-colored bagels you can purchase too! They still taste the same as a regular bagel despite their strange color, and I prefer them to most Japanese bagels because they are larger and softer in texture. Ikumimama Animal Doughnuts is another cute bakery that is right around the corner from here! Be sure to pick up some cute cat donuts if you still have an appetite.
Aoyama Flower Market Teahouse
Aoyama Flower Market is a popular florist chain that is often found in Tokyo train stations. Stopping here is convenient if you want to pick up flowers for a special occasion, but certain locations also have cafes with extremely aesthetic food too! I ordered this delicious parfait with pink jelly and fruit that looks like a work of art at the Kichijyoji location. They have a seasonal menu that rotates frequently, so be sure to check online to see what they are serving. All of the food here has an extremely appetizing look and taste.
Salon Ginza Sabou
This upscale restaurant exploded with popularity when they released their infamous green tea boxes. Under a thin layer of green tea-flavored chocolate topped with green tea powder that you break apart with your spoon, you will find the goldmine of all green tea desserts. Watch my video and see Sabou’s website for more information. Other restaurants are starting to copy this style of dessert, but this was the original place that invented it.
Liquid Nitrogen Kit-Kats
It’s no secret that Japan is infatuated with Kit-Kats. Walk into any souvenir store and the first thing you will besides the obvious Hachiko-shaped sweets is corn, sweet potato, green tea, and other strange flavors of Kit-Kats. The Kit Kat Chocolatory and Café offers a whole different level of strangeness with its liquid nitrogen Kit-Kats. It was surreal to watch the Japanese waiter pour liquid nitrogen onto a platter where it would perfectly chill a sweet commonly found in the US, but it was definitely worth the experience. You can customize your own Kit-Kats at this cafe as well! There are a variety of unique toppings you can choose from and the menu changes its featured items each season.
Doubutsuen Ice Cream/The Zoo
Doubutsuen was another dessert place that exploded with popularity in Harajuku due to its cute animal cones. I opted for the tripple scoop piggy the first time I came here. Originally you would buy a ticket from the front of the shop that looked like a vending machine and they would make your cone for you behind the curtain, but due to the mass amount of people waiting in line on the street, they moved their shop to the end of Takeshita Street under the name “The Zoo” so they could serve more customers. The ice cream here is not only cute but also delicious, so I highly recommend it!
Other Ice Cream Recommendations
Other ice cream spots I highly recommend trying are Edy’s Ice Cream for their cute customizable cones with unicorn and heart-shaped toppings, Milkcow for their rich and creamy soft-serve ice cream, Coisof for their black ice cream with crunchy colored toppings, and Godiva simply for their unmatched rich flavor of chocolate ice cream. It’s hard to find bad ice cream in Tokyo, it really is!
Bonus: Rainbow Sweets Harajuku
Last but not least, if you are looking for brightly-colored photogenic food then I would recommend coming to Rainbow Sweets Harajuku! This is right off Takeshita Street and attracts a lot of customers, but the food is all take-out so it doesn’t take much time to receive your order. I ordered the rainbow grilled cheese and the rainbow ice cream. These were fun to take pictures of, but the taste was so-so. Instead I recommend trying the ice cream places I mentioned above because they have a way better taste.
Thank you for reading Volume 2 of my dessert cafe expedition in Tokyo. If you have any recommendations, please drop them in the comments! I will be make more volumes in the future!