Tucked in a corner of prestigious Tokyo University, the Daiwa Ubiquitous Research Building is difficult to miss due to its unique architecture of wooden slabs, but more importantly, the building is home to a unique restaurant, Wagashi Kurogi. Wagashi is the word for Japanese sweets, often associated with tea ceremony, but Wagashi Kurogi goes beyond…
Tag: dessert
Asakusa – Matcha Azuki Kakigori
Although you can technically get this traditional summer dessert all over Japan, it seems fitting to eat it in Asakusa, a neighborhood of Tokyo steeped in tradition. A mountain of razor thin sliced ice drizzled with milk and covered with matcha (green tea) powder, finally topped with a scoop of sweet azuki red beans. On…
Tohoku Week – Zunda
When you consider the elegance of Japanese tea, the homely looking zunda looks a bit out of place. By appearance, it could be a regurgitated bright green goo, but zunda takes its rightful place beside the more refined cup of ocha by virtue of its history. Lord Date Masamune, founder of Sendai, dined on zunda,…
Kakigori
When July and August roll around, the people of Japan swoon in the hot and humid weather. Perhaps that feeling led to the invention of kakigori, finely shaved ice flavored with a variety of sweet goodness. Kakigori is widely available on the cheap with a variety of artificial, bright colored flavored syrups like strawberry, lemon,…
Brigela
Gelato served in a warm brioche bun? Is that even a thing? Why yes it is, and you can try it for yourself at Brigela (Brioche-Gelato), a dessert chain in Tokyo. Combining the Japanese love of fresh bread and soft ice cream, Brigela seems like the perfect fit for the Japanese palette. Traditional flavors include…
Kuro Goma Soft Cream
The mysterious black soft-serve ice cream might scare some people away, but we think it is one of the most delicious of the soft cream flavors in Japan. It gets it’s color from black sesame seeds 黒ごま, giving it a nutty and sweet flavor. At this shop in Kamakura, they sprinkle the soft cream with…
Ice Cream Vending Machine
Everyone loves the ice cream truck, coming down the street on a hot summer day loaded with every variety of ice cream a kid can imagine. The only thing better would be a vending machine, so you wouldn’t have to wait in anticipation for the ice cream truck, right? Thankfully, Japan’s marketing department has heard…
Baked Cheesecake Kit Kat
Exotic Kit Kat flavors are commonplace in Japan, but this flavor tops them all in the fact that it requires an extra step before consuming: baking! Baked cheesecake Kit Kat come in a wrapper with instructions on how to prepare it in your toaster oven (because every Japanese household has a toaster oven). In one…
Donuts
Donuts were obviously not invented by the Japanese, but like many things invented elsewhere and brought to Japan, they have been adopted into the culture and made cuter, like these from Floresta Nature Donuts. Western style donuts are generally too sweet for Japanese tastes so even recent imports like Krispy Kreme have changed their lineups…
Mochicream
Though centuries-old traditions are mostly alive and well in Japan, modern Japan has experienced a fusion of the traditional and the foreign, especially in foods. Ramen is certainly one food that springs to mind as well as tempura, which actually came to Japan via Portugal (and is an interesting story in itself). Mochicream is a…
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