Japan’s Tokyo café introduced dessert almost 90 years ago, with others a sweets history.
Mont Blanc may be, or may not, a food youre very familiar with if you live in or around where you live. So far in Japan, everyone knows about the chestnut puree dessert, and just about everyone loves it as its one of the nations’ favorite sweets.
But despite that, on many Japan patisseries, Mont Blanc still exists. Mont Blanc originated in Europe, most of which was unclear to Japan until Tokyo became the first to make and serve Mont Blanc, as you might guess from the name it.
That café is called Mont Blanc, and its still in business in Jiyugaoka neighborhood, about 15 mins by train south from Tokyo Shibuya Station. Mont Blanc closes home due to property redevelopment process, only days for restaurant.
Our ace reporter, M. Sato looked at the menu, which was greeted by stunning photos of a line of classical desserts. These are sweets with a distinctly American appeal, right at the bottom is a picture of Mont Blancs Mont Blanc, introduced to Japan all the way back in 1933.
Mont Blanc gets a little on the pricy side at 867 yen (US$6.60) but its not exorbitantly expensive by fashionable Tokyo cafe standards. Mr. Sato added some 620 yen of coffee and the two just looked right paired together on his table.
Mont Blancs is castella sponge cake, layers of butter cream and whipped cream on top. Bottom line: chestnut cream coils piled high enough to look like the mountain from which the dessert gets its name. Ehime Prefecture’s cafe uses Kanyaki-Kuri, a variety of Japanese-grown chestnuts.
Some Mont Blanc have swirl of whipped cream at peak, but cafe instead uses merengue, powdery surface just like a bank of snow.
Mr Sato took bite to start with chestnut cream from picking up fancy gold-colored fork. It was a tastefully sweet and flavorful but not overpoweringly spicy. The chestnut cream may be the captain of the team of ingredients in this dessert, but its still a team player.
Some of the ingredients hidden for your first bite, like the whipped cream filling.
And, underneath that, custard cream and whole chestnut. The chestnuts pacificity is a refreshing surprise as its flavor serves as a reminder of what makes it so special and unique, compared to more chocolate or strictly creamy desserts.
Mont Blancs Mont Blanc flavors arent bittersweet, but it was the atmosphere at first. Cafe is closing on Dec 31 and will be moving to a new location in February, locals say it is a temporary location, but its unclear what the long-term fate of Mont Blanc is. N’Basa, the new location will be strictly take-away sales, with no cafe; however, if you want to sit down and eat Mont Blanc, that’s the place you’ll want to start with its spread across Japan, nows the time.
Mont Blanc / Address: Tokyo-to, Meguro-ku, Jiyugaoka 1-29-2 1-29-3 Opens 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (Dec. 31 11 a.m.-4 p.m.) Temporary location (opens Feb. 10, 2023; to be in business for approximately four years): Tokyo-to, Meguro-ku, Jiyugaoka 1-25-13 1-25-13 Website
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