Themes cafes are all over the place here in Japan. Every month, they have a bunch of different kinds to select. During this trip in October, I was able to secure some spots at various cafes! Here's the full report on the first few:
ALICE WANDERED INTO 2D COMIC BOOK WORLD
(Official promo image for the buffet. See the official buffet promo page here.)
Alice in Wonderland Sweets Buffet at the Hilton Tokyo was a very luxurious buffet with many sweet treat options, 3 chocolate fountains, and delicious savory foods to help balance all the sugar. I visited the buffet with my friend Airy, who I met back in 2018 during the Harajuku Walk! I hadn't seen her since 2019, so it was so nice to reunite once again and bond over delicious food. Its hard to say which dessert was my favourite, because there were so many tasty treats. But I really loved the speculos cookie mousse (this was a favourite between us both) and the raspberry tart! We took a before and after photo to summarize our empty tummies, ready with excitement VS. our full tummies, food coma, ready for a nap.
(The before and after of the food coma!)
KIRBY CAFE
The Kirby Cafe is very difficult to make reservations at and is usually booked fully just minutes after the bookings open. A friend visiting from Toronto and I got lucky as we were able to take an open spot from a cancellation! I'd definitely say that Kirby is one of my favourite Nintendo characters, so I was so happy to be able to attend! (Kirby Air Rider is a great game for GameCube and you should play it) Before going into the cafe, I needed to buy a little Kirby friend to bring with me to the cafe. The cafe was covered in Kriby decor, with hidden little Kirbys and Waddle-dees around! Whispy Woods was in the center of the cafe, but no apples fell from his branches haha! The menu was full of super cute and delicious sounding food, but I just had to go for the omurice. It was plated like a sleeping Waddle-Dee!! For my drink, I got the Green Greens soda, which looked like the blue sky, green "grass" (syrup) with apple flavouring and red mini pearls to look like apples!
If you've played the latest Kirby game (Kirby and The Forgotten Land), you would have encountered Kirby's ability to turn into a car. And also, you would have encountered the cake version of that car in game! I was able to enjoy this cake in real life!! It was a strawberry mousse with a sponge cake bottom and a filling inside. Decorated with chocolate wheels, roll cookie bumpers, a cherry on top, and edible scenery on the plate. Of course, after you're done at the cafe, you can browse the super cute gift shop.
SANRIO CHARACTERS GARDEN CAFE - HALLOWEEN GARDEN AFTERNOON TEA
I just recently discovered the Sanrio Characters Garden Cafe located in Ueno. There was a special autumn afternoon tea set that was perfectly in season, including both the decor and the flavours! If you didn't know, sweet potato is a very popular flavour during fall in Japan. (alongside chestnut or marron as they sometimes call it here) This is a permanent cafe with Hello Kitty and friends theming, with separate little seating areas that are more themed to the character. I requested in my booking that we sit at the Kuromi corner, since it's her birthday celebration all of October!
I've never had an afternoon tea set served with a cute picnic basket before and I loved it! The afternoon tea set included 1 tier of savory options, 1 tier of sweet options, and the additional picnic basket with mini custard fondue. A mini burger, roasted beef, sweet potato salad, and a quiche were the savory bites. The top layer of sweets included a Kuromi and My Melody mousse topped fruit parfait (you could actually choose the character mousse you want to top your parfait with!), with a madeline. The parfait had whipped cream, crispies, and apples inside. There was also a small sweet potato cake which was so yummy! Lastly, the picnic basket fondue set included "witch's wand" churros, with a pot of strawberries, bread cubes, and cream puffs for dipping.
I have a few more cafe's coming up before I leave Japan and I can't wait to experience them and report on them afterwards~! I hope you enjoy following along my journey. Be sure to check out the many other posts on my travels to Japan, as well as events, kawaii interviews and more! And, as always . . .
BE STRANGE. FEAR THE NORM.