Hey Hive!
I'm currently recounting our anniversary trip to Tokyo back in Feb 2023! It'd been at least 3 years since we visited Tokyo and the last time was pre-covid so we decided to go back and find some new places to explore while revisiting our favourite hot-spots.
Last week, we started our post-bus tour chill day by going to the famous Tsukiji Fish Market to have sushi at my favourite sushi chain - Sushi Zanmai!
We ate some very delicious sushi and found a new favourite type as well - Broiled Salmon topped with salt, pepper and lemon! It was simply scrumptious!
8 Feb 2023. Wednesday.
Sean isn't a big fan of sushi since he doesn't really like raw food so I knew he wouldn't be full from the sushi meal. To be honest I wasn't really full either but it was our first meal of the day so I didn't have a big appetite.
It was still a really delicious meal, but for the price we couldn't really pig out here on sushi. So we left Tsukiji in search of another snack.
We came across a branch of Hoshino Coffee which is probably one of our favourite cafes even though we don't drink coffee.
They specialise in hand drip coffee but they also have a lot of other drinks and snacks as well.
They even had a semi-open kitchen where you could see all the fancy coffee pots.
They have quite the menu ranging from sandwiches and desserts to curry rice and omurice. Other than coffee they also have various fruit teas and sodas as well.
Here's a look at the menu:
They also had a few different sets. But to be honest we weren't that hungry for a full meal and just wanted their special souffle pancakes because it's our favourite item from Hoshino.
The interior of the cafe is really fancy-looking and it reminded me of those lounge rooms you'd see in old mansions in movies.
The plush leather chairs really gave it that high-class feel, and other than the shoji screens at the end it didn't look like Japan at all.
Most of their fruit teas were cold drinks unfortunately, and I wanted something warm since we just had sushi and outside was cold. So we ordered some lemon tea to share.
I don't remember if it was apple lemon tea but it was quite pleasant, and definitely helped to warm me up at least.
Turns out this cafe is so fancy that they make it mandatory for every customer to order a food item so we ordered a chocolate opera cake as well.
I've never heard of opera cake before but it looked and smelled good. Apparently it's a French cake made with layers of almond sponge, potent coffee syrup, French buttercream, and chocolate ganache.
I remember it being quite rich and sweet, which explains why it's such a small piece. But it was quite good.
We also ordered a stack of double souffle pancakes that are so fluffy! They had a dollop of cream on top and some maple drizzle, but also came with a flask of maple syrup.
These are definitely my favourite kind of pancake. Souffle pancakes are pretty popular in Japan but most of the viral jiggly pancakes tend to be very egg-tasting and soft.
This one however, is crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, and actually taste like regular pancake batter, not like a fluffy omelette. That's why this is our favourite place to get souffle pancakes.
We split the stack so we each got one pancake, and it was delicious, with some extra drizzle of maple syrup.
Overall we had a very enjoyable teatime snack, and I was quite full after that, so a truly satisfying meal indeed.
Every table had this card with the table number to keep track of your tab, and you take it to the cashier to pay.
We had a delightful meal at Hoshino Coffee, and I can't recommend this café enough if you're craving delicious soufflé pancakes!
Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Check out my previous post in this series!
TacoCat’s Travels #287 (Tokyo): Succulent Sushi and Sweet Treats 🍣
