Besides pancakes, the other two things that I really wanted to eat in Tokyo were fruit sandwiches and a fruit parfait. Oooohh, I love sandwiches made with soft white Japanese bread and filled with fresh fruit and whipped cream. I ate this once a very long time ago in Tokyo, and lurrrrrved it ever since. So I researched for a fruit parlor in Tokyo but unfortunately, we left this till it was too late in the trip to squeeze a visit to one of these fruit parlors. One of these options was the Shiseido Parlour in Ginza near our hotel, but getting a table involved a one-hour wait. I thought this would have to be carried over to our next trip.
I was extremely fortunate to come across the Takano Fruit Parlour in Takashimaya when we were shopping for some gifts on our last full day in Tokyo. I saw Takano’s signage near one of the escalators advertising their strawberry parfaits and the reaction was an immediate ‘let’s go now’! Takano is located on the 5th floor of Takashimya, just a minute away from where we were.
The Takano parlor is a simple, elegant space. I opened the menu and got lost in it. Too many options, and every one looked absolutely scrumptious. I went into Takano determined to order a fruit sandwich but all thoughts of that flew out of my mind when I was visually assaulted by the beautiful photos of their parfaits in the menu.
It took me ages to decide on something. I ended up with one of their strawberry parfaits. I am not very fond of strawberries in general because they tend to be sour and not very tasty. But it was the strawberry season, and Japanese strawberries are usually very sweet and fragrant.
Look at my parfait! Chockful of strawberries in a cocktail glass. It was too pretty to eat.
I felt sorry at having to ruin the beautiful presentation with my spoon.
My husband does not like eating fruit, so he chose the option that came with the least fruit. 🙂 How is it possible for anyone to not like fruit, especially Japanese fruits?
I read that the Shinjuku outlet is Takano’s flagship shop, and they have a space in one of the basement floors in Takashimya selling fruit.
Takano Fruit Parlour
Address: 3-26-11 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan. 東京都新宿区新宿3-26-11.
Tel: +81 3 5368-5147
