Hashtag Food Photog. These days, travelling is all about getting those pictures for your Instagram, and as the adage goes, The Camera Eats First. A trip to Tokyo is just what you need to revive your Instagram game, and fill your belly, too. Here are some of Tokyo’s most Instagrammable food options, all of which are just downright adorable.
Daily Chico
You scream, I scream, we scream for ice cream! Daily Chico is a store located off Nakano Broadway specialising in soft-serve ice cream. They have a wide range of mouth-watering flavours and are known for their generous portions, the most generous of all being their famous eight-scoop tower of ice cream. For 480 yen you can get a total of eight flavours - strawberry, coffee, milk, chocolate, matcha, banana, grape and ramune soda - in pretty, pastel colours. Be sure to feed your camera before this ice-cold tower begins to melt!
Shiro Hige Cream Puff Factory
Fans of the animation company, Studio Ghibli and their award-winning films will love Shiro Hige Cream Puff Factory. The bakery serves confectioneries inspired by Studio Ghibli’s most iconic character, the wide-eyed Totoro of My Neighbour Totoro. The store itself is a bit of a hidden gem, but you’ll be able to spot it by searching for the decorated signs littered throughout the street. Once inside, feast on the bakeries adorable assortment of cream puffs, with flavours like custard cream and strawberry on display. You can also call ahead and reserve cream puffs if you’re afraid they’ll sell out! Otherwise enjoy the peaceful ambience of the cafe, and dig into these delectable treats whilst surrounding yourself with Totoro plushies.
Decora Creamery
Cotton candy is everyone’s favourite sweet treat. Deliciously light and fluffy, you’ll find it all but melts in your mouth. Decora Creamery offers their own colourful and crazy take on cotton candy. Think a stick of cotton candy swirls larger than your head, in pastel rainbow colours. Each layer is carefully added to form a dreamy cloud-shaped dessert. Tackle this candy floss monster with friends for a fun, sticky afternoon, or you can attempt to take on this challenge on your own. The store also sells amazing combinations of soft serve and cotton candy, with flavours like matcha and sea salt ice cream with lemon cotton candy on the menu.
Coisof
The soft-serve at the eclectic Cosio is a must-try. Their signature aesthetic is the use of Oiri, crispy pearl-shaped snacks traditionally used in wedding ceremonies in the Kagawa prefecture thought to bring good luck. Apart from being in line with the shop’s desire to bring love to their customers, it also makes for a very eye-catching dessert. Expect nothing less, since the shop is located along the fashion-conscious street of Harajuku. Coisof is known for two flavours in particular, white sesame and black sesame, the latter of which has been nicknamed goth ice cream. There are also six other flavours available that are considered part of the seasonal menu.
DUMBO Doughnuts and Coffee
If you thought doughnuts and coffee were a match made in heaven, you thought right. DUMBO has two locations, in Azuba and in Harajuku and prides itself in serving “NYC doughnuts for adult tastes”. Their doughnuts are said to be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and the best thing is, they’re not sickly sweet. Their doughnuts are made in-store, with a special method used to make the dough. The doughnuts are then drizzled and glazed with icing in colours like pink, green and yellow. You can get their coffee, which is brewed with local beans sourced from Kyoto. Go crazy for the neon pink decor and the millennial pink coffee cups, this store has aesthetic down to an art.
Creperie Tirol
Crepes are another popular treat in Tokyo. Instead of getting your crepes from a stall, why not settle for colourful crepes at the picturesque Creperie Tirol? Their crepes are a thing of beauty, and their fruit crepes are particularly popular, made using fresh fruit that serves to add a welcome pop of colour. They are incredibly generous with their toppings, and you can choose from a range of savoury and sweet crepes depending on personal preference. Creperie Tirol has also been known to introduce three new flavours each month, and use ingredients and fruits that are exclusively seasonal, so keep an eye out for those limited-edition additions!
Eddy’s Ice-Cream
The best adjective for Eddy’s Ice Cream, found in the heart of Harajuku is honestly just super, duper cute. First off, the entire building is covered in splashes of pink and white. Once you enter, you’ll find a pastel pink world. Yes, the inside is completely decked out in pink, reminiscent of Seoul’s Style Nanda Hotel. But instead of clothes, you’ll find delicious, icy cold treats - after all, there’s no such thing as too much ice cream (as long as you don’t get a brain freeze). Photogenic location aside, the ice cream is served in special cones that come in a wide variety of colours. Eddy’s Ice Cream’s major selling point is its toppings, that range from cotton candy to an enormous pair of chocolate lips, cat-eyed masks and carefully balanced candy garlands.
