If there’s one factor we love as a lot as the brilliant lights and trendy comfort of Tokyo, it’s the outdated retro finds you’ll be able to uncover in between. In these little hideaway areas you will get a really feel, and a style, of Japan the way in which it was, and one place that retains that old-school allure is a confectionery retailer known as Sennari Monaka.
Established in 1937, this 89-year-old Japanese confectionery store is tucked away in a retro-style buying avenue on the south aspect of Otsuka Station. Just one cease away from Ikebukuro Station, Otsuka is a stunning outdated neighborhood that’s additionally served by the Toden Arakawa Line, Tokyo’s solely streetcar line.
The vivid yellow hues of Sennari Monaka instantly catch your eye as you stroll via the arcade, and the shop’s title is written in Japanese on a noren curtain that hangs beneath the eaves.
The phrase monaka evokes a deep sense of nostalgia in Japanese folks, who’ve grown up consuming the standard paste-filled, wafer -sandwiched sweets, which first originated within the Edo interval (1603-1867). At this retailer, the monaka are formed like gourds, as “Sennari” interprets as “thousand gourds”, which is a fortunate image in Japan, typically related to prosperity and success.
Sennari Monaka doesn’t simply promote monaka, although. Looking across the retailer, you’ll additionally discover dorayaki (a kind of crimson bean paste pancake) and yokan (a kind of candy bean jelly), with quite a lot of flavors to select from.
After asking the workers for a suggestion, they urged we attempt their hottest merchandise – the Anko Butter Dorayaki (390 yen). Having tried dorayaki many instances earlier than, we wouldn’t have thought it might be any completely different right here, however we had been very a lot mistaken, as a result of when it arrived, it appeared like no different dorayaki we’d ever seen earlier than.
Anko Butter is a well-liked mixture, however the quantity of butter that normally comes with the anko (crimson bean paste) tends to be a small dice, like what you’d get in a mini tub of butter at a lodge. Here at Sennari Monaka, the butter is large, matching the quantity of anko it’s served with, making the dorayaki look extra like a cheeseburger with a giant chunk of cheese.
It’s a candy with a lot visible enchantment that it deserves to go viral on social media, however the huge query is: How does it style? After taking a chunk, we had been stunned to search out that the candy has a refined taste, with a sweetness and buttery richness that hugs the palate in equal measures. Though we feared that a lot butter could be cloying, it was really the proper quantity, making a melt-in-the-mouth texture whereas nonetheless leaving a clear aftertaste.
▼ The butter melts because it’s warmed up by the warmth of the dorayaki, making each chunk a blissful one.
After a number of bites, the butter turns into much more spectacular, exuding an air of one thing particular. It appeared whiter and extra lovely than peculiar butter too, so once we enquired with workers about it, they advised us it was Calpis butter. This is a high-end butter that’s also known as “phantom butter” because of its rarity, and it’s produced by Japanese lactic acid beverage firm firm Calpis, utilizing the identical fermented milk as their signature drink, which provides it a singular and mildly tangy taste.
With such a particular ingredient within the combine, this dorayaki is a really distinctive discover that’s properly price in search of out. It’s a totally trendy mixture of outdated and new Japan, and a testomony to the experience of the shop behind its creation.
Store data
Ganso Sennari Monaka Honpo Otsuka Store / 元祖千成もなか本舗 大塚店
Address: Tokyo, Toshima-ku, Minami-Otsuka 3-54-4
東京都豊島区南大塚3-54-4
Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Website
Images©SoraNews24
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