Traditional Japanese sakura mochi confection meets western pie at Tokyo pie eatery!【Taste Test】

Sakura season in Tokyo isn’t quite yet finished — at least the season for tasting it isn’t!

Sakura mochi, a popular sweet in the springtime because of its association with the sakura (cherry) flowers, typically consists of pink mochi rice cake with sweet red bean paste in the center, wrapped in a pickled sakura leaf. If you think that sounds like our kind of treat, then you’re absolutely right! Pie, of course, is also another of our favorite foods, so you can imagine we were more than a little excited to hear that the Little Pie Factory in the Hiroo area of Tokyo was offering a sakura mochi pie for the month of April.

So, off to the pie shop and cafe we went! We found the quaint eatery only about two minutes from the subway Hiroo Station.

▼ A cute hand drawn sign was placed outside, advertising their April pie flavors.

▼ They have comfortable dining spaces both inside and out with about 20 seats.

As we arrived at the store in the evening, there weren’t too many pies left, but what they had left, including Shrimp Bisque, Keema Curry, Chocolate and Apple & Cream Cheese, certainly looked good. Apparently, their specialty is Apple Pie, but this time we were after the sakura mochi pie, priced at 420 yen (US$3.86).

Having returned home with our precious pastry, we were more than ready to try the sakura flavored treat!

The pies looked tempting and lovely, decorated with pink sakura cream on top.

▼ We could hardly wait to bite into the golden brown pie!

But first, we had to take a look at what was inside the little eight-centimeter (approximately three-inch) pie. Mmm! It certainly looked scrumptious cut open!

The pie was filled with sakura-flavored bean paste, as well as shiratama rice cake balls containing sakura leaves. The pink cream on top is actually the same as the bean paste contained inside the pie and is designed to look like sakura flower petals.

The melty shiratama rice cake balls looked amazing!

We were duly impressed with the pie after tasting it. The bean paste gave the pie plenty of sakura flavor and was just sweet enough to mix sublimely with the buttery taste of the pie. The soft, chewy rice cake and the crunchy, flaky pie also made for a delightful contrast in texture. You can bet we were quite happy after having the pie!

The sakura mochi pie is available until April 30, along with the other April flavor, the “Salmon Trout and Spring Vegetables” pie. But judging from the menu, it looks like there will still be plenty of reasons to return to the Little Pie Factory even after these seasonal pies are gone!

Shop Information
Little Pie Factory/リトル・パイ・ファクトリー
Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Minamiazabu 5-15-6
東京都港区南麻布5-16-6
(About two minute walk from Exit 1 of subway Hiroo Station)
Open 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
Website

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