Our writer Meg gets a taste of Kiri Cafe, a cream cheese-lover’s paradise!

Kiri cheese is celebrating its 50th year with a limited-time cafe, open in Tokyo for one month only, so of course we had to check it out!

If you’re from France, the Middle East, or Japan, you are probably quite familiar with the little white squares of cream cheese that comes in the sky-blue packaging. If not, you may at least know one of the many other brands marketed under French company BEL Group, such as The Laughing Cow, Babybel, or Kaukauna.

But it’s Kiri that has become a household name across Japan, and so it was with much enthusiasm that our Japanese writer Meg offered her time and taste buds to test a possibly once-in-a-lifetime menu filled with all sorts of gooey, white cheesy goodness at the “Kiri Cafe”, temporarily established at the Royal Garden Cafe Aoyama from April 15 to May 12.

She arrived to the cafe on opening day to find, in typical Japanese style, that people had already been lining up since that morning.

There’s seating both inside and on the terrace, but no matter where you sit, you’re surrounded by the familiar colors and logo of Kiri.

Once seated, Meg was finally able to see the much-anticipated menu, which featured a soup and salad lunch set for 1,200 yen (US$11), a pasta lunch set for 1,200 yen, or a “main dish” set for 1,500 yen ($13.80). Of course, a meal wouldn’t be complete without finishing up with a delectable dessert, from which you could choose the fromage pudding for 1,000 yen ($9.20), or Chef Oyama’s dessert plate for 2,000 ($18.40). Oh, if only it weren’t frowned upon to order everything from the menu!

Each menu item is also available for only a limited time, which makes it even harder to decide, knowing that the meal you don’t choose you may never have the chance to try again! This time, Meg got to sample…

▼The shrimp, red pepper, zucchini, and Kiri pasta

▼ Spicy grilled chicken and Kiri-stuffed red pepper

▼ Potato potage soup and salad lunch

The pasta had a smooth, rich tomato sauce that just wouldn’t had lived up to expectations if it weren’t for the creaminess of the Kiri cheese.

Kiri cheese wasn’t has big of a star player in the chicken dish as it was in the pasta, this time only appearing inside the red pepper, but that isn’t to say it was any less superb! Because really, how could you go wrong with oozy cheese melting out of a crisp, sweet pepper?

The potage too was no less mouth-gasm inducing, with a fair hint of edible chrysanthemum to accent the rich cheese flavor of the soup.

▼ Now that’s what I’m talking about!

And for dessert? The dessert plate, of course! The plate includes five different desserts, each featuring the smooth creaminess of Kiri, of course, ice cream included!

For those looking to douse their taste buds with cheese, Meg recommends the tomato cream pasta and the dessert plate, though it seems you really can’t go wrong, no matter what you order off the menu!

Cafe Information
Kiri Cafe at Royal Garden Cafe Aoyama
2-1-19 Kita-Aoyama Minato-ku, Tokyo
April 15, 2016 to May 12, 2016
11am – 11pm

SoraNews24 —Japan News—