The delicious bonsai dessert comes in three different varieties.

If you’re on the lookout for delicious treats in Japan, Tokyo’s hip Harajuku district is the place for you. While the bustling central area of Takeshita Street is probably best known for its variety of crepe stands, strolling a little further down into the backstreets of Harajuku, known as Urahara, reveals some other tasty treats as well.

Tucked away in a side street here is a beautiful wooden building that catches the eye, and it’s home to Tsurukamero, a Japanese restaurant that takes its name from tsuru (crane) and kame (turtle), two auspicious animals which can be seen on the facade of the building.

Tsurukamero is a great place to stop for lunch or dinner, with some creative menu items that take their inspiration from some of Japan’s famous icons.

While the meal options here are enough to stop hungry passersby, the restaurant has been attracting attention recently for its unique dessert selection, which comes in the style of beautiful bonsai. With three varieties to choose from – chocolate, matcha, or berry banana – our sweet-toothed Japanese-language reporter Mr Sato was curious to find out what it would be like to eat a bonsai, so he took a trip to the restaurant to try the new dessert for himself.

Despite us pleading with him to try the matcha variety, which comes complete with a taiyaki fish-shaped sweet red bean cake and an adzuki-flavoured ice cream on a stick, Mr Sato could not be moved once he’d set his eyes on the chocolate option. As a firm lover of chocolate, he ordered the Choco Parfait, and when the waitress told him it would take ten minutes to make, he knew he was in for something special.

▼ When the dessert was delivered to the table, Mr Sato’s eyes gleamed with delight.

The parfait came served on some beautiful Japanese tableware, with the main components sitting inside a small bowl in the middle of the dish.

Although the images on the menu made it look like the bonsai pine tree branches were inserted into the dessert, Mr Sato was happy to find that this wasn’t the case. Instead, the pine tree decoration sat gracefully on the side of the tray, creating patterns in the light, which became more and more pleasant to look at as he tasted the dessert.

The parfait itself was rich and creamy, with mounds of ice cream and fresh cream throughout, yet also light and refreshing, thanks to the addition of fresh blueberries. What really made Mr Sato’s toes curl, though, was the delicious chocolate powder and sauce, which filled every mouthful with the sweet and decadent flavour he’d been yearning for.

After finishing the dessert, Mr Sato gave it two enthusiastic thumbs up. Not only is the 800-yen (US$7.46) price reasonable for desserts in the area, it’s also a nice relaxing spot to stop while strolling around the Harajuku backstreets. Plus, not only are the parfaits delicious, they’re gorgeous to look at too, and will no doubt turn all your friends to jelly when they see your photos of the dessert pop up on social media.

Store Information

Tsurukamero / 鶴亀樓
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Jingumae 4-27-2
東京都渋谷区神宮前4-27-2
Hours: 12:00 p.m.-4:00p.m., 5:30p.m.-10:00p.m. / weekends and public holidays 12:00p.m.-10:00p.m.

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