We try the interactive dessert that’s melting hearts in Tokyo.
We love a good anime-themed dessert, and living in Tokyo means we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to tasting sweet collaborations. One of the latest to catch everyone’s attention is extra special, though, as it’s based on an anime feature film recently released on Christmas Day, called Poupelle of Chimney Town.
This touching CG family film–based on a bestselling children’s picture book by Nishino Akihiro, a member of the comedy duo King Kong–comes from Japanese animation company Studio 4°C, and is scheduled for worldwide release later this year.
Take a look at the stars of the movie, Lubicchi and Poupelle, in this clip below:
Lubicchi and Poupelle spend their days beneath the smoke and haze of Chimney Town, which is said to be based on real-life Shibuya in Tokyo. And it’s this fantasy world that’s now being recreated as an eye-catching sweet dish, in a tie-up with Colonial Garden in Kichijoji and Milk, Japan’s first fresh cream specialty store.
We were keen to find out what the new dessert would look like in real life, so we headed out to the cafe, and said hello to Poupelle, who was waiting to greet us at the entrance.
The cafe specialises in desserts containing milk and cream, and while there were a lot of tasty looking items to choose from on the menu, we had eyes for only one thing that day: the Poupelle Pancake, which retails for 880 yen (US$8.44).
After we ordered the pancake, we received a sheet of exclusive stickers from the film, which is limited to the first 100 customers.
▼ And then the true star of the show arrived, turning the heads of other diners as it was delivered to the table.
It looked absolutely gorgeous, with a brown chocolate base representing the sludge of the town, and a huge mound of cotton candy recreating the towering plume of smoke that hangs above it. And for a final flourish, a sprinkling of stars and Lubicchi’s top hat could be seen poking through it all to remind us of the characters’ star-seeking adventure.
In between the sludge and smoke is a mound of pancakes covered in cream. To get to them, though, you have to perform a bit of magic, and that’s where the berry sauce on the side steps in.
Following the advice given to us by staff, we picked up the little bowl and slowly poured the berry sauce over the cotton candy.
Ta daaaa! The smoke parted and a hole big enough for Lubicchi and Poupelle to fly through on their airborne ship appeared! This is a memorable moment from the film, and being able to take part in it all made our hearts melt as quickly as the cotton candy.
Peering inside was like peering down into the city from the sky, and we decided to remove the remainder of the cotton candy to get a good look at the sweet chimney stacks.
After playing with our food, the time had come to finally eat it, so we cut a big slice of the pancake stack, ensuring we had plenty of cream, sauce and chocolate to go with it, and delicately laid the plump serving on the tongue.
It was decadently sweet, yet tart at the same time thanks to the berry sauce. The pancakes were thick and cooked to perfection, but what really blew us away was the taste and freshness of the cream. It was rich, yet not at all heavy, imparting flavours that shone both individually and when combined with other ingredients.
If this is what cream from a cream specialist is like, then we, like Oliver Twist, who reminds us a little of chimney sweep Lubicchi, will be holding our bowls out again and bravely asking for more.
Another serving of these would definitely be delightful, and we may just have to make another visit for them before they disappear from the menu at the end of February.
Cafe information
Kichijoji Colonial Garden (Fresh Cream Specialty Store Milk) / 吉祥寺コロニアルガーデン（生クリーム専門店ミルク）
Address: Tokyo-to, Musashino-shi, Kichijoji Honcho 1-11-5, Kopisu Kichijoji 3F, inside Kaikuchu Garden
東京都武蔵野市吉祥寺本町1-11-5 コピス吉祥寺3階空中庭園内
Hours: 11:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.（last order 7:30 p.m.) *
*These are shortened business hours due to the current state of emergency
Sales period: 23 January-end of February
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