3 Coins’ gorgeous desserts have six sides.

Japan has a whole bunch of 100 yen store chains, but there’s also a 300 yen store. Called 3 Coins (as in “three 100-yen coins”), it’s stocked with a variety of housewares and lifestyle goods priced at 300 yen (US$2.60).

In general, 3 Coins goes for a quality-over-quantity approach, in that their product lineup isn’t quite as extensive as what you’ll find at a 100 yen store, but the materials and craftsmanship are nicer. However, at 3 Coins’ newly opened shop in Tokyo’s fashionable Harajuku neighborhood, they’ve got something we’ve never seen at a 100 or 300 yen shop: beautifully made fruit sandwich cubes!

Unique to the Harajuku branch, the sandwiches are produced by Fufufu Izumo, a company which also runs a fruit sandwich shop in Shimane Prefecture, on the other side of the country. The fruit used for 3 Coins’ sandwiches comes from a variety of sources, listed on a handwritten signboard inside the shop. On the day we stopped by, options included strawberries from Hiroshima, mikan (mandarin oranges) from Fukuoka, melon from Shimane, oranges from the U.S.A., kiwis from New Zealand, and pineapple from the Philippines.

The Harajuku shop opened in mid-November, and we made multiple trips to try the fruit sandwiches, only for them to be sold out by the time we arrived every single time. So on this day, we got to the doors at 10:55 in the morning, 5 minutes before the shop opens, and even then there was already one person ahead of us in line.

Luckily, though, being second meant we still had the full array of offerings to choose from, and we decided to pick up three of the square sandwiches, each priced at 300 yen.

▼ The double-sized long sandwiches are 600 yen.

Back at SoraNews24 HQ, we lined up the blocks and gave them a final visual inspection. The orange had the most vivid color and nicest contrast with the white bread and fruit.

The stylish grape sandwich looked a little like a die.

But the most beautiful in the bunch was the “tulip,” a special sandwich with strawberry and kiwi slices arranged in the shape of a flower.

If you’ve never eaten a fruit sandwich and are having trouble visualizing how that would work, the name is a bit misleading, since they’re actually fruit-and-cream sandwiches. The ratio of fruit to cream varies by confectioner, and 3 Coins’ are definitely made with cream lovers in mind, with a veritable ocean of rich, sweet cream waiting for you.

You could probably call these “cream bread with fruit” instead of “fruit sandwiches,” and no one would take issue with the description. Not that we’re complaining at all, though, since they were all delicious, and if we didn’t want cream, well, we’d just go to the grocery store and buy a piece of fruit, right?

Shop information
3 Coins (Harajuku branch) / 3COINS（原宿本店）
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Jingumae 6-12-22
東京都渋谷区神宮前6-12-22
Open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. (fruit sandwich sales until 7 p.m. or sold out)
Website

Photos ©SoraNews24
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