Remake Easy is like a speakeasy with sweets, and they don’t tell their address to anybody until they’re part of the inner circle.
The place is called Remake Easy, but getting in is anything but simple. It’s a bar in Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood, and that’s as specific as we’re allowed to be in talking about its location.
That’s because Remake Easy prides itself on discretion and secrecy. It’s a private, members-only establishment, but they’d agreed to give us a peek inside.
What they hadn’t agreed to do, though, was to give us their address, and so we had to wait at a designated meeting point outside Shibuya Station, where a member of the Remake Easy staff came to pick us up and take us to the bar, which is tucked away in a multi-tenant building.
As we entered the chic interior, it suddenly felt like we’d jumped ahead several hours in the day. Though it was still the afternoon, the stylish shadows and bronzed wall covering had the effect of making it feel like we’d stopped off for a drink at the end of a sophisticated night on the town. But while Remake Easy has all sorts of spirits and cocktails on offer, what it’s most famous for, and the reason we were here, was for the parfaits.
As you might expect, these are no simple sweets. In addition to one monthly seasonal parfait, Remake Easy has two permanent options on the menu, the Caramel Chocolate and Banana Parfait, and the Strawberry Flower Field Parfait.
We opted for the latter, which the bartender crafted right in front of our eyes, beautifully arranging fresh strawberries garnished with delicate flower petals atop a stemmed cocktail glass filled with vanilla ice cream imported from France and drizzled with amaretto liqueur.
At 3,200 yen (US$27.80), this definitely isn’t the cheapest parfait in town, but considering the gourmet ingredients, speakeasy-like ambiance, and personal care being given to our dessert, we didn’t feel like we were getting ripped off.
We were even more okay with the price after we took a bite and were rewarded with a delicious flavor that avoided smothering our taste buds with sugary sweetness but instead let each of the ingredients fully play its role.
Remake Easy is also happy to recommend drink pairings for their parfaits, according to customers’ preferences. Reminding ourselves that it was still the afternoon and that we were headed back to the office after this, we asked for something non-alcoholic, and the bartender recommended a mixture of ginger ale, Chinese quince, and star anise. The spicy, mature taste made for an excellent complement to our parfait.
With a total of only 13 seats at its counter and sofas, Remake Easy has an intimate atmosphere, and the staff was happy to chat with us and tell us how the bar came to be.
When we noticed some wireless charging pads on the counter for customer use, they revealed that originally Remake Easy was the waiting area for a smartphone repair shop. At some point, they started offering parfaits to customers waiting for their phones to be fixed, and that proved to be so popular that Remake Easy was turned into a longue in its own right. They do, however, still offer phone repair service to this day.
▼ While we were there, they also told us about their then-upcoming monthly parfait, the Chocolate Framboise-holic Parfait.
As mentioned above, Remake Easy is a members-only establishment. The bar offers memberships at non-set intervals, but when they do become available, details are announced through its Twitter account.
▼ The Twitter account also has photos of things like this amazing-looking matcha parfait.
Oh, and don’t worry, once you become a member, Remake Easy actually does let you know the bar’s address.
Bar information
Remake Easy / リメイクイージー
Address: Classified
Open 5 p.m.-11 p.m.
Website
Twitter
Top image: SoraNews24
Insert images: SoraNews24, Remake Easy
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[ Read in Japanese ]