Peach season is the best season for this Tokyo confectionary.

It’s officially peach season in Japan! That means peach-themed Starbucks drinks, potato chips, and all sorts of delicious goodies. While scrolling Twitter a few days ago, our Japanese-language reporter Tasuku Egawa happened upon a Tweet of a sweet treat that had over 20 thousand likes in a week. It was this Tweet by Omiya Western Sweets Shop, a confectionary that has been running since 1884, in which they announced the seasonal debut of their dessert called Momo.

Momo, Japanese for “peach”, is one of Omiya’s most popular seasonal dishes, consisting of a peach filled with custard cream. Intrigued by the dessert’s sheer number of Likes, Tasuku decided to head over to Tokyo’s Kanda neighborhood to try it out.

▼ Here’s a Google Maps view of the shop’s location.

Tasuku made his way there from JR Akihabara Station, but it’s also close to Ogawamachi Station on the Toei Shinjuku Line, Awajicho Station on the Marunouchi Line, or Shin-Ochanomizu Station on the Chiyoda Line.

▼ Simply put, it’s quite accessible.

Tasuku was outside the shop before he knew it. It appeared unexpectedly among office buildings in the area, and it didn’t look like a typical sweets shop from the outside.

He wasted no time ordering the Momo, which came to 1,296 yen (US$9.12). It’s only sold during peach season–typically June through August–and take note that Omiya only accepts cash payments.

▼ He’s got the goods.

Concerned about the confection’s delicacy, Tasuku ended up getting two just in case the first one got damaged somehow on the way home (you can never be too safe with crowded Tokyo trains). He checked for survivors as soon as he got home.

▼ Oh no, one peach down!

He was glad he bought two, as one had fallen over and bruised in transport. It was still edible, of course, but it wasn’t as Instagram-worthy. If you buy one as a gift for someone, be extra-extra-careful when carrying it home.

▼ The other one survived just fine, though! Here it is in all its peachy glory.

It was a full-sized peach covered in a delicate later of gelatin to make it shinier and also to preserve its fresh color.

▼ Instead of a peach pit, the middle of the peach was filled with custard cream.

When Tasuku took a bite, the first thing he thought was, “This! Is! Peach!” Of course, you might be thinking, it uses a whole peach! But this was a whole new level of peach that Tasuku hadn’t experienced before.

Many sweets that use peach in Japan tend to manipulate the peaches in some way, like dicing them or turning them into flavored jelly, but the construction of Omiya’s Momo highlighted the essence of the peach itself.

▼ It was in that moment that Tasuku realized the less you do to a peach, the better it will taste in dessert form.

As for the custard, it was the perfect complement to the soft and juicy peach, being just a tad on the stiff side. And since the peach was naturally sweet, the filling was made to be less sweet than the average custard cream.

In conclusion, it was easy for Tasuku to see why a simple Tweet about a seasonal peach dessert would garner so much attention in such little time. He’s going to be a new regular customer. If you’re in Tokyo for the coming months, stop by for a memorable taste of summer.

Shop information
Omiya Western Sweets Shop /  神田近江屋洋菓子店
Address: Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Kanda Awajicho 2-4
東京都千代田区神田淡路町2-4
Open 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. (Monday-Saturday), 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. (Sundays, national holidays)
Website

Photos ©SoraNews24
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