Tiny chocolate croissants cause a big stir at popular bakery cafe in Japan

You won’t find a chocolate drink like this at any other cafe chain.

When it comes to cafes in Japan, there are a lot of options to choose from, but for many locals you just can’t beat Saint Marc Cafe. This home-grown chain, which opened its first cafe in Tokyo in 1999, prides itself on being a “bakery cafe“, with as much attention given to its lineup of baked goods as well as its drinks.

This year, the cafe chain is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a series of limited-edition menu items that have fans swooning. The first new release is the “Ultimate ChocoCro“, which is an even more decadent version of the chain’s most popular menu item, the ChocoCro, which is the chain’s take on a chocolate croissant.

▼ The new pastry (pictured below) contains twice the amount of chocolate and 10 times the amount of butter as a regular ChocoCro.

Joining the Ultimate ChocoCro for a limited time is the ChocoCro Parfait, and while they both look impressive, what’s causing even more of a buzz is the Drinkable ChocoCro Chocolate Smoothie.

The poster for the new drink shows something so unlikely that many may be fooled into thinking this is some sort of photo-edited wizardry, but this drink does actually contain what you might think is impossible — a teeny tiny croissant.

Priced at 690 yen (US$4.81) for the version with soft serve ice cream, or 640 yen for the version without, the miniature croissant makes this drink look larger than usual.

To truly appreciate just how small it is, we lined it up against a regular ChocoCro, where it measured in at just four centimetres (1.6 inches) across, which is roughly a third of the usual 11 centimetres.

And if you thought the tiny croissant was impressive at first glance, it gets even better when you look inside, because this is no ordinary croissant — it’s a miniature ChocoCro, complete with a rich chocolate filling.

The cross section is identical to a ChocoCro, except, of course, in a much more miniature form. Each one is hand-kneaded individually, showcasing the skills of the bakers that make this chain and its baked goods so reputable in Japan, and it’s an absolute delight to eat, crunching deliciously in the mouth, with the perfect amount of chocolate inside.

It’s such a beautiful and tasty treat we would buy packs of them if we could, and it’s actually a great introduction to the drink, which contains a blend of milk and ChocoCro chocolate.

Despite being a rich and decadent chocolate beverage, it’s actually deliciously easy to drink. It’ll take a lot of restraint on our part to not overindulge in them, but the drinks are so good we’ll definitely be returning for another taste while they’re on the menu until 26 September. As for the parfait, we have a bit more time to try it, as it’ll be on the menu until 31 October.

[ Read in Japanese ]