The address and interior design say host/hostess lounge, but the menu says elegant individual-size cakes.
Shinjuku Ward’s Kabukicho has a well-deserved reputation as a part of Tokyo where you can satisfy a wide range of desires once the sun goes down. In addition to a large selection of bars and pubs, Kabukicho has Tokyo’s densest concentration of hostess and host clubs, as well as various sensual massage parlors and other similar enterprises.
And hey, we’re not here today to judge anyone who heads to Kabukicho after dark to scratch their particular figurative itch. As a matter of fact, we too were unable to resist the neighborhood’s allure on a recent evening, which is how we found ourselves climbing this set of stairs up to the third floor of a Kabukicho building.
Once we completed the climb, we opened the door and stepped through the threshold into a promised world of elegant atmosphere and decadent pleasures.
The stylish interior had both sofa-surrounded tables for those who’d come with multiple companions, but also smaller tables and counter seats for those who’d come alone, either because they had no acquaintances who shared the same desire that day, or perhaps for those who were anticipating such intense enjoyment that it would best be experienced alone, without any potential for distracting self-consciousness bought on by being in the presence of friends or work colleagues.
After scanning a QR code with our phone, we looked over the myriad options the establishment offers, each one mounting a ferocious assault on our willpower. Then we gave in, and ordered the strawberry shortcake.
Yes, while the interior aesthetic and Kabukicho location might lead one to assume that it’s a premium host/hostess lounge, it’s actually a cake cafe, called Short Cake Company.
In keeping with the neighborhood’s nightlife image, Short Cake Company is only open at night, serving cakes from 5 p.m. to midnight (last entry at 10:30), and it checks the decadence box by offering individual-size whole cakes, not slices.
Our Rose and Strawberry Shortcake (1,300 yen [US$8.50]) was a thing of beauty, arriving atop a classy glass compote. The berry was place in the center of dual rings of flower petal-shaped dollops of cream, and actual rose petals and silver dragees had been sprinkled on top.
Ordinarily, when presented with a whole cake the first step would be to delicately figure out how to divvy up the slice between the other members of your group, but there was no need for such false restraint here. This cake was all ours, and so we sliced in with the side of our fork, as though we were taking a step into an even and unbroken field of snow.
The flavor was delicious without being cloyingly sweet. There was a sophisticated touch of liqueur flavoring to the cake’s sponge, and a layer of strawberry and rose petal jam inside.
The silver dragees did more than just look pretty too, as they provided a stimulating crunch as we chewed them.
The Rose and Strawberry Shortcake also comes with a side of fruit compote.
You can add as much or as little to the cake, whenever you like. Like the shortcake, the strawberry compote tasted wonderful.
It wasn’t just the flavors that were just right either, but also the portion size. Our Rose and Strawberry Shortcake was undeniably bigger that a standard cake slice in Japan, making it luxuriously satisfying, but not so big that we had trouble finishing it or felt uncomfortably stuffed afterwards.
Short Cake Company requires each customer to order one food item and one beverage, so we decided to stick to a theme and selected the Melty Strawberry Milk (800 yen).
Rather than being pre-mixed, the Melty Strawberry Milk comes to your table in its component parts, with a glass of milk and a glass container of strawberry sauce that you pour in yourself, stirring the two ingredients together to produce the ratio you want. Even using the entire amount, the result is still more on the creamy than fruity side, with a gentle, soothing sweetness.
Though address-wise Short Cake Company is located in Kabukicho, it’s still just a five-minute walk from the east gate of Shinjuku Station, making a visit also viable if you’re in Shinjuku to catch a movie, shop at the department stores, or stroll through Shinjuku Gyoen garden. Just make sure that you don’t linger over dessert so long that you miss your last train home for the night.
Cafe location
Short Cake Company
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Kabukicho 1-15-9, Tokiwa Building Daini, 3rd floor
東京都新宿区歌舞伎町1-15-9 常盤ビル第二 3階
Open 5 p.m.-midnight
Website
Wide interior image: PR Times
All other photos ©SoraNews24
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