The most delicious gacha may also be Japan’s cutest.

These days, gacha capsule toy machines are becoming more amazing than ever before. Things that were once previously unimaginable just a decade ago are now easily available in capsule form, and although that’s generally a good thing, the downside is they’re so irresistable we’re spending even more money on them.

Down in Osaka City’s Ikuno Ward, there’s a machine that we could easily empty our wallets on, as it dispenses what’s been described as an “Unbelievably Delicious Gacha”, and it’s available from a cake shop called “SpielKuchen”.

The corner shop looks adorable from the outside, but step closer and you’ll find something rather unusual…

▼… there is no store entrance.

Instead, there’s a solitary machine sitting in the corner, adorned in a dazzling block-style pattern that easily catches the eye.

This machine commands attention, and rightly so, because when you look inside you’ll see…

▼ … cakes inside the capsules!

This is a convenient way to satisfy a cake craving, and in case you turn up without the required 500 yen (US$3.41) coin to spin the dial and make a purchase, there’s a change machine on hand to give you what you need.

The change machine was a godsend for us as we only had 1,000 yen notes on us when we visited, so after making the exchange for coins, we were able to spin the dial.

We’ve tried a lot of gacha machines in our time but never has one given us this same level of intense excitement and anticipation. When the capsule popped out with a thunk, we dashed to retrieve it, and were happy to find that it was chilled cold for freshness.

The capsule looked absolutely adorable, making us feel like we’d received more than a cake but a cute feline friend.

Checking the food label on the spherical packaging, we saw this was no gimmick — it was indeed an edible cake, with ingredients like sugar, salt, milk and margarine.

When we opened the capsule, we let out a gasp of excitement at the cute display in front of us. Although it had fallen out of the machine with a thud, the presentation was perfectly intact, looking like something you’d see in the display case of a fancy patisserie.

In addition to the absolutely gorgeous little white chocolate cat, the cake was covered in a mound of fresh cream and decorated with a cluster of fresh fruit.

Dipping our spoon in for a taste, we saw that even the serving we pulled out ended up looking picture perfect, which was a true testament to the clever thought and skill behind its design.

As for the taste, it was chilled, sweet, and remarkably fresh, soothing the body on a hot summer’s day. Remarkably, the sponge base, which we feared might be soggy due to its capsule casing, was actually light and fluffy, creating a cake that was not only cute to look at and delicious to eat, but very high quality.

Though we were initially surprised by the unusual sales method, we ended up being even more surprised by the high quality of the cake. According to the sign outside, the flavours on offer change daily, with mango being the star when we visited, so you can rest assured that you’re always getting a fresh serving.

▼ “Today’s cake is mango”

The mango cake was so delicious we now want to try all the other varieties as well, and according to the sign outside the store, some lucky customers will be able to receive a “rare” variety when they visit, which is 1.5 times larger than usual.

If we lived in the neighbourhood, we’d definitely be visiting this machine on the daily, which would be heaven for our taste buds, but hell for our waistlines. Still, after eating a cake from a gacha capsule, we can confidently say it’s even better than expensive gacha caviar.

Store information

SpielKuchen
Address: Osaka-fu, Osaka-shi, Ikuno-ku, Ikuno-nishi 3-5-74
大阪府大阪市生野区生野西3丁目5-74
Open: 3 p.m.-11 p.m. Thurs-Sat (closes when sold out)
Closed Sun – Wed
Website (Instagram)

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