Filled with a special “phantom butter” from Calpis, you won’t find a treat like this anywhere else in Japan. 

If there’s one thing we love as much as the bright lights and modern convenience of Tokyo, it’s the old retro finds you can discover in between. In these little hideaway areas you can get a feel, and a taste, of Japan the way it used to be, and one place that retains that old-school charm is a confectionery store called Sennari Monaka.

Established in 1937, this 89-year-old Japanese confectionery shop is tucked away in a retro-style shopping street at the south side of Otsuka Station. Just one stop away from Ikebukuro Station, Otsuka is a lovely old neighbourhood that’s also served by the Toden Arakawa Line, Tokyo’s only streetcar line.

The bright yellow hues of Sennari Monaka immediately catch your eye as you walk through the arcade, and the strore’s name is written in Japanese on a noren curtain that hangs beneath the eaves.

The word “monaka” evokes a deep sense of nostalgia in Japanese people, who’ve grown up eating the traditional paste-filled, wafer -sandwiched sweets, which first originated in the Edo period (1603-1867). At this store, the monaka are shaped like gourds, as “Sennari” translates as “thousand gourds”, which is a lucky symbol in Japan, often associated with prosperity and good fortune.

Sennari Monaka doesn’t just sell monaka, though. Looking around the store, you’ll also find dorayaki (a type of red bean paste pancake) and yokan (a type of sweet bean jelly), with a variety of flavours to choose from.

After asking the staff for a recommendation, they suggested we try their most popular item – the Anko Butter Dorayaki (390 yen [US$2.44]). Having tried dorayaki many times before, we wouldn’t have thought it would be any different here, but we were very much mistaken, because when it arrived, it looked like no other dorayaki we’d ever seen before.

Anko Butter is a popular combination, but the amount of butter that usually comes with the anko (red bean paste) tends to be a small cube, like what you’d get in a mini tub of butter at a hotel. Here at Sennari Monaka, the butter is huge, matching the amount of anko it’s served with, making the dorayaki look more like a cheeseburger with a big chunk of cheese.

It’s a sweet with so much visual appeal that it deserves to go viral on social media, but the big question is: How does it taste? After taking a bite, we were surprised to find that the sweet has a refined flavour, with a sweetness and buttery richness that hugs the palate in equal measures. Though we feared that so much butter might be cloying, it was actually the perfect amount, creating a melt-in-the-mouth texture while still leaving a clean aftertaste.

▼ The butter melts as it’s warmed up by the heat of the dorayaki, making every bite a blissful one.

After several bites, the butter becomes even more impressive, exuding an air of something special. It looked whiter and more beautiful than ordinary butter too, so when we enquired with staff about it, they told us it was Calpis butter. This is a high-end butter that’s often referred to as “phantom butter” due to its rarity, and it’s produced by Japanese lactic acid beverage company company Calpis, using the same fermented milk as their signature drink, which gives it a unique and mildly tangy flavour.

With such a special ingredient in the mix, this dorayaki is a very unique find that’s well worth seeking out. It’s a thoroughly modern mix of old and new Japan, and a testament to the expertise of the store behind its creation.

Store information
Ganso Sennari Monaka Honpo Otsuka Store / 元祖千成もなか本舗 大塚店
Address: Tokyo-to, Toshima-ku, Minami-Otsuka 3-54-4
東京都豊島区南大塚3-54-4
Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Website

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