Ken’s Cafe Tokyo – The Most Delicious Chocolate Cake in Japan You Should NOT Miss

One of our favourite food in Tokyo was the luscious chocolate cake from Ken’s Cafe Tokyo. It was hard to believe that a chocolate cake could actually taste so good! It is no wonder that this is one of the most popular dessert shop in Japan. Also read: Ken’s Cafe Tokyo Chocolate Cake Arrives in Singapore – Our Verdict of This Famous Chocolate Treat from Tokyo

Ken’s Cafe Tokyo

Ken’s Cafe Tokyo is a small shop in Japan famous for its super delicious chocolate cake. It is located in a quiet neighbourhood in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

The shop sells just one item: the Gâteau au Chocolat (French for “chocolate cake”). The cake weighs 280g and is around 13cm long.

The cakes are baked every day in the shop and are for take-away only.

Ken’s Cafe Tokyo is extremely popular in Japan, and was even ranked as the top chocolate shop in the entire country on Tabelog, a trustworthy Japanese restaurant review site.

Top Quality Premium Ingredients

The shop’s exquisite chocolate cake is made from a variety of top quality ingredients.

It uses premium Italian Domori Couverture Chocolate, specifically a Domori chocolate mix called “KEN’S”. This mix was specially designed for Ken’s Cafe Tokyo by Domori founder Gianluca Franzoni.

The bakery uses only locally produced pure salt-free butter, and does not use margarine and shortening which contain artificial food additives.

The eggs used are Mukashi no Aji eggs, which are produced from free-range egg farms where chickens are allowed to roam freely. Therefore, the eggs have a sweet and natural taste, just like how they did in the past. And this is why the eggs are described as “Mukashi no Aji” (Japanese for “a nostalgic taste from the past”).

Health enthusiasts will also be happy to know that Ken’s chocolate cakes are both flourless and gluten-free.

Gâteau au Chocolat

We visited Ken’s Cafe Tokyo on a Friday night at around 5pm and luckily the chocolate cakes were not sold out yet.

There was no queue and we walked in directly to buy the Gâteau au Chocolat (3,000 YEN).

After ordering from the friendly staff, we were given a pretty paper bag containing the box of chocolate cake. The box had a nice design too and was tied with a golden ribbon.

We decided to eat the cake immediately on the spot. I eagerly used the plastic fork provided to scoop up a small piece of cake into my mouth.

All I can say is, this was absolutely the BEST chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten in my life!

The impression was one of perfect balance in the flavour and texture of the cake: it was sweet but delicate, rich but not overwhelming, fluffy but full-bodied, luscious but not overly moist.

I was literally hooked from the first bite. And at the same time, I was intrigued by how they could make a simple chocolate cake taste SO delicious!

On the whole, the delicate sweetness of the cake romanced my taste buds and left me super satisfied.

While we were eating, I noticed a constant flow of people coming to buy the chocolate cakes. Some of them even bought a few boxes of the 3,000 YEN (36 SGD) cake at one go!

Three Ways to Eat (Click to Enlarge)

Ken’s Cafe Tokyo recommends three ways to eat its chocolate cake:

1. The classic way at room temperature
2. As a chocolate ganache by chilling in the fridge (thin slices recommended)
3. As a chocolate lava cake by microwaving gently for 10 to 15 seconds (thick slices recommended)

Chocolat Au Lait

Other than the chocolate cake, there is also a Ken’s Cafe Tokyo Chocolat Au Lait (French for “Chocolate Milk”).

Like the chocolate cake, this chocolate drink is also made with Couverture Chocolate.

However, Ken’s Cafe Tokyo does not sell this drink at its shop. Instead, they are sold at FamilyMart convenience stores around Tokyo.

Interestingly, we got to try this chocolate drink because we bumped into Chef Kenji Ujiie, the founder of Ken’s Cafe Tokyo! He was at the shop when we visited, and approached us when he realised that we were Singaporean tourists.

We told him that we got to know about Ken’s Cafe Tokyo because we had heard that the chocolate cakes were going to be sold in Singapore soon. After the quick chat, the very nice man passed us two cups of the chocolate drink.

Needless to say, Ken’s Cafe Chocolat Au Lait was super delicious, with a lovely velvety texture and a luscious chocolatey taste. Sinfulness never tasted so good.

Thank you very much again Chef Kenji Ujiie!

Conclusion

I am so glad to have tried the chocolate cake from Ken’s Cafe Tokyo! Even though it is quite pricey, I felt it was totally worth it considering the exquisitely delicious taste and high quality ingredients used. We have yet to check out the Ken’s Cafe chocolate cakes in Singapore, and I truly hope our version will taste as good as the one in Tokyo! Update 16 Dec 18: read our full review for Singapore’s version of Ken’s Cafe chocolate cake.

Ken’s Cafe Tokyo
What to order: Gâteau au Chocolat (3,000 YEN)
English Address: 1-23-3, Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Japanese Address: 東京都新宿区新宿１丁目２３−3 御苑コーポビアネーズ
Directions: 5-minute walk from Shinjuku-Gyoemmae Station
Opening Hours: | Mon to Fri: 10am to 7pm | Weekends and PH: CLOSED |
Phone: +81 3 3354 6206

Other Locations
Matsuya Ginza (Meika Ippin): 3 Chome-6-1 Ginza, Chūō, Tokyo 104-8130, Japan
Tobu department store (Zenkoku Meika Sen): 1 Chome-1-25 Nishiikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo 171-0021, Japan

This article is part of our super awesome Ultimate Tokyo Travel Guide For First Timers. Everything you need to know about Tokyo is just a click away!