Zaku Zaku ザクザク (Tokyo) – Delicious Crispy Choux Pastry With Fresh Hokkaido Cream Fillings!

During our food crawl along Takeshita Street in Harajuku (Tokyo), we checked out Zaku Zaku (ザクザク), a Japanese store known for its super popular “Croquant Chou”. This is basically a cream puff with an elongated shape. Before we went to Tokyo, I had already read many raving reviews of this snack, and I wondered if it was really worth the hype.

Zaku Zaku (ザクザク)

Zaku Zaku (ザクザク) is a store known for its signature Croquant Chou, which is a cream puff with an elongated shape. When I first saw the snack I thought it was a churro.

According to the company, the custard cream filling is made with milk from free range cattle in Hokkaido, which explains its freshness and delicious taste.

And the Croquant Chou is freshly baked in the store every day.

Other than Japan, Zaku Zaku also has branches in Taiwan, China, Bangkok and Seoul. You can check out the full list of locations here. We visited the Harajuku outlet.

Zaku Zaku was founded by Bake Inc., a holding company that specialises in Japanese confectionary stores. Some of their other popular brands include Press Butter Sand and Bake Cheese Tarts.

In case you’re interested, “Zaku Zaku” means crunchy in Japanese. And “Croquant” is French for crisp, while “Choux” is a pastry dough used to make cream puffs. Therefore, “Croquant Chou” means “crispy cream puff”. All right, that’s the end of our language lesson for today.

Zaku Zaku Menu

When we visited in end November there was a Christmas seasonal menu, but the items were sold out

Zaku Zaku offers just two items. The signature Croquant Chou goes for JPY 250 each. You can buy four at a generously discounted price of JPY 980.

The Soft Serve comes with crunchy almond toppings and costs JPY 450 each. It is available in a cone or cup. I didn’t try this though.

Croquant Chou

Because the wife and I were already quite full after eating lots of delicious snacks along Takeshita Street, we decided to just order one Croquant Chou (JPY 250).

We visited Zaku Zaku on a Sunday at around 5pm, and there was a queue of about ten people. While queueing, I could see the staff preparing the Croquant Chou, which was pretty cool.

The queue moved very fast and I got my cream puff after just five minutes or so.

And so I took my first bite of the churro-look-alike cream puff, ready to find out if it was really delicious or just an overrated snack.

Well, it was really delicious! I was hooked from my first mouthful. The exterior had a crispy and delicious taste punctuated by the crunch of lightly musky almond nuts. This was perfectly balanced by the luscious custard fillings, which was sweet but not cloying.

And unlike normal cream puffs, I liked that eating the Croquant Chou was not messy at all. Its unique shape made it a lot easier to hold without the cream spilling onto my hands.

The wife and I finished the entire cream puff within a few minutes. After that, I regretted not buying one for myself.

But it was too late and we had to move on to our next stop in Tokyo. Therefore, please don’t make the same mistake as me and buy one Croquant Chou for yourself to eat.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed eating the Croquant Chou from Zaku Zaku. This simple snack was really delicious and satisfying. And it’s very affordable too (by Tokyo’s standard). Make sure you check out this store along the bustling Takeshita Street in Harajuku.

Zaku Zaku (Harajuku)
What to Order: Croquant Chou (JPY 250)
Directions: the store is near the middle of Takeshita Street at the Cute Cube building, a three minute walk from Harajuku Station (Takeshita Street Exit).
Opening Hours: Daily 10am to 8pm
English Address: 1-7-1 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Japanese Address: 1-7-1 東京都渋谷区神宮前

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!