Dessert @ Cafe Benisica, Yurakucho, Tokyo

 

If you are in need of a sugar rush to fix your sweet tooth, oh boy do I have a story for you. During one of my nightly sojourns in Tokyo, I was in need of a place to have a second round with a friend. Both of us were somehow having a strong sugar craving. In short, 2 strong blokes in need of desserts, and you get the picture. So lucky for us, I remembered Cafe Benisica was not too far from where we were. 

I love places like this!

I have been to this place before but I did not have the opportunity to proceed to research the place properly in giving it the justice it deserves. Founded back in 1957, this cafe has been serving a great array of customers are pretty reasonable prices. From regular locals, young couples, foreign tourists, and bumbling lawyers like yours truly. In fact, Keanu Reeves been here once before. Talk about a celebrity status. 

Spoilt for choice!

This place has an pretty extensive menu to boot. However, their main star makers are their desserts. Specifically, their pies and parfaits. After some mulling, we ordered the blueberry pie that stood at 1100 yen and a choco banana parfait which held a modest 1000 yen price tag. It was a Friday evening, so the service was somewhat slow, but for the full house that it was, our treats came rather quickly. And oh boy, it has been a long while since I was this excited in getting desserts. 

Gigantic!

The pie in itself is not what you may have in mind. Rather, its baked puff pastry, which has been broken down, and slathered with a mountain of vanilla cream and fruit coulis. It was an absolute behemoth, as the mountain of cream made it look like a pile of snow. It was a bit difficult to eat but it was definitely fun doing so. The cream was not too sweet and was able to help contrast the flaky and buttery pastry underneath. I feel like they did something to the cream, as it was whipped to perfection, and it was incredibly smooth with almost no air pockets. They were generous with the berries too, which were quite fresh and not sour at all. This was very very very easy to take down. 

Joy in a glass. 

The parfait, on the other hand was more controlled. Everything was self contained in a tall sundae glass. Similar to the pie, the cream was very generous. And underneath it lies a good walloping of ice cream, chocolate sauce and bananas. You do not need to use any superlatives to explain this. It was just simple and sinful, and a whole lot of sugar. It was so much cream in fact, that it was very challenging for 2 guys to take down! We did finish everything off in the end as it was just so good and it would be wasteful if we leave anything behind. 

A piece of history. Also that small card says that
the cafe is where the pizza toast was created. Neat!

I been here for coffee a year prior too which I really liked. They have beans from every corner of the globe and if you like your java fix in somewhere more interesting, then this is the place to be. But seeing we were pretty late already, I decided to skip the coffee as to avoid a restless bout of sleep. 

Definitely coming again!

Despite being in the center of one of the more upscale parts of the city, this place was quite reasonable, and yet has an aura of refinement in it. There are food items as well, like pastas and toasts. But the desserts are their main pride and glory. And of course, good coffee to boot. So if you somehow have a sweet tooth need tending to in the middle of the night, then Benisica would sort you out nicely. Well Keanu was there, so it has to be good right? The address is as follows:

Japan, 〒100-0006 Tokyo, Chiyoda City, Yurakucho, 1 Chome−6−8, Matsui Bldg., １階