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gelato, sorbets, ice cream

torakris

By torakris
in Japan: Dining

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torakris

torakris

Posted
Posted

Globally renowned Belgian chocolate manufacturer Pierre Marcolini, founded by multi award-winning pastry chef Pierre Marcolini, 39, opened a shop in a narrow alley near the heart of Ginza two years ago. Since then, Marcolini's shop, famous for its fine-quality chocolates elegantly displayed like a jewelry store, has been leading the chocolate boom in Tokyo.

Marcolini has ventured into a new line of business, opening "Pierre Marcolini Ice Cream Ginza" on Dec. 13, which is indeed his first ice cream shop. Standing right next to the chocolate shop, Marcolini's new ice cream building consists of an ice cream shop on the first floor, a counter-style, non-smoking cafe on the second floor and a smoking space on the third floor.

from here:

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/japano/0312/pierre/1215pierre.html

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Mayhaw Man

Mayhaw Man

Posted
Posted

Kristen-

Is $5.44USD a scoop a redicuous price, or is this pretty much par for the course on premium ice cream in Japan?

That cup of framboises did look pretty tasty though. I would probably pay it.....once. :wink:

Brooks Hamaker, aka "Mayhaw Man"

There's a train everyday, leaving either way...

Bux

Bux

Posted
Posted

I've had his chocolates. They are superb. They are not exactly typical of Belgian chocolates, but I thought they were better for the differences. I don't think they are available in NY. It's rather fascinating that he opened the ice cream shop in Tokyo. I assume the chocolate shop is doing a great business.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

torakris

torakris

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
Kristen-

Is $5.44USD a scoop a redicuous price, or is this pretty much par for the course on premium ice cream in Japan?

That cup of framboises did look pretty tasty though. I would probably pay it.....once. :wink:

It isn't a ridiculous price but it is higher than average. For comparison Baskin Robbins here is probably exactly half that price and I have eaten at gelato shops here paying about $4 to $4.50 a scoop.

It does look really good and I would pay it if I was alone, but I would never take my family of 5 there! :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

  • 1 year later...
torakris

torakris

Posted
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Posted

In another thread Kiwm Hwa asked:

Im in Kansai... any ideas about where to find Yuzu gelato or Yuzu sorbet???

Where do you go in Japan when you want something cold to eat?

Gelato shops seems to be popping up all over the busy spots of Tokyo/Yokohama and other parts of Japan as well I am sure. Now that the weather is finally warming up what are some of the best places for gelato, sorbet, ice creams, etc?

Though it isn't exactly ice cream and it wasn't exactly from an ice cream place, I had a great strawberry smoothie with tapioca from Meal MUJI a couple days ago. It was so good I will probably go back next week and get another one before the season is over....

Meal MUJI is just one part of the huge chain of MUJI stores.

another place that doesn't exactly come to mind when you think of ice cream is Tully's Coffee, but their ice cream is really quite good.

and if you are lucky enough to have one in your neighborhood Haagen Dazs Cafe is quite good, ours closed a couple years back.....

There are two Baskin Robbins shops (called 31 in Japan) in my neighborhood that I take the kids to occasionally for my rocky road fix.... :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Kiem Hwa

Kiem Hwa

Posted
Posted

yesterday i asked where to find Yuzu gelato or Yuzu sorbet.... today, we went to Uji, in Kyoto prefecture, and guess what! Yuzu softo-kurimu (Yuzu soft serve Ice cream). Oishii-kata!!!! it was so delicious and had a wonderful flavor of yuzu. :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Not only did we find Yuzu softo, there were tons of restaurants/ sweets shops with Matcha-softo, and we had one that was dusted with Matcha powder, which was also really good, and we also had Sakura-softo, which was okay, but the sakura flavor didnt come through that well.

There were a few other mouth watering softo flavors, including Houji-cha (roasted green tea) flavor, but the shop selling it was closed :angry: . also, there was kuro-goma flavor (black sesame), but we couldnt try everything!

Now on my list to have....that Houji-cha flvaored ice cream and the Kinako one Krisitin mentioned on another thread.

helenjp

helenjp

Posted
Posted (edited)

Here? Apparently there's a famous ice-cream shop near the Byodoin.

Kyoto Pref. best soft-creams...sake, black bean and other flavors!

Shinpachi Tea Shop has yuzu soft cream (but gelato only in other flavors, soooo sorry!), shops in Arashiyama (Kyoto) and Osaka.

Shogoin tea shop at several Kyoto locations if you feel tempted by cinnamon-matcha.

Must get back to work, and my boring cup of coffee...

Edited by helenjp (log)

Helenjp

* Pickles foodblog

* New Year foodblog

torakris

torakris

Posted
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I just discovered that there is a Japan Italian Gelato Association...

this link shows all of their member's stores

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

easternsun

easternsun

Posted
Posted

a few years ago, on a trip to mt fuji i was lucky enough to try wasabi soft cream. shizouka is the wasabi capital of japan - isnt it?? i was apprehensive at first - but i loved it! i have not been able to get that spicy/sweet flavour out of my mind - has anyone seen it in kansai?? it is green like matcha soft cream but the flavour is radically different!

"Thy food shall be thy medicine" -Hippocrates

helenjp

helenjp

Posted
Posted (edited)

Wasabi soft-cream is a Shizuoka specialty as far as I know...my son#1 selflessly didn't buy himself one on a school-trip, but saved his pocket money to buy wasabi soba to bring back home so we could all eat it together... :wub:

edit: oops, wrong son!

Edited by helenjp (log)

Helenjp

* Pickles foodblog

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torakris

torakris

Posted
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I tasted a sample of wasabi gelato at a shop in the Gotemba Outlets I glad it was just a sample, I don't think I could have handled a whole cone.... :blink:

sakura soft cream/gelato sounds really good! I am going to have to find some that!

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

torakris

torakris

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Some of the best soft cream I have had here is from the Kodomo no Kuni in Yokohama, this is a huge park with pools (and ice skating in the winter) streams to play in, hills to climb, horses to ride, petting zoos, playgrounds, etc. They have a small farm and the soft cream is made from the freshly milked cows milk and is incredibly good.

soft cream at Kodomo no Kuni

this place is also just 5 minutes from my house so we go there quite a bit.... and get soft cream every time!

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Kiem Hwa

Kiem Hwa

Posted
Posted

Today in Kyoto (Arashiyama area) I had Houji-Cha soft serve!!!, Also it was half Matcha, and both were very good. The Houji cha had that nice smokey flavor...yummmm.....

torakris

torakris

Posted
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If you happen to be by a Baskin Robbins in Japan on the 31st of the month, it is 31% off all double scoop cones and cups. The kids and I got real good deal today.... :biggrin:

their chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream was dissapointing though.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

tokyogurumegal

tokyogurumegal

Posted
Posted

There is usually at least one ice cream or gelato place in any depa-chika (basement level of department stores where they sell food). I'm completely not familiar with Kansai foodie scene but based on how it's like in Tokyo, I presume department stores are very similar!

Of all places, I had really good yuzu softocreemu at a sushi restaurant in Tokyo! I'm sure you've heard of Midori Sushi in Umegaoka. There are few other locations (Nikotama, Shibuya Mark City etc...). So you can enjoy fantastic sushi then finish off with refreshing soft ice cream (kyoho grape flavour was good too).

ahh where's the button for the fries?

Kiem Hwa

Kiem Hwa

Posted
Posted

All the sofuto-kuriimo I ate in Japan:

Matcha-Sofuto, nice with some matcha sprinkled on top! (eaten in Uji)

MatchaSofto.jpg

My #1 favorite: Yuzu! Also sakura was good too. (eaten in Uji)

YuzuSakuraSofto.jpg

yes.....we ate alot of ice cream in Uji....it was cold that day too......

Houji-cha and Matcha, quite wonderful! (eaten in Arashiyama, Kyoto)

HoujichaSofuto.jpg

Then, in Kyoto (different day from the Houji-cha day), we were walking near the Kiyomizudera temple looking for tsukemono for omiyage....

Shiso-sofuto! Actually, this one was a yogurt? It was very interesting, a shiso-yogurt flavor....yum.

ShisoSofuto.jpg

Kabocha-sofuto - yummy kabocha flavor, with a scoop of mashed kabocha and kuri (chestnuts) in the middle!

KabochaSofto.jpg

Wah! Then of course in the same area i saw Kinako-sofuto, but we already ate two sofutos, we thought 3 in one day (for 2 people) was a little too much :sad: (the day in Uji was 3 sofutos/3 people)

torakris

torakris

Posted
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Posted

how long was your trip????? :laugh:

I haven't eaten that much in a year!

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Kiem Hwa

Kiem Hwa

Posted
Posted

We were there for 10 days.... our motto is.."try it while we can". :biggrin:

Im sure I wouldn't eat this much icecream in the same time frame if I lived there.

By the way, do you know of any soft-cream recipes? How about machines to make it?

I saw this machine by Electrolux, but I cant read well enough to figure out how it works.

helenjp

helenjp

Posted
Posted

There's a buyer's comment which says it's the type which requires you to freeze the main container in the freezer in advance. Apparently it was bulky enough to be a problem. Somebody else said that when they made a small amount (for 5 rather than 9-10 servings), the soft-cream didn't turn out so well (but the gelato and ice cream functions were fine).

I have a deLonghi icecream maker of the same type (doesn't make soft cream though) and find that in midsummer temperatures in Japan, the container just never seems to freeze cold enough to work - I end up only using it around this time of year.

Helenjp

* Pickles foodblog

* New Year foodblog

torakris

torakris

Posted
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Posted

I have a deLonghi icecream maker of the same type (doesn't make soft cream though) and find that in midsummer temperatures in Japan, the container just never seems to freeze cold enough to work - I end up only using it around this time of year.

I think I might have the sameone Helen does, it looks like this.

I have the same problem in the summer, it doesn't matter how long I freeze it, it is just too soft... I also hate the fact that it has to put in the freezer for 8+ hours, I don't often plan ahead for that kind of stuff. the othr problem is that most of te recipes I have for it call for fresh cream and it is just so expensive here... I do have a really good peach ice cream recipe that is made with milk, maybe I will do that one again, my freezer is pretty empty now too.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

  • 6 months later...
torakris

torakris

Posted
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Posted

I am not sure why they are opening in November... but Cold Stone Creamery is coming to Japan!

The first store will open in Roppongi Hills on 11/3.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

sanrensho

sanrensho

Posted
Posted
Wasabi soft-cream is a Shizuoka specialty as far as I know...

Wasabi soft ice cream is probably available anywhere there is wasabi production (and tourists to buy the ice cream). They were selling wasabi ice cream at a place I visited in Nagano Prefecture.

Kiem Hwa's photos are making me drool!

Baker of "impaired" cakes...
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