I’m not big fan of sweets in general but I always find time to taste different desserts in Japan because Japanese sweets are actually not too sweet.
In many cafés you can order desserts to your taste, Cold Stone Creamery in the basement of Sky Tree in Tokyo is one such place. You can choose different ingredients from the menu that can be put into a basic waffle-made plate. I tasted mango ice cream with real pieces of mango and liked it very much. I tried a similar dessert in Osaka but with other ingredients: ice cream with red bean azuki, ice cream with green tea flavor, dango (balls made of rice pastry) and sweetened condensed milk (not too sweet, by the way).
In Japan ice cream is very tasty. I like to try different sorts of ice cream from vending machines that are found at stations, parks and other public places. These vending machines always have a variety of different ice creams that are tasty and inexpensive.
I was curious to try sweet ice for the first time. I like green tea, so my choice was the green tea flavor. The portion was really big, and though I took quite long time to eat it, it didn’t melt at all! The sweet ice was served with sweetened condensed milk.
Visiting Matsushima I tasted an unusual dessert called kamaboko. In specialty store I bought kamaboko (an oval shape scone on a stick) and it was suggested to me to grill it myself. The taste of kamaboko reminded me a bit sweet crab meat, viscous with a crispiness after you’ve grilled it.
Good desserts are sold everywhere. I used to buy fruits in jelly, colored jelly with berries, dango with fruits and crème, tasty cakes, anpan scones and more. Near Tokyo Tower you can always treat yourself with a cone-shape crepe with different fillings of your choice.
In many places such as festivals you can taste more traditional Japanese treats – taiyaki (a cake with filling of read beans azuki in the shape of a fish, a bird or a turtle) and dango. Everywhere in Japan there are special sweets that tourists buy as souvenirs to take home or by locals when they go to visit somebody from another area – it’s a tradition in Japan. For instance, in Sendai green soy beans known as zunda are added to sweets, desserts, ice cream and so on.
To experience these different tastes, well, you just have to try Japanese sweets!
