Hyperlocal Tokyo

The Friday-only, Shinjuku workshop-direct dorayaki are available for purchase starting at 12:00 PM! I visited "Mori Ko Shirou, Daimaru Tokyo Store", a 2-minute walk from Tokyo Station's Yaesu Exit. Arriving before 12:00 PM on a weekday, I was the third in line. The two people in front of me both purchased 50 pieces, so it took about 10 minutes to check out. I bought the Friday-only, Shinjuku workshop-direct dorayaki for 216 yen. They started selling at 12:00 PM, so they began selling while I was waiting. The hand-baked dough was fluffy and the sweetness of the bean paste was just right, making for a delicious combination. I enjoyed it all the way to the end.

This is a dorayaki (a Japanese pancake filled with sweet bean paste) shop named after Morikichiro Mori, who has been baking castella (a type of sponge cake) at Bunkido for over half a century. (They also sell castella.) Bunkido manufactures and sells the dorayaki. I tried the red bean paste dorayaki and the seasonal summer mandarin dorayaki. Both were about ¥240 (I think) and weighed about 90g. They have a shelf life of about a week. The dough is unique and has a castella-like aroma when you open the package. It's a happy scent. It seems to be made with honey, mirin (sweet rice wine), sake (Japanese rice wine), and soy sauce, and it's moist and rich. The red bean paste is also rich and quite sweet. It would go well with matcha (green tea). The summer mandarin paste is made with white bean paste, so it's less sweet and has a refreshing summer mandarin flavor. I personally preferred this one. I bought them for home consumption, but the paper bag was high-quality and I was happy about that. The flavor is unique, but it's affordable, so I think it would be a good choice for a small gift when you're at Tokyo Station.

Located in the food and souvenir floor on the first floor of Daimaru Tokyo, directly connected to Tokyo Station, is a wagashi (Japanese confectionery) shop. This is a dorayaki (a Japanese pancake filled with sweet bean paste) shop supervised by Ginza Bunmeido's food master, Mori Kokushiro. I purchased dorayaki (¥237) and dorayaki Summer Mandarin Orange (¥237) for myself while buying some for gifts. ----- 【Dorayaki (¥237)】 The dough has a distinct egg flavor and a moist, soft texture. It is already slightly sweet on its own. The filling is tsubuan (sweet bean paste made with whole beans), but the beans are not very large, and the sweetness is relatively restrained. At first, I thought the dough alone might be too sweet, but the balance was good by the time I finished eating it, and it was delicious. Incidentally, it contains sake (Japanese rice wine) and therefore alcohol, so children and pregnant women should be careful. 【Dorayaki Summer Mandarin Orange (¥237)】 The dorayaki dough is the same as the regular one, but the filling is a summer mandarin orange paste based on white bean paste. This is truly refreshing and delicious. It is a spring seasonal limited item, but I highly recommend it. ----- It was the kind of dorayaki I like. Thank you for the delicious meal.

I received this as a gift for a greeting. It comes in a wooden box with 5 dorayaki (Japanese pancakes filled with sweet bean paste) and 1 castella (sponge cake). The dorayaki's bean paste is very dense and delicious. They are quite large, so it might be difficult to eat one in one sitting. I think it's a very good choice for a gift for older people or for formal greetings. The manufacturer is Bunkido.

I bought some dorayaki, as I heard they were famous. The skin is quite sweet, with a dense, moist texture. The flavor is excellent, though. It's unique. The bean paste is also very sweet! It's delicious, but I don't think I'd want to buy it again. I guess it can't compete with the three great dorayaki of Tokyo.