Is Tokyo’s Skytree home to the greatest shopping mall and food hall in the world?


This is why I love Japan. Every time I go, they've come up with some new stuff that is, invariably, brilliant, or at least very, very different. Sometimes weird. In a good way.

These are all three. Forget cronuts, these are 'Cube Chou Cream-uns' from the 'Brothers' bakery. Chou pastry, cunningly cooked in cube-shaped moulds and filled with custard, white bean jam and, I think sometimes, ice cream. I found them in the flabbergasting food halls of the new Skytree mall.

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Genius.

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Had to get my fat hands on one.

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More 'Brothers' weirdness. Vegefru Choco anyone?

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In further Skytree news. Forget the tower – which is the tallest free-stander in the world, I believe – for me, the shopping mall at its base could very well be the best on earth, with virtually no international chains, but plenty of SkyTree-themed souvenirs.

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SkyTree baguettes.

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Some kind of Skytree beverage.

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Macaron Skytree tower.

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Skytree hot dog sausages.

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Goo-filled Skytree wafers.

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It wasn't all Skytree-centric. There were these flower-shaped macarons, which I haven't seen before.

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An entire store devoted to the salts of Japan, and the rest of the world.

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Interesting, if rather regimented, chocolate packaging – each a different flavour or bean variety.

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There was an excellent eel restaurant.

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But the very best thing in the entire mall was this mochi shop close to the entrance – fantastic quality, heavenly toasted flavours, gorgeous texture. I came back three times.

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Talking of mochi: here is some chocolate covered mochi. It was Robbie Swinnerton of the Japan Times who put me on to C-Lab's earth shattering innovation (how did they get the couverture to stick to the mochi? I have spent hours pondering this).

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Only one disappointment. 

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I wanted OVER 634, dammit!

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