Angelina Mont Blanc in Omotesando
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Before I got married, I had never heard of mont blanc. This French dessert, though MIA in America, is quite popular in Japan. I realize it looks like brains, but it tastes like chestnuts. Underneath the gray brainy part is a light whipped cream, followed sometimes by a cake or cookie bottom. It can be found all over in Japan, including in a sweet potato version sold at convenience stores. It quickly became my favorite dessert and I get it whenever I can, including Kit Kats flavored like my beloved.
To get the best mont blanc in the world, you need to go to France, which is exactly what we did a couple years ago. Angelina is a famous cafe known around the world for mont blanc and hot chocolate. A few years back, Angelina did a pop-up at a department store in Kobe and we tried it and it was amazing, so I was desperate to try the real thing at the wellspring in Paris.
Located just down the street from the Louvre, Angelina often has a line down the block, as it did when we visited. We didn’t want to wait in that line, so we didn’t go. Instead, we went to a location with a much shorter line.
Angelina at Versailles
I’m assuming you know what Versailles is. If not, get some culture, bub. Tucked away in the depths of this goregous palace is a small Angelina location with two sides: one for coffee and pastries, and one for sit-down dining. It might be smart to get a reservation if you don’t want to wait, but we didn’t have one, and there was nowhere to sit on the cafe side, so we used the fact that my mom walks with a cane to get seated right away on the restaurant side (see if you can get your relative to play up their disability for maximum effect).
We tried coffee and tea (both of which were just okay) and some hot chocolate. French hot chocolate, at least the Angelina kind, is not like what you’re used to. This is not a drink. This is pure melted chocolate so thick it will crawl inside your arteries and establish a colony there. It was good, but may be a bit much for people who don’t drink hot chocolate every day like I’m doing right now while I write this.
According to these pictures, we got two kinds of mont blanc. I don’t remember the red one, which was… strawberry? Raspberry? Either way, I only remember the chestnut-flavored one. Look at that thing. Look how high up it goes! They treat you right at Angelina. It was spectacular. I’m sure the rest of Versailles has some sort of value as well, but this was all I cared about. France has some great food and cafes, but Angelina is a special experience.
Since then, we’ve had mont blanc a few times, including a make-your-own mont blanc cone place in Thailand, but none could compare. Imagine our shock when we went shopping a few months ago and found that Angelina had made its way across the pond yet again, this time in a permanent location.
Angelina in Tokyo
Omotesando is a popular shopping street in Tokyo right next to dweeb-friendly Harajuku. It’s home to MoMA Design Store and a bunch of fancy places where they probably wouldn’t let scum like you in. There’s a new shopping center there, and it contains the Angelina. While we heard about it when it opened, we waited for a special occasion to try it.
Japan has two Christmas traditions: chicken and cake. We like to partake in both. This year, instead of going out and getting a Christmas cake, we stopped by Angelina on Christmas Eve to pick up some Xmas Mont Blanc.
The store has a full eatery where you can sit down for lunch. It looked pretty good, with Angelina’s signature hot chocolate and a club sandwich I may have to try sometime. You can also wait in line to buy mont blanc and soft ice cream (mont-blanc flavored) at the takeout counter. The line was pretty long, probably because a lot of other people had the same Xmas idea we had.
Japanese people can’t handle their sweets like French people can, so a normal Angelina mont blanc would be too much for them. That’s why in addition to the regular size, they also sell demi-size in Japan. That’s what we got. They had regular, chocolate, and tea flavors. We got regular and chocolate. They also sell the chestnut cream in a tube, and OH MY LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT BIG MONT BLANC. If you’re brave enough, you can buy a full mont blanc Christmas cake and eat yourself into oblivion.
The service was great, and we scampered home with our mont blanc. How was it, you ask?
The verdict: is the mont blanc from Angelina Tokyo as good as it is in France?
We busted these babies out on Christmas, and the first thing we marveled at was how perfect-looking they were. The gray chestnut strips that look like brains can often be a bit haphazard on other mont blancs, but not here - they were perfectly uniform and lined up in tight formation.
The chestnut flavor was absolutely superb. Sweet, but not too sweet. The chocolate was very chocolatey, like the hot chocolate, but also delicious. I’m not sure I could eat a full-sized chocolate one because it was so rich. Underneath the chestnut layer was a light whipped cream that again wasn’t too sweet, pairing exquisitely, in correct proportion to the top layer. While other mont blancs might have a sometimes-hard layer of cake at the bottom, these were all cream, all the time. That’s why they went down creamy!
We absolutely loved these. They were the perfect Christmas treat for us to enjoy by the Netflix fire. As far as I remember, it tasted just like it did at Versailles. This is the real deal. If you find yourself in Tokyo, or Paris, or Versailles, or anywhere that has an Aneglina, do not pass this up. I know it looks weird. It doesn’t matter. It’s amazing.
Where is Angelina Tokyo? Location and info
Address: 〒150-0001 Tokyo, Shibuya, Jingumae, 6 Chome−31−21 東急プラザ原宿「ハラカド」 2階
Phone: +81 03 6427 1540
Website: angelina-japan.com
Hours: 11 A.M. - 9 P.M.
Angelina is located on the second floor of the Tokyu Plaza Harajuku Harakado, which has many floors of cool little shops and eateries. This visit, there was a free Pac-Man storefront where you could play Pac-Man games to celebrate its anniversary, as well as some modern art along with a number of unique brands selling clothes, lifestyle and home products, and… yes, that’s a vending machine full of cheap Fleshlights. Oh, Japan. You never disappoint.
The food court floors have tons of options: pizza, ramen, katsu, sushi, burgers, and plenty more. We have tried a few of them: the falafel place was pretty good; the Korean chicken place was okay but skippable; and the Vietnamese Banh Mi was absolutely delicious and now the only place I ever want to eat when we go there… except for Angelina, that is. Angelina is the best. Go there and eat mont blanc and bring some back for me.
