Ken’s Café : Japan’s Most Decadent Gâteau au Chocolat

Hidden in an ordinary residential street in Tokyo’ Shinjuku ward, Ken’s Café makes the most extraordinary gâteau au chocolat in Japan. It is also the most difficult to get too. If you buy it directly from the shop where it’s made, the waiting list can be one month or even longer.

What makes this luscious, luxuriously packaged cake so special? Chef-owner Kenji Ujiie uses only the best ingredients, such as Domori grand cru 70% chocolate, top quality Japanese unsalted butter and ‘Mukashinoaji’ eggs that come from a farm. Once baked, it reminds fondant de chocolat with the runny center, but can be eaten in two other ways: chocolate ganache if chilled in the fridge or dense terrine like chocolate cake when eaten few days later.

It has once been ranked as Japan’s number one dessert on Tabelog (which is the largest Japanese restaurant review website) and simply couldn’t get any more decadent. Very little people might know that, but if you don’t want to wait for one month, you can also purchase Ken’s Café cakes at Tokyo’s Matsuya department store in Tokyo (they sell quickly, so go early). Since last December, Singapore’s Isetan department store has started distributing them as well.