Tokyo: The sweetest city in Asia

Tokyo: The sweetest city in Asia

From donuts to ice cream, chocolate to scones, the Japanese capital is the place to get your sugar fix

By C. James Dale

The Japanese love a sweet as much as the next man ... if he's Willy Wonka, that is.

Tokyo -- home of sushi, soba and sake -- is no slouch when it comes to sweets.

Bakeries abound. Candy is plentiful. Chocolate comes in all shapes and sizes.

If the folks who put together the Michelin guide gave out stars for businesses devoted to sugar in all its glorious incarnations, Tokyo would no doubt grab a galaxy's worth.

Here are some of our favorite high-calorie hangouts.

Candy: Papabubble

Lick that -- Papabubble's candy-rolling crew in action.

This international artisanal shop, which started in Barcelona and is now in cities worldwide, promises "a unique experience in each piece of candy."

Staff make the sweet stuff on-site, cooking up and coloring the sugar and glucose in the back, then heading to the front display counter to pound, mold and cut stiff, sticky blobs.

Customers can buy bags or jars of small candies (prices vary) with delicate designs in their centers -- sometimes fruit (cherries, watermelon), sometimes words ("Love," "Thank you").

Large lollipops that would take days to lick down to the stick are also available. Sugar-covered jellies sit neatly spaced inside glass cases.

Papabubble also does custom orders. A 15-minute walk from Shibuya Station or Nakano Station.

Shibuya: 17-2 Kamiyama-cho, Shibuya-ku; +81 (0) 3 6407 8552.

Nakano: Arai 1-5-13, Nakano-ku; +81 (0) 3 5343 1286; www.papabubble.com

Chocolate: Chocolatier Erica

From plain chocolate to truffles with brandy, Erica has it all. (File photo.)

The Tiffany's of chocolate in Tokyo.

Erica's in Shirokanedai has been providing patrons with a fancied-up fix for 30 years, wrapping a wide selection of treats in distinctive blue-green boxes.

Truffles come in different forms, dusted with cocoa or with a hard chocolate exterior, flavored with rum, brandy or Earl Grey tea (¥632, US$ 8.30, for four).

Other products range from the delicate (mint-chocolate leaves, almonds embedded in an artistic chocolate shell) to the decadent (chocolate bars stuffed with marshmallows and nuts).

Visitors can order and go, or sit and feast in the café while sipping coffee, tea or hot chocolate. A seven-minute walk from Shirokanedai Station.

4-6-43 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku; +81 (0) 3 3473 1656; www.erica.co.jp

Donuts: Nico

Mmm -- donuts ...

Krispy Kreme this is not.

Nico aims to bring a little bit of France to Tokyo's Hiroo Ward. The chairs and decor feel "French café." The wooden floor is worn.

A retro bike with a wood box for a basket sits at the entrance, along with a handwritten sign: "Nous vous proposons un moment de détente. Avec des beignets, savourez un instant de Bonheur."

Translation: "We suggest you take a minute to relax. With donuts, savor a moment of happiness."

The donuts are all neatly laid out, some branded like cattle with the "Nico" name. Varieties include plain, café espresso, coco milk, sesame milk (our recommendation) and maple nut.

But Nico's bakers also aim to make salt lovers feel welcome, so they've created basil-tomato and sausage-cheese donuts.

Everything ranges in price from ¥160 to ¥200. Espresso (¥400) and cappuccino (¥500) are also available. Less than five minutes from Hiroo Station.

Hiroo SK Building, 5-14-4 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku; +81 (0) 3 5447 0025; nico-donut.jp

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