Ever heard of Kawaii? It means ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ in Japanese. In Japan you’ll find kawaii everywhere: in fashion, in commercials, in clothing, in toys and also in food!
On this page I’m showing you where to get the best Kawaii food when you’re in Tokyo and after that I’m sharing some kawaii recipes with you so you can make your own kawaii dish like unicorn noodles at home!
The best neighborhood to get Kawaii food or to find cartoon character styled restaurants is in Harajuku. It looks like everything is rainbow colored or sugarcoated in Harajuku!
Kawaii food in Harajuku can be found at Cookie Time Cookie Bar and the Pompompurin Cafe named after the cartoon character .You can get Pokemon style latte art at Reissue and Rainbow colored Cotton Candy at Totti Candy Factory.
But my favorite cute food restaurant in Tokyo is Kawaii Monster Café. This cute monster restaurant is a bit hidden on the 4th floor of a building on Meiji-dori street, but it’s a world on its own once you go through the doors. You’ll pay a ¥500 entrance fee and have to order at least one drink and one food item per person but you’ll get an unforgettable ‘only in Japan’ experience. The restaurant has several areas and you can choose your favorite at the entrance. You’ll be greeted by girls dressed up as cute monsters at the entrance and after you’re seated you can choose one of the Kawaii food items on the cake shaped digital menu like rainbow spaghetti or colored cupcakes. Every now and then the girls will perform a dance show and you’re invited to clap and dance along!
Aren’t these the cutest donuts you’ve ever seen? These animal donuts are very kawaii! I bought these cat shaped donuts at Floresta Nature Doughnuts. They have several shops in Japan, including one at Nishiki Market in Kyoto and one near Koenji station in Tokyo. The animals change daily and are also different from shop to shop but I’ve seen frogs, pigs, bees, seals, cats and pandas and rabbits just to name a few examples.
I loved Hello Kitty as a kid and to be honest I still think she’s super cute! In Tokyo there’s a Hello Kitty shop in the Diver City Mall on Odaiba Island. They sell Hello Kitty merchandise but there’s also a small cafe in the corner where they sell pastries, ice creams and pancakes: all Hello Kitty themed! The Diver City Mall is a nice way to spend a rainy day in Tokyo.
Kawaii Recipes
You can also make Kawaii food yourself! Typical for Kawaii food is pink or purple colors and often a cartoon/face/animal representation.
Inspired by the donuts I had in Japan I made these kitty cat donuts. Aren’t they cute? Just use almonds as ears and drip them in white chocolate.I used a chocolate decoration marker to make the eyes, nose and whiskers. You can read more about it here.
Aren’t these Unicorn Ice Cream bars the cutest? I made them by breaking off the bottoms of ice cream cones to use as a horn on top of a white chocolate ice cream bar. I made frosting with powdered sugar and a bit of water to function as glue to attach the horn and the colored sprinkles. In this video you can see how I did it.
It’s super easy to make bear and owl shaped toast. Just toast two slices of bread and spread them with peanut butter. Decorate them as pictured above with apple, banana and blueberries.
You can also turn your cookies into cute little bears as you can see here.
Unicorn noodles are so much fun to make! You can make these pink and purple colored noodles with natural ingredients. I’ve shared the recipe and in this food video I’m showing you how easy it is to make them.
This caterpillar snack isn’t only very kawaii, it’s also very healthy! Just use cherry tomatoes and small mozzarella balls to make these cute caterpillars!
Unicorn toast is a very cheerful way to start the day. You’ll have to admit: you’ll be happy instantly when this is on your plate. I’ve explained how to make unicorn toast (or rainbow toast as I often call it) in this blog post.
Besides unicorns, I think koalas and pandas are the cutest animals in the world! These panda oreo cookies are super easy to make. I dipped regular oreo cookies in melted white chocolate, but you can make it even easier by using the white chocolate covered oreos in the store. I used edible decoration markers to make the mouth, nose and eyes.
Pingback: Best food spots and restaurants in Kyoto | Anne Travel Foodie
Pingback: My favorite food spots in Tokyo | Anne Travel Foodie
Pingback: Vegetarian and vegan food in Tokyo | Anne Travel Foodie
Pingback: Cute cat donuts | Anne Travel Foodie
Pingback: Recipe: Unicorn Ice Cream Bars | Anne Travel Foodie
Pingback: Edible Penguins - Anne Travel Foodie
Pingback: Sombrero Komkommers - Anne Travel Foodie