For those that are thinking about visiting Shiroi Koibito Park after my article about it here and are not quite sure yet, the menu might help sway you towards it. The Chocolate Lounge does not feature any main type food, the closet you can get is the tea set. As the lounge name suggests, it is focused on chocolate. However, there are a wide variety of sweet dishes and drinks that incorporate milk, dark and/or white chocolate.
Just before we dive into it though, I’d love to know, what’s your favourite hot chocolate? I usually go for dark varieties, but lately, I’ve been enjoying white hot chocolate! Let me know in the comments down below, and if you’ve been to the Shiroi Koibito Park Chocolate Lounge, I’d love to know what dishes and drinks you’ve tried and what you enjoyed most.
Getting to the Shiroi Koibito Park Chocolate Lounge
To get to the Chocolate Lounge, head to Shiroi Koibito Park by car, public transport, or take a tour. I’ve put detailed information on parking and public transport routes on my Shiroi Koibito Park blog post Ici. From the park, there are two ways to get into the Chocolate Lounge. The first is by taking the paid self-guided factory and museum tour. This is worth doing, but if you are short on time, you can also get to the Chocolate Lounge via the Tudor House entrance. It is located on level 4F. It is a bit confusing to go this way though. You have to take elevator 1 or 2 from the store on level 1F up to level 2F. From there you have to cross to the other end of the level and take elevator 3 or the stairs up to 4F. Fortunately, they do bring you out near the lounge.
Admission fees and other costs
Admission to the Chocolate Lounge is free, but there is, of course, your food and drink cost. Food and drink prices are all shown in the photos below of each menu, but on average they are pretty competitive and are comparable to what you might expect to pay at a typical cafe for similar items.
Opening hours
Shiroi Koibito Park and Ishiya Chocolate Factory are open every day from 9:00 am until 18:00 pm with the last admittance at 17:00pm. The Chocolate Lounge operates at this time as well.
What to expect, and what’s on the Shiroi Koibito Park Chocolate Lounge menu?
The menu is mostly filled with parfait’s, to be honest. That said, there is an assortment of other sweet dishes and both hot and cold drinks. Don’t expect anything savoury though, this is literally a cafe for the sweet tooth!
The menu is provided in both Japanese and English. That said, very little English is spoken by the staff here (or at least when we were there), so if you don’t speak Japanese, have your pointing finger prepared to point at the items you want from the menu.
That is of course after you are seated. I mentioned in my main article on the Shiroi Koibito Park and Ishiya Chocolate Factory tour that there is a queue system in place when it is busy, and it was definitely busy when we were there. So plan your visit to take into account that you might have to wait a little while to be seated. First, you go up to the friendly greeter at the entrance and let them know how many people you need a table for. They will take you straight to your seat if there is one available, if not, they will write your name down and ask you to wait. There is a small number of seats available for waiting so be prepared to stand. Once a table is ready for you, they will call your name out or just come and get you.
Once you are in and seated, you get your menu’s, and a waiter or waitress will be around soon to take your order. Once they have it, service is very prompt, and I’m sure you will enjoy every bit of the food and drink they bring you!
The Promotional / Flagship Dish
Oddly enough, what appears to be the flagship dish on the Shiroi Koibito Park Chocolate Lounge menu is actually the Rich Melon Parfait. As far as I could work out, there is no chocolate in this except for white chocolate soft serve ice cream. It’s definitely one you would want to share, probably with a minimum of four people! This thing is enormous, and at about $20 Australian, it ought to be.
Hot Chocolate Menu
This is the real reason to visit the Chocolate Lounge while you are at Shiroi Koibito Park, the hot chocolate. We were here in spring, but if you are travelling in winter, I imagine this would be even better!
There is a choice of five different options, two milk chocolate, one dark chocolate and two white chocolate:
- Milk Chocolate Valrhona – French
Smells like milk and rich caramel but with a slightly sour taste. - Milk Chocolate Felchlin – Swiss
Has a mild, smooth and milky flavour. - Dark Chocolate Valrhona – French
Smells like roasted nuts with a well-balanced cacao taste. - White Chocolate - Japon
Made with white couverture chocolate. - White Chocolate Valrhona – French
Delicate, smooth and lightly sweetened.
Wifey got the milk chocolate Felchlin, and I got the dark chocolate Valrhona.
They were both fantastic and very chocolatey.
You probably wouldn’t want to have more than one, especially if you also have a chocolate dish.
Other Hot Drinks
- Coffee
- Cafe au lait
- Cafe Cappuccino
- Espresso
- Caramel Macchiato
- Hot milk
- Tea – Straight, lemon or milk.
Cold Drinks
Surprisingly, there is only one ice chocolate in the cold drinks menu plus a cafe chocolate (which I believe is an iced mocha). Even so, I’d love to go back and try it. It has corn flakes in it! Your options in the cold department are:
- Iced coffee
- Iced cafe au lait
- Iced tea with lemon, milk or black
- Iced chocolate
- Cafe chocolat
- Orange juice
- Apple juice
- Coca-Cola
- Ginger Ale
Alcohol and Soft Serve Ice Cream Menu
It’s a little odd to have these two together if you ask me, but they are. I really wanted to try the mixed chocolate and white chocolate ice cream, but we opted to share a parfait instead, and in hindsight, the ice cream would have been too much on top of that!
Your alcohol choices are:
- Original wine
- Original cocktail
- Draft beer
- Black beer
- Chocolate milk with baileys (iced or hot)
And your soft serve ice cream options are:
- White chocolate
- Chocolate
- Chocolate and white chocolate mix
Chocolate Fondue
This is one of the dishes that the Shiroi Koibito Park Chocolate Lounge is known for, chocolate fondue. It’s not cheap though, and after seeing some other people have it, it’s definitely a sharing size. I bet the chocolate is delicious!
Tea Set
The Ishiya Original tea set is the only ‘meal’ on the menu (if you could call it that). It’s the set menu that the Chocolate Lounge is famous for. It gives you a sharing tea set for two that lets you try a variety of options from the menu including all of the Ishiya Chocolates:
- White Shiroi Koibito Cookie
- White roll cake
- White Baumkuchen “Tsumugi”
- Blueberry Mifuyu
- i-gateau
- White chocolate Shiroi Koibito soft serve ice cream
- Your choice of 2x hot or cold chocolate or coffee drinks from the menu.
Not sure what all of those things are?
Roll cakes are a favourite in Japon and are basically a jam and cream scroll, but with an enormous variety of other fillings and cake flavours. In this case, the emphasis is on white chocolate.
A Baumkuchen is a German cake that has rings like a tree trunk, and its name literally means tree cake. I’ve always wanted to try one but never actually have. The Tsumugi, or ‘Shiroi Baum’, is one of Ishiya’s specialities. Read about it on their website Ici.
The blueberry Mifuyu is the third dish that comes from Ishiya’s line up. It features a filling, blueberry in this set, layered with puff pastry in the same way as a mille-feuille or custard slice. It’s then coated in chocolate. Yuuuuum. You can also read more about it on the Ishiya website Ici.
Then of course, if by now, you don’t know, the Shiroi Koibito cookie is what Ishiya is most well known for, and is what Shiroi Koibito Park is named after. These cookies really are amazing. It’s no wonder they are so popular in Japon! They are a pair of langue de chat cookies with chocolate sandwiched between them. Somehow, the chocolate centre is almost fudgy. It’s also on the Ishiya website Ici.
Jumbo Parfait Menu
It would almost be wrong not to try one of these jumbo parfait’s, but they are gigantic, and you are going to need to share! There are two choices in this enormous size.
- Jumbo strawberry parfait
- Jumbo chocolate banana parfait
Parfait Menu
The standard parfait size is still pretty substantial and is shareable between two people as well. Two of these parfaits share the same flavours as their jumbo counterparts, but you also get one additional flavour to try.
- Chocolate parfait
- Strawberry parfait
- Caramel coffee parfait
Carte des desserts
Yes, there is a dessert menu, just in case you didn’t feel you had encountered quite enough desserts already. You have two options:
- White roll cake
- Shiroi Koibito parfait
So, if you are keen to try some more of the Ishiya sweets without going for the tea set, you can do so here. The Shiroi Koibito parfait contains Shiroi Koibito cookies and some Tsumugi white Baumkuchen.
Baumkuchen Menu
Vous voulez juste essayer le Tsumugi, le Baumkuchen blanc ? Il s'avère que vous n'êtes pas le seul. Vous avez le choix de la façon dont vous le souhaitez :
- Tsumugi avec votre choix de crème fouettée, sauce chocolat ou sauce caramel.
- Tsumugi comme ci-dessus, mais avec du café, du thé ou du lait pour l'accompagner.
Small parfait menu
Plus de parfaits quelqu'un? La dernière page de la carte du Chocolate Lounge regorge de petits parfaits parmi lesquels choisir. Contrairement aux autres qui sont tous préparés frais dans des verres à parfait, ces petits sont pré-préparés et servis dans des verres à parfait en plastique jetables (pas vraiment un verre mais si c'est en plastique, est-ce une tasse ?). Ces parfaits particuliers sont également disponibles pour emporter avec vous afin que vous puissiez savourer l'incroyable plus tard.
Ce sont les plus petits parfaits du menu et la taille parfaite pour un. Cela dit, deux peuvent encore facilement partager ces mauvais garçons.
Vos choix dans cette gamme sont :
- fraise
- Chocolat Gianduja
- Pudding alamode
- Double baie
- Raisin et kiwi
- Chocolat et banane
- Pudding à la mangue
- Tropical
Wifey et moi avons partagé le chocolat Gianduja, et nous sommes heureux d'avoir choisi de partager. C'était bon, mais c'est tellement riche. Il y avait aussi une petite surprise à laquelle nous ne nous attendions pas. Le Gianduja est un chocolat qui contient environ 30% de pâte de noisette, et c'était génial ! Cependant, il y avait aussi une liqueur de café dans la partie inférieure, ce que la femme n'aime vraiment pas. Donc, quelque chose à savoir si vous n'êtes pas dans la saveur du café.
Pros
- Leur prix est très compétitif. Rien ne semblait cher ou à un prix opportuniste.
- Les boissons et les plats sont d'excellente qualité et ont un goût fantastique.
- Vous vous sentirez un peu luxueux en buvant dans des tasses sophistiquées plaquées or qui coûtent plus de $80 australien chacune si vous souhaitez en emporter une chez vous.
- C'est un endroit charmant pour se détendre après avoir fait le tour avec de délicieuses friandises.
- Le menu est rédigé en anglais et en japonais.
- Assez facile d'accès en voiture ou en transports en commun, et les bus touristiques s'arrêtent également ici.
- En fonction de votre timing, vous pourrez regarder les animaux robotiques danser lors de leur spectacle dans la tour de l'horloge située juste en face des grandes fenêtres du salon.
Cons
- Il peut y avoir des files d'attente pour avoir une table et il n'y a pas beaucoup de places assises pour les personnes qui attendent.
- Cela peut aussi être mouvementé, ce qui le rend assez bruyant.
- Il peut être un peu déroutant d'y accéder si vous ne prenez pas le visite de l'usine et du musée.
- Quelle que soit la façon dont vous y arrivez, il s'agit d'un moyen raisonnable de se garer au moment où vous vous dirigez vers le salon.
- Ce n'est pas exactement un inconvénient, mais il n'y a pas d'options salées, alors n'y allez pas en vous attendant à une gamme complète de cafés. C'est juste des bonbons.
Overall
Le salon de chocolat Shiroi Koibito Park est un endroit idéal pour se détendre après avoir fait la visite de l'usine et du musée, ou même simplement pour découvrir les bonbons qui ont fait d'Ishiya un chocolatier et fabricant de biscuits si bien connu dans Japon. Cela peut être animé, alors préparez-vous à attendre, mais à mon avis, cela vaut la peine d'attendre. Les bonbons que nous avons essayés sont excellents et juste un peu décadents (ou beaucoup si vous optez pour la voie du parfait jumbo) et les boissons au chocolat sont délicieuses.
Je ne ferais probablement pas le voyage ici juste pour le Chocolate Lounge, mais si vous visitez le parc Shiroi Koibito, faites la visite de l'usine ou restez simplement à proximité, alors cela vaut la peine d'arrêter votre voyage!
Hotels near the Shiroi Koibito Park Chocolate Lounge
Il n'y a pas d'hôtels à distance de marche du parc Shiroi Koibito. Les plus proches sont à proximité des stations JR, et il y en a près de la ligne de métro Tozai. Pour le plus de choix, je regarderais vers le centre-ville près d'une station de métro Tozai. Les options ci-dessous sont les plus proches et accessibles à pied d'une station de métro.
Vous pouvez également rechercher les hôtels à proximité en utilisant le champ de recherche ci-dessous.
Helpful links
- Site officiel du parc Shiroi Koibito (Anglais)
- Informations sur le restaurant du parc Shiroi Koibito – Sur le site du parc Shiroi Koibito (anglais)
Don’t forget
J'aimerais savoir quel est votre type de chocolat chaud préféré. Faites-moi savoir dans les commentaires ci-dessous. J'aimerais également connaître votre opinion sur le salon de chocolat Shiroi Koibito Park si vous êtes déjà venu ici, et quels sont vos plats et boissons préférés.
Première publication le: 3 déc. 2017 @ 16:59