Shibuya: A Happy Pancake / Shiawase no Pancake (幸せのパンケーキ)

Summary: Happiness in the form of pancakes – if happiness was something tangible, this is it. Just make sure you reserve in advance before your visit! (only on weekdays)

I don’t know what’s up with Osaka, but they are home to many popular homegrown pancakes cafes.

Another pancake café I had on my pancake tour list is the Tokyo branch of Osaka's famous pancake chain, Shiawase no Pancake.

"Shiawase no Pancake" literally means "pancake of happiness," and just like the name suggests, eating one of their heavenly pancakes will bring you much happiness.

The pancakes have been consistently ranked as one of the top pancakes in Japan, and are supposedly the number one fluffiest pancake in the world (self-proclaimed).

I heard that the queue at this café is legendary, (there was a time people had to queue six hours for these pancakes) so I decided to book in advance to avoid the queue.

I called their Omotesando branch two days before my planned trip, and their lines were so busy that I was not able to get through to them.

After calling every once an hour since morning, someone finally picked up the phone at around 3pm.

I asked him about making a reservation on Friday (it was Wednesday when I called), and he told me that all timeslots were fully booked, save for 9am or 6pm.

I decided I would just wring it, and drop by their Shibuya branch after work today just before their last order time. I ended work at 7pm, and immediately rushed over to Shibuya.

The cafe is located on the third floor of Dogenzaka Plaza Nishinaya Building.
I climbed up the stairs, and was greeted by their very welcoming looking reception area.

Most of the time, you would have to put down your name on their waiting list at their reception area.

I arrived at their cafe at about 7.30pm, 10 minutes before their last order. So instead of putting my name down, I directly went into the cafe and breathlessly asked them if they were able to fit me in.

Thankfully, they happily obliged and told me to grab a seat at a corner.

As soon as you enter the cafe, you will notice that their kitchen is behind a clear glass wall, where you can see the chefs expertly flipping pancakes.

The shop interior is decorated simply - green and white furniture with flowers and potted plants to give it is cheery, relaxing atmosphere.

Maybe you also noticed it, but it seems like there were a lot of male customers in this cafe. Most of them were actually here with their fellow male friends, and they were taking photos of the pancakes to upload unto social media.

I wonder how a cutesy, pancake only cafe like Shiawase no Pancake manage to attract male customers? I thought that was something very interesting that other (dessert) cafes should strive to do.  

Water here was self service - the water station is located in front of their open kitchen.

The door to their restroom is disguised as a bookshelf - as expected from the country of ninjas.

The restroom was very neat and clean, and here's a photo of me.

Their menu was simple and had photos of their food, making it easy to understand what you are ordering.

It was interesting to learn that they are using coffee beans from STREAMER COFFEE COMPANY (will post about that someday), a café run by Hirofumi Sawada, who was the first Asian to win the 2008 free pour latte world championship held in Seattle. 

Besides their coffee, they also offer organic teas, fresh juices, as well as beer and wine.  

Does that mean that there are people who have their pancakes with wine? 

How very quaint.

They have a decent selection of sweet and savoury pancakes, but their most popular pancake is their signature Shiawase no Pancake (1100yen), which consists of three soufflé pancakes topped with whipped butter made from fresh Hokkaido milk and New Zealand Manuka honey, as well as caramel sauce on the side.

Since it was my first time here, I decided to stick with their signature menu.

Typically, it takes about 20 minutes for them to serve the pancakes, but during busy times it can take from 40~50 minutes for the pancakes to be done.  

Thankfully, they weren't too busy when I ordered, so my pancakes came out without much delay.

I have to say that I was quite impressed with the presentation of their pancakes.

Their recipe does not use any additives to ensure that customers can enjoy their meal without any worries about health.

No baking powder is used in their pancakes, so I don’t know how they make their pancakes so naturally fluffy. 
Compared to the recent pancakes I have been eating, these pancakes have a fluffy and spongy texture. Rather than a pancake, I thought the taste of it was very similar to a castella cake (Japanese style sponge cake).  

Although it looks like the pancakes were served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it is actually their Hokkaido whipped butter. The butter was delightful, giving the pancakes an elegant, buttery and rich flavor and aroma. The Manuka Honey mixed into the butter was also a nice touch, adding a light and creamy subtle sweetness to the dish.

To be honest, I was not a fan of their caramel sauce served with their pancakes. It had a strong, slightly bitter taste that overwhelmed the entire dish - kind of like burnt caramel. It actually tasted like pure manuka honey to me. I'm more of a maple syrup person, so this could just be a personal preference.

My coffee was quite average - I thought it was a little too bitter.

Overall, I had quite a positive experience, but I do not think I am a fan of the style of pancakes served here. I was never huge on castella cakes, which is probably the main reason.
Nonetheless, I think I would definitely drop by again to try their different flavour pancakes next time.

Service standards depends on who you get.
One of the staff was quite rude when I called them (interrupting me while I was in mid-sentence), but the actual service in the cafe was not too bad.

Staff were not very attentive, but when they were called they had a proper smile on their faces.

Besides their Shibuya branch, Shiawase no Pancake also has branches at Omotesando and Kichijoji in Tokyo, as well as other locations in Japan which I couldn’t be bothered to list up (you can find them on their website).

Address: Dogenzaka Plaza Nishinaya Building 3F 1-18-8 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 
〒150-0043 東京都渋谷区道玄坂1-18-8 道玄坂プラザ仁科屋ビル 3F

Phone:  03-3462-6666 (reservations available on weekdays)

Hours: Mon – Sun 10am - 8:30pm（last order 7:40pm）

Website: http://magia.tokyo/