Ikebukuro at Night Again

This was my third time staying in Ikebukuro. Each time I explore a little more. Ikebukuro really becomes alive at night.

There is still a lot that I have not seen on the east side. But I did check out a few more places. Back to Sunshine 60-dori area, which really seems to be where more young people spend time at night now.

With all the people around, street busking must do well. It was enjoyable to hear this man play. There was another young enthusiastic man who had set up playing his guitar and singing. It was interesting to see the faces of the young women watching him. I would not be surprised if one day he becomes well known.

The dining streets in that area. I walked through here last time. I do need to figure out where I would like to eat there. It is an interesting place.

Try finding decent sushi at this price here in the US.

There are other statues around Ikebukuro Station besides owls. One can't miss this calisthenic couple in the middle of Meiji-dori. 

It is also impossible to miss SEIBU Department Store. It runs along one side of Ikebukuro Station, along with the PARCO Department Store.

The reason I didn't stop at a restaurant there was because my goal was shopping. I finally made it to Closet Child. The Ikebukuro store has clothing along with a music section. I picked up this little CD for a few yen. That was nice.

This time I visited the kitchen floor of Tokyu Hands. Besides music being a theme of my trip, these ring molds I bought so I can make Japanese pancakes were a sign of what was to come.

On my way back to my hotel, I wandered into SEIBU's lower level. Many larger Japanese department stores dedicate their lower levels to food vendors. The term used is "Food Hall", but many are much nicer than just a hall. Glass counters with sales people often offering samples of delicacies from all over Japan. And in SEIBU, there is also a KitKat Chocolatory booth.

I've tried a number of Japanese KitKats over the years. The ones that got my attention this time were ones that the focus was on the cacao used to make the chocolate. I do like sweet and bitter, so the Sublime was perfect for that. The one above it is Sublime Raw. They cook the chocolate at a lower temperature to bring out more of the cacao beans natural flavor. It was also very nice, with a slight "green" taste.

I found the Hojicha-Roasted Tea KitKats at a konbini. This was more like their flavored KitKats. It wasn't too bad, and did have a slight bitter flavor to represent the tea.

My other purchase at the Chocolatory was a box of their Sublime Volcanic KitKats.

KitKat uses chocolate from South Pacific tropical islands. Yellow is cacao from Papua New Guinea, orange is from the Philippines, and green is from Vanuatu. For people who like good chocolate, these are worth trying. There were differences between the three. I had not planned to buy KitKats on this trip, but I'm glad I did get these and the Sublime chocolates.

But the best thing that I found in SEIBU was something I had hoped to enjoy. When I walked in, I saw a line. Lines are a thing in Japan, don't be surprised if you want to get something or go into a restaurant and there is a line for waiting. This time, it was for these, Tokyo Tulip Rose.

They are the creation of Chef Masahito Kanai, who studied in Paris and brought his pastry skills back to Japan. He has a number of different delicacies, but most were sold out. Lucky for me, they still had their little Tulip Roses.

The Tulip Roses are made of delicate cookies filled with a creamy center. The amount of flavor in each one is astounding. The pink ones are strawberry and raspberry for a sweet and sour burst of flavor. It surprised me and I really liked this one.

The yellow Tulip Roses are passion fruit and mango. Again with the delicious flavor. The third Tulip Rose is caramel and nuts and they did taste just like that. I enjoyed these so much that I wanted to get more. Sadly I didn't. I hope I can enjoy them again one day.