When thinking about Halloween in Japan, the first thing that comes to mind is usually the colorful and sometimes spooky Halloween costumes, parties in the streets, and events held at places like Tokyo Disney Resort or Universal Studios Japan. But this, now, commercial festival has even more to offer! This year Voyapon is taking a look at the sweeter side of Halloween in Japan.
What to Expect of your Halloween Treats?
In Japan, reams of cafés and restaurants release time-limited seasonal menus and while some decide for a more general autumn menu, many opt for a Halloween theme. This is quite convenient as two ingredients, that are popular during the autumn season, perfectly fit Halloween too! Pumpkins are the symbol of Halloween and create the color theme with their orange hues. Sweet potatoes are also popular during this season, and their purple color really complements orange. Adding a bit spookiness, we have the perfect orange, purple and black Halloween design. So, if you go out for your Halloween treat hunt, be aware that pumpkin and sweet potatoes might be included in several dishes.
While Halloween is mainly celebrated, of course, on October 31, seasonal menus often last for a whole month or, in some cases, even start around the end of September. However, this depends on the restaurant, shop or brand, so start checking for your spooky treats early, so you don’t miss out.
Halloween Afternoon Teas and Sweets Buffets
In Japan, you can enjoy many kinds of afternoon tea, either at restaurants, cafés, or high-class hotels. Voyapon was very kindly invited to taste the Pear Halloween Afternoon Tea at Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills, a luxury lifestyle hotel. The elegant restaurant on the 51st floor offers a great view of the metropolitan city below. The Halloween menu features Western pears as the main, while the treats resemble mischievous monsters and include autumnal flavors such as pumpkin and pomegranate. Another highlight is the delicious Pear Iced Tea, which has a black color thanks to the addition of charcoal powder.
But there are many other hotel restaurants that you can visit for Halloween afternoon teas. Grand Hyatt Tokyo has a mysterious Halloween Noir Afternoon Tea that brings together a range of creepy black treats. Meanwhile, Royal Park Hotel Tokyo opts for another direction with a cuter design at its Halloween afternoon tea. Another Halloween afternoon tea is taking place at Haute Couture Café in Nakameguro, which is renowned for its Instagrammable decorations.
Whereas the amount of food is limited at afternoon teas, you also can enjoy sweets buffets, where you have the all-you-can-eat option. One of my favorites for this is the Hotel Conrad Tokyo which I’ve visited twice during Halloween season in the past few years. But there are many options to choose from! Here is a list of some other places you can check:
- Prince Hotel Shinjuku
- ANA InterContinental Tokyo
- Intercontinental Tokyo Bay
- Prince Hotel Sunshine City
- AMAN Tokyo
- Pullman Tokyo Tamachi
- Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho
- Shangri-La Tokyo
- ANA Crowne Plaza in Osaka
- ANA Crowne Plaza in Hiroshima
- Royal Park Canvas in Sapporo
Halloween Menus at Cafés around Tokyo
It doesn’t always need to be a fancy afternoon tea if you want to enjoy Halloween sweets in Japan. Many restaurants go with seasonal themes and offer special menus including Halloween pancakes, parfaits, drinks, kakigori and so on.
I visited Q-Pot Café in Omotesando, where the food themes change regularly. For the Halloween season, it has a small afternoon tea set, but also a Halloween plate with a cute ghost cake, macaron monster, and monster sorbet. You also can order one of the Halloween drinks with your plate.
For Halloween kakigori, check out Café Lumiere in Kichijoji or Café CUPS in Machida, which both offer shaved ice all year round and have interesting and quirky designs.
If you want to try some distinctive pancakes, Café Accueil in Ebisu is the place to go! Alongside Halloween pancakes, there is also an afternoon tea option and spooky drinks. Or try the black Halloween pancakes at 512 Café in Roppongi or Eggs’nThings which has a purple sweet potato option for pancakes and are covered with an orange pumpkin sauce.
Moving on to crêpes, Crêperie Tirol has cute designs with fruits. Meanwhile, Momobukuro specialize in evening parfaits and offers elegant Halloween parfaits.
As you can see, there are already countless options for your Halloween treats in Tokyo — you could easily go to a different place every day during the Halloween season!
Halloween Sweets for Take-out
You don’t need to sit down at a café or restaurant to sample Halloween treats. There are many options to take the food or drinks home with you or to enjoy them whenever you like. And the good thing is that many treats are from popular brands with stores nationwide. So you can purchase them all over Japan!
Popular every year are Halloween doughnuts, where Mister Donut and Krispy Kreme are the most popular brands. Mister Donut is collaborating with the popular chocolate bar Black Thunder this year — and everything is so sweet and delicious! Meanwhile, the confectionery store Ginza Cozy Corner has a Disney Villains Collection consisting of a set with eight small cakes. Furthermore, Starbucks Japan releases a Halloween drink and merchandise collection every year. Just by walking around, you can find bakeries selling ghost-shaped bread, small Halloween cakes and everything that makes your spooky heart beat faster.
Furthermore, supermarkets are filled with Halloween sweets, which are perfect for trick-or-treating, as packages include many single-packed snacks. However, be aware that these snacks usually don’t have a special flavor (like pumpkin or sweet potato), but rather only have eye-catching packaging with Halloween characters. Still, they are great to receive as a treat, to share, or take home as a souvenir for your own Halloween party.
As you can see, spending Halloween in Japan is definitely not the best time for a diet, as there are so many spooky treats to try. And I always choose the treat over the trick! Which would be your favorite?
