Entree Kibbles: Desserts at Rokkatei (六花亭) at Maruyama Sapporo - Superb Strawberry Shortcake and Strawberry Milk [Japan]

I was all set to indulge in desserts at the pretty port city of Otaru as i had been strongly advised to check out both LeTAO and Rokkatei (六花亭); although i managed to have the double fromage cheesecake from LeTAO, Rokkatei was already in the midst of closing when i arrived. :(

It was a major regret but thankfully, i did chance upon a Rokkatei outlet when i was in Sapporo! And the fated encounter came at just the right moment as we had walked a long way and was in need of a place to rest our feet; and this Rokkatei branch had a cafe on the second level.

Got two seats just in time!

Menu - to be shared later. Even though it was lunchtime, we were still quite stuffed after the seafood breakfast at Curb Market and decided to just order desserts to placate our tired souls.

Strawberry Milk - let me choose between plain, chocolate and strawberry milk and it's almost guarantee that i would go with strawberry and this one from Rokkatei was interesting as it's literally plain milk with homemade strawberry sauce at the bottom.

Give it a good stir and prepared to be dumbfounded when you take a sip. What the hell have i been drinking all this while?! It felt light yet the taste was so enriched with strawberry; no other strawberry milk came even close to what i had. Heck, you can even bite into the strawberry seeds!

Yukikon Cheese - literally a cookie sandwich with a thick slab of cheese right in the middle. As far as appearance goes, i think it reminded us Singaporeans of the old-school wafer ice cream sold at those ice cream motorbike-carts.

It was cheesy alright and to be honest, a bit too rich for my liking; i can't even recall the taste of the oreo-like cookies and think it's easier for me to just aim for the middle section. Nevertheless, i must admit that i am not really a cheese person.

Strawberry Shortcake - i couldn't resist a strawberry shortcake whenever i see it on the menu! And at only about S$3.50 a slice, i thought it's a steal when an similarly sized one could have cost more than S$5.00 a slice in Singapore!

And it sure didn't disappoint with an incredible soft sponge cake that exuded an addictive fragrance that would force you to quickly take a bite, and then another bite! That light cream gelled perfectly with the strawberry sauce and didn't give that cloying sugary rush that can be off-putting sometimes! As expected, we cleaned it up in no time and when we asked for a second slice, it was already sold out; at 1.25pm!

Deeply disappointed, we asked for our bill, paid about a decent 870 yen and proceeded down the staircase, where the main store was.

Taking in the wide array of desserts on display, i recalled reading somewhere that Rokkatei was quite well known for their cream puffs and i couldn't resist; not after the disappointment of not being able to get my second slice of strawberry shortcake.

Cream Puff - 90 yen and nicely packed in plastic; i was eager to tear it apart as i enjoy cream puffs with the best one (i feel) to be from Tampopo at Liang Court in Singapore.

I touched the puff; hm...... soft and wasn't crusty which would be the way i love my cream puffs. Whatever the case, only a bite would determine if I like it or not.

The cream was cold, custardy and well, creamy; factors that would have elicited a good review. However, i absolutely detest the bland taste and texture of the puff which was more eclair-like. Now, i am craving for the vanilla cream puff from Tampopo.

=====

Location