Kajitsuen 果実園 Fruit Cafe in Tokyo : Popular but Mediocre

Kajitsuen has had a long presence at Tokyo station selling fruit parfaits, fruit pancakes and fruit cakes. I think fruit desserts make a good business because people generally won't hate fruits and they can be charged at a high price. I finally got a chance to check out its opened a new outlet near Shinjuku station since the location is more convenient and opens till late. 

As attractive as the tall fruit cream cakes may seem, they were utterly disappointing and fared even poorer than food from those franchise cafes. The sponge of the Pistachio Strawberry cake was dry and the pistachio taste wasn't as strong as it looked. I won't be surprise if artificial coloring has been added. 

Of course the freshness of the seasonal strawberries can't be argued but I won't pay more than 1000 yen for a cake of such substandard quality ever again. Better head to Takano Parlour.

The Strawberry Parfait (1300 yen) was more value-for-money than the cake because there was an seemingly endless supply of strawberries. However beyond that, it was just a tower of artificial-tasting whipped cream (like those squirted from metal canisters), vanilla and strawberry ice cream. It's probably the worse ice cream I've ever had in Japan because I've yet to encounter anything as bad as this.

I try to convince myself that I'm paying for the quality fruits. But in that case, why don't I just go to the supermarket for the fruits?

This was my first and shall be my last visit

Kajitsuen 果実園
Shinjuku outlet:
〒151-0053
東京都渋谷区代々木2-7-7南新宿277ビルB1
Daily 7.30am-11pm
Tokyo 151-0053, Shinjuku-ku Yoyogi 2-7-7 Minami Shinjuku 277 Building B1
http://kajitsuen.jp/html/