Karuizawa New Art Museum | Review by Queena

“Shiseido Afternoon Tea Feast”

We started the afternoon tea with something savory to whet the appetite. The fried shrimp sandwich is one of Shiseido’s signature dishes.
Crispy yet soft toast holds crunchy fried shrimp, while the special sauce and mayonnaise balance everything perfectly. The most inconspicuous supporting player is actually the most important. The finger-licking sauce is the soul of the dish.
You can taste the fresh sweetness of the seafood as soon as you bite into the freshly fried shrimp. Whether for afternoon tea or a regular meal, I recommend ordering one.

The “assorted dessert plate” I was looking forward to the most

The refreshing aroma of matcha is ideal with fruit. The slightly bitter tea flavor paired with seasonal fruit is the prelude to the desserts.
The berry mousse combines raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, with just the right balance of tartness and sweetness. It’s very refreshing and smooth like ice cream.
The caramel pudding pairs rich, milky pudding with wonderfully fragrant caramel, making its aroma bloom in your mouth.
The chestnut parfait and strawberry parfait perfectly represent the transition from fall to winter. The delicate and adorable mini parfaits are still elegant, with a different flavor in every bite from top to bottom. Chestnut on the left and strawberry on the right, from fall to winter, from maple leaves to the snowy season.
It was like seeing a symphony of two seasons on one plate.
The orange cake was surely the “encore” of this symphony.
The lingering orange flavor, followed by a sip of lemon tea with a sweet finish, brought this culinary feast to a perfect close.

I liked the food here so much that afterward, I bought some shelf-stable sweets as souvenirs from the gift section on the first floor.

Looking down at Tokyo Station from the KITTE observation deck, from daytime into the night. Watching the trains arrive and depart. I was once one of those travelers too.
A gentle breeze blows by, helping me sort out my thoughts.
Thinking about whether to have soy sauce ramen later or sushi with more than 50 varieties. Cheesecake or chocolate ice cream for dessert.
There’s so much I want to eat, but I only have one stomach.
But I can stock up on souvenirs.
Eating a snack, I think, this is what Tokyo Station tastes like.

Starbucks in Nakameguro, a feast for the senses of smell, taste, and sight.

As soon as you enter Starbucks, you’re greeted by a giant coffee roaster decorated with about 2,100 handcrafted copper cherry blossoms.
The aroma of coffee also hits you right away.

This time I ordered the “Matcha Cream Soda.”
It was my first time trying a carbonated matcha drink, and it surprised me. The delicate matcha aroma paired with the light fizz was very refreshing.
The floating vanilla ice cream added an interesting texture.
It wasn’t sticky or overly milky, but felt more like a dessert.
One drink fully showcased the fusion of a beverage and dessert.
It was truly impressive.

My friend’s hot spiced milk tea came with marshmallows. It was seriously a camera killer—we spent almost 10 minutes taking Instagram-worthy photos, and the marshmallows still stood tall. The marshmallows let you adjust the sweetness of the milk tea to your liking.
They weren’t boring to eat on their own either. It was also surprising to find this kind of marshmallow at a café.

There’s a wall decorated with mugs and another wall made from a collage of about 5,000 Starbucks Reserve coffee cards. From a distance, the cards form the word “TOKYO.”

These two walls are also real film killers. I took lots of beautiful photos while making sure not to disturb any customers who were relaxing!

You can spend 3–5 hours here. It’s a good place to take a short break and have a snack after shopping. After a good rest, you can move on to your next activity.