Best Cream Puff in Tokyo - Zakuzaku Croquant Chou from Hokkaido

January 05, 2015


I often read news.. Japanese news to be exact. Whether it's the restaurants, unique / weird culture, news about celebrities, and of course what is trend and new there. One of the news site that I often read is Rocket News [been reading them for YEARS] and upon stumbling to one of their recommendation about an unique cream puff named Zaku Zaku, I really want to try!!! But they said that it's located in Shinjuku, and the queue is so long

I almost never went to Shinjuku but the last time I came, I was staying at Ikebukuro and it's only a few stations away from Shinjuku, and it's faster to go to Shinjuku instead of Shibuya-Harajuku that I often went. So last trip, I had taken a good look about what this city offers. I almost forgot about this shop when I was in Shinjuku but when I was lost looking around, I spotted a long line and remembered about this shop! Like it or not, I DID QUEUE 




So ZAKUZAKU means crunchy in Japanese and it is from Hokkaido, the place where everyone claims that has one of the best food in Japan. Especially the diary products and seafood. I have never been there so why not try it in Tokyo right? :D


Zakuzaku is located at the basement of Shinjuku LUMINE Dept. Store and it's been opened since September 2014. I was there in November 2014 and it seems the customers don't mind this long queue. I have never queued that long, it took me 50 minutes to get my order!! Usually I'd never want to go for the long queue shop, or if I did visit them, that means I know somebody inside that can allow me to get special fast service :x 

Time is money right? lol

But I was curiousssssssss and usually cream puff is in round shape, but this one is in long shape coated with almond. So yes, I went for it!


The line moved so slow and I was anxious what takes them so long? I mean.. There's only one menu there, and there are a few staffs working, and it is Japan please, everything works fast!!
But I tried to calm myself down by looking at the cream puffs behind the mirror


I know it doesn't look "kawaii" like most Japanese dessert, but this is the first time I see a cream puff in this shape and mind you that it is HUGE! 


The filling inside is a cream that looks very appetising and I was just getting more and more mad because it was so long -___-


Then I realised that it is in fact FRESHLY MADE in front of you! The staffs injects the cream inside the puff when it is ordered. That way the product stays fresh, and the cream stays cold inside the machine! Experiencing the best of the best from the product, the effort that they put is beyond expectation because they serve only high quality products to you!
With this, I don't think anyone would want to complain 

But my question is...

With this amount of customers queuing everyday every moment, why can't they just order another machine to fasten the process twice faster? lol


1 piece of cream puff is 220 Yen, and 237 Yen after tax. While if you buy 6 pcs, it becomes 1200 yen and 1296 yen after the tax. So it is around Rp 20.000 - Rp 25.000 / pc

It might look expensive in Indonesia but here's the deal :

- The product is freshly made and only last for a day, means it doesn't use any preservation so it is safe and healthy snack for you
- The cream puff has unique shape, and no other store has ever had this kind before
- The size itself is pretty big, around 30 cm
- The filling inside is in massive amount, doesn't have sickening taste and you won't get bored easily
- The products ingredients are from Hokkaido, taste the real flavour of Hokkaido here
- It is coated with almond and baked together, so it has crunchy unique texture but inside contains light melty cream

For a cheapskate chinese-indonesian I am, I wouldn't mind to wait another hour to get it!!

And while eating it how I wish my family and close friends were there to enjoy the heavenly taste made by Hokkaido T____T




See the exp date? XD
And they also have to maintain the quality by making the temperature so low! So it's better to eat your cream puff fast!


I ordered two puffs, although I wish to get 6 of them but I had a dinner appointment afterward. Hence I need to suppress my desire to eat more and more of it. And because I was waiting at the station and eating it enjoyably, I could not really take good picture of the cream puff. It was way too dark and difficult to do so

So my best effort is you can go to Rocket News page that talks about this puff as well for clearer picture T__T I didn't intend to blog about this, but because it is way too good to be true for me, so I really want you guys to try it as well if there's a chance!


Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku 3-38-1, Lumine Est Shinjuku Branch, basement level 1
東京都新宿区新宿3丁目38番1号 ルミネエスト新宿店地下1階

Open weekdays 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Weekends and holidays 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m.


See you guys on my next post!  photo 21_zpsd46e6a3a.png photo 21_zpsd46e6a3a.png photo 21_zpsd46e6a3a.png

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6 comments

  1. I love Cream Puffs~ ^ u ^
    These ones look especially yummy! ^ v ^


    www.thedailydollyblog.com

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  2. awww looks so yammy!!!
    Thanks for sharing~

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  3. Its waiting anybody to bite it :p

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  4. I found your blog after I tried these puffs. At first, I accidentally bumped into this store. Looking at the long line, my friend and I curiously queued. We read that they limited 12 sticks per purchase. So, we bought only two of these and were snacking on the train on the way back to our hotel. We regretted it instantly....why did we buy only TWO??? The next day, we intentionally went back there and bought half dozen each :D

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  5. 50 minutes?? :o I'm going to Tokyo at the end of the month... I hope by then the queue won't be that long! :D


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