The best Japanese bakeries and cafés in London
London is in a love affair with Japanese bakeries and cafés, and so am I. And thanks to Japan’s love affair with French pâtisserie and baking, the world now has matcha mille crêpes and mochi cookies. It brought the burnt Basque cheesecake into its fold. It gifted us the jiggly cheesecake (my favourite thing to say).
I have a life philosophy that favours simple pleasures. There’s always time to do nothing more than sip nihoncha and smile like a kid in a sweet shop whilst devouring a miso caramel brownie. From mochi hojicha cookies to matcha cheesecake, these are London's best Japanese bakeries and cafés.
Happy Sky Bakery
I’m wary of anything that trends on social media but my best mate whisked me away to Happy Sky’s Soho location one morning where we queued for ten minutes (that’s because the bakery consists of one person selling baked goods essentially through a doorway), ordered more than I could afford, and regretted nothing.
The yuzu kiss is the higher octave of lemon meringue. The Tokyo honey toast sounds like it would be sickly sweet, but it’s well balanced, and the fluffiness of the shokupan (the milk bread) is utterly moreish. The matcha mochi ribbons are delightful. Lastly, do not pass on the savouries: the chicken katsu sando (and when feeling particularly indulgent) the yakisoba bread.
10/10 – would queue again.
Shepherd’s Bush, W12 & Soho, W1T | Happy Sky Bakery Instagram
Uchi Bake
With an interior design embodying the naturnalness and imperfection of the wabi-sabi aesthetic and philosophy, Uchi is one of those places where you hope the menu shines, that there’s substance as well as looks, and I'm pleased to report that it does.
Depending on my mood, I have a hojicha, a roasted green tea whose subtle sweet hay & toasty caramel notes taste like home (a fitting feeling for a place whose name means ‘home’), or a classic matcha tea over the latte. The sandos with their fluffy shokupan are as delicious and enjoyable as the mochi matcha cookie, which combines chewy rice cake and cookie into the cleverest sweet treat.
For a well-rounded experience, I recommend a sando – chicken teriyaki with egg salad – to start and a Basque cheesecake with a hojicha to finish. Take the mochi hojicha cookie home for afters.
Hackney, E5 | Uchi Bake Instagram
Moko Made Café
If Uchi Bake has all the understated poise of machiya, then Moko Made is a contemporary living room decorated in Japanese pottery and homeware, the kind of cosy place you sit for hours with a book, refilling a pot of hojicha.
I can’t think of a better place to while away a rainy afternoon than at one of Moko Made’s wee tables, first snacking on umeboshi onigiri (pickled plum rice ball) and genmaicha (sencha tea with roasted rice) before eventually moving on to yuzu citrus cheesecake with classic matcha or hojicha.
Homewares, homecooking, and baked goods married with tea, like the matcha brownie and Earl Grey Swiss roll – it’s a home away from home.
Hoxton, E2 | Moko Made Instagram
Katsute 100
Katsute 100 draws in guests with the old-time-y feel of its tea salons and delectable treats like the croffle (croissant dough cooked in a waffle maker) with ice cream, the matcha Basque cheesecake, the crêpe cakes, and the seasonal treats like sakura chiffon cake and sakura matcha latte. I go for the excellent selection of nihoncha or Japanese teas.
It’s difficult not to order my favourite, hojicha, every time, but I do diversify my order depending on the sweets I’m indulging in. Sometimes I go for the toasty genmaicha or an umami sencha. As for those sweets, I love the yuzu financiers and Basque cheesecake.
Katsute 100 has locations in Brick Lane, Angel, Covent Garden, and Broadway Market – I can vouch for Brick Lane and Angel’s cosiness and have no doubt the other locations offer the same.
Various locations | Katsute 100 Instagram
Hachi
Hachi is where you go sweet or go home, except (again), the beauty of Japanese baked goods and pastries is that the sweetness is always well-balanced. The yuzu lemon tart with pillowy meringue and the yuzu Basque cheesecake paired with a hojicha latte, are both bliss. The honey toast made with shokupan hums with the buzz of busy bees – and speaking of shokupan, you can buy a whole loaf to take home.
The popular Notting Hill location shut its doors last winter with the promise of a new location this year. I’ve been keeping an eye on its Instagram (I don’t even use social media), like a wistful lover, eagerly awaiting the return of my beloved flaky pistachio New York roll.
New location forthcoming | Hachi Instagram
Sakurado Japanese Pâtisserie
Technically a pâtisserie rather than a bakery, but nobody likes a pedant.
I’ve only ever been to the Chinatown location which doesn’t offer much seating, so it’s where I procure a hojicha on the go or (most often) a jiggly cheesecake or a burnt Basque cheesecake or mochi to take home where I brew a pot of hojicha in my yokode kyusu and put the world to rights with my partner or best mate.
I can also vouch for the hojicha mille crêpe.
Chinatown, W1D, Covent Garden, WC2E & Kensington, SW7 | Sakurdo Instagram
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