Looking for a unique gift for your Valentine this year? Treat your sweetheart — or yourself — to one of these 12 amazing creations, all available in Tokyo.
Pomme d’Amour
Surprise and delight the apple of your eye with a playful Valentine’s Day dessert. This apple-shaped cake is made with a rich apple compote, encompassed in a creamy milk chocolate and caramel mousse coating.
Pomme d’Amour (¥1,100) is available at Park Hyatt‘s Pastry Boutique from Feb 2-14.
Chocolat et Petit Fleur
If you can’t decide between giving your loved one chocolate or art, why not kill two birds with one stone and buy Chocolat et Petit Fleur (that’s “chocolate and small flower” en francais)? Liberally scattered with decorative fruits, nuts, and edible flowers, this exclusive chocolate bar looks like a 3D painting, creating the perfect combination of artistic design and chocolatey goodness. It comes in milk chocolate and bitter chocolate, both using high-quality Belgian chocolate sourced from Callebaut. The milk chocolate bar is topped with a scattering of walnuts, pistachio, and hazelnuts, while the bitter chocolate bar has freeze-dried strawberries, raspberries, and cacao nib flakes.
Chocolat et Petit Fleur is available in small (¥800) and large (¥1,400) sizes at the Rihga Royal Hotel Tokyo from Jan 13-Feb 14.
Palette
Limited to 100 pieces, this exclusive creation is for chocolate lovers and artists alike. Every piece of this delightful set is edible! The palette is made from fine dark chocolate, while the colorful “paints” are chocolate coated in an array of different colors. The paint tube contains a creamy hazelnut paste, and even the paintbrush itself is ready to be eaten! This artistic chocolate available until White Day in March.
Palette (¥4,200) is available at Palace Hotel Tokyo from Feb 1-Mar 18.
Valentine Peninsula Bear
This wee little hotel mascot is waiting for you to say you’ll be his Valentine! This irresistible chocolate treat comes in two flavors – milk and sweet chocolate – and is full of surprises. The little heart on his uniform is a delicious praline, and lying at his feet you’ll find a selection of strawberry truffles. Although it may seem cruel to bite the little tyke’s head off, we guarantee it’s worth it, as there’s a surprise waiting for you inside! Pry him open to uncover 15 mini bear chocolates in white, milk, and sweet chocolate flavors. This painstakingly detailed dessert will be sure to delight your Valentine — or take his place if you don’t have one.
Valentine Peninsula Bear (¥6,250) is available at Hotel Peninsula Tokyo‘s Boutique and Cafe until Feb 14.
Coffret au Chocolat
A chocoholic’s dream: handmade chocolate that comes in a box … made of chocolate. The patissier behind this genius creation, Toru Suzuki, trained at Gross, a famous chocolatier company in Alsace, France. Multiple versions of the theme are available — smaller, heart-shaped boxes (pictured top image), as well as premium boxes with a larger variety of chocolates inside. For White Day, there will be a Coffret aux Fraises, featuring white chocolate with strawberry accents.
Coffret au Chocolat (¥3,132) is available at Pierre from before Valentine’s Day until early spring.
Break My Heart
Break a heart this Valentine — ideally with a small metal hammer. This vivid red heart is the innovative creation of Bubo Barcelona, a Spanish patissier that likes to break the mold. Break the dark chocolate heart with its accompanying hammer to reveal three types of color heart bonbons inside in brownie, macadamia, and pop rock flavors. Perfect for the in love and lovelorn alike.
Break My Heart (¥8,100) is available at Bubo Barcelona Omotesando Store, Isetan Shinjuku, and Mitsukoshi Ginza until further notice.
Dango au Chocolat
Patissier Pommier creates the ultimate wafu chocolate in the form of dango au chocolat. These decadent treats come in raspberry, sesame, and matcha chocolate flavors. Pair with hot matcha or hojicha and let them melt in your mouth as you savor each individual flavor.
Dango au Chocolat (¥2,970) is available at Matsuya Ginza‘s Valentine Avenue event on the 8th floor from Jan 31-Feb 14.
Okada Museum Chocolate: Utamaro’s Fukagawa no Yuki
Buy (chocolate) art inspired by the great ukiyo-e artist Utamaro Kitagawa. This chocolate is inspired by an ukiyo-e print that was rediscovered as recently as 2014, featuring a snowscape and beautiful Edo period women. (If you’re not keen on chocolate, you can make your own woodblock prints instead). The box set comes in two layers, with the top layer consisting of four chocolates in fascinating flavor combinations: sweet potato and black sesame, cream cheese and berry rose, almond milk and dry apricot, and finally, gorgonzola and bacon chips. The second layer offers up exotic fusions of pistachio and cinnamon, yuzu and fresh basil, white truffle and hot pepper, and chestnut and Matsutake mushroom.
Utamaro’s Fukagawa no Yuki chocolate box (¥4,801) is available on the 7th floor of Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store and at Okada Museum of Art‘s gift shop from Jan 31-Feb 14.
Chocolat a Maquiller Set
Don’t be deceived as this is not really a lipstick and blush set — it’s actually a delicious and creamy chocolate! Designed by chocolatier Sébastien Bouillet, this playful duo looks just like the real thing. Use this “make-up” to amaze and amuse, or to enjoy playing pranks on friends and family.
Chocolat a Maquiller Set (¥2,484) is available at Matsuya Ginza‘s Valentine Avenue event on the 8th floor from Jan 31-Feb 14.
Promenade en Amoureux
The Mandarin Oriental Tokyo follows the theme of “love speaks” for this year’s Valentine’s Day celebrations. When actions speak louder than words, this cute gentleman and lady cake pair speak volumes. Literally attached to each other, this cake invokes images of a young couple in love taking an afternoon stroll in a park. Each sphere dons a little hat for that extra sophisticated touch. This cake duo is available until White Day.
Promenade en Amoureux (¥1,000) is available at Mandarin Oriental‘s Gourmet Shop from Jan 14-Mar 14.
Valentine Soft
Head over to Tokyo Skytree Solamachi for a fabulous soft-serve ice cream treat that features the landmark itself. Fragrant hojicha soft-serve takes the main stage in this epic ice cream tale, supported by a cocoa waffle cone and decorated with pieces of chocolate brownies. Raspberry cream mousse and raspberry gummy hearts add a little bit of sour tartness to balance the flavors out. For the finale, there’s a surprise appearance by some raspberry white chocolate mousse deep inside the cone — well worth the wait.
Valentine Soft (¥600) is available at Gion Tsujiri Skytree Town Solamachi Store until Feb 14.
Shogi de Chocolat
Shogi, often referred to as Japanese chess, was already a battle of minds — it’s now also a battle of the stomach. While this chocolate set of shogi pieces isn’t perhaps the best thing to learn how to play with (pieces are liable to mysteriously go missing during the game), they make a great gift for a shogi fan. A full set of 40 pieces (20 white chocolate, 20 milk chocolate) is available for those prepared to devour the game, while smaller collections of eight are the perfect midgame snack to creep out your opponent.
40-piece Shogi de Chocolat Set (¥10,000) and Shogi de Chocolat (¥1,400) are available via Isshindo Honpo’s webshop
What are your plans for Valentine’s Day? Will you celebrate it or ignore it?