Lotus

This iconic Tokyo café has been around for over 20 years and is still serving up some of the best food – both savoury and sweet – in Harajuku. The café looks deceivingly small from the outside, but once you’re in, you’ll discover an entire basement dedicated to table seating. There’s even a small retail area where you can purchase vinyl records, clothing and more. 

It’s difficult to choose just one dessert from the impressive display case. There’s a variety of housemade cakes and sweets like the Kuma Chocolate, a decadent bear-shaped brownie cake that’s served with ice cream, or the whole peach stuffed with custard cream, fresh strawberries and shortcake. 

For a savoury meal, we recommend the bara chirashi (chopped seafood) plate filled with plenty of seafood and veggies including ikura (salmon roe), shrimp, shiitake mushrooms and takenoko (bamboo shoots).