In the second week of November 2019, we were in Osaka for the second leg of our Japan trip. Pastries weren’t exactly on our list of “must eat” but, everytime we had coffee or tea (and we’re coffee and tea people in the family), there was always a parade of cakes and pastries, and we ended up ordering more sweets than hot drinks.
But the best cakes and pastries we had during the trip was at a place that was completely out of my radar. We just had lunch and we were looking for Hozenji Temple which, according to Google maps, was on a narrow street near Dotonbori.
Well, to be more accurate, it was the street, Hozenji Yokocho, that we were looking for and Hozenji Temple was the landmark. The street, I had read, gives a glimpse of what Osaka looked like hundreds of years ago. An old street with quaint shops and restaurants.
Who wouldn’t want to capture an atmosphere like that in photos? We tried to do that in Gion days earlier but it was late, there weren’t enough street lights to take good photos although, the way she lagged behind so often, I think that my older daughter, Sam, managed to do so somehow.
To make a long story short, we never found Hozenji Temple. Walking along a stone-paved street (I’m not even sure we were in Hozenji Yokocho), we passed by a shop selling tea and my younger daughter, Alex, the supreme tea aficionado, wanted to go in. Salon de the Alcyon.
While Alex was checking out the tea for sale, I was already fixated on the cakes and pastries. I suggested an early afternoon tea.
We climbed up to the second floor where the tea house was. Unlike traditional Japanese tea houses, Salon de the Alcyon had a very European feel.
It was dizzying how many tea flavors there were. In addition to the usual white, green or black, each tea variety came in an array of flavors. Floral, fruity, herby…
The teacups and the fact that sugar was served on the side was reminiscent of English tea. The cakes, meanwhile, were very much French in influence.
There are very few places where everything is perfect. The food, the drinks, the service, the ambience. Salon de The Alcyon has it all.
Bún cà-ri in Ho Chi Minh City
