Tokyo Banana is the official souvenir sweet of Tokyo, with millions of foreigners bringing a pack home each year, but are they actually good?
Tokyo Banana is a favorite for tourists and locals alike, selling delicious banana-shaped desserts in the form of souvenirs at gift shops and shopping stalls.
They are typically bought for the sake of gifting loved ones when returning from a long journey, as you typically have to be on the move through Japan’s major destinations to find them.
Where To Find Tokyo Banana?
On that note, you’ll typically find Tokyo Banana at airports and major train stations across Japan (not just in Tokyo) usually in the form of an outlet in a shopping area.
Other places you can find Tokyo Banana outlets are in popular tourist destinations such as Tokyo Tower near Roppongi, which is where I was when I tried it for the first time.
Neatly Packaged
You can buy a box of four for under 600 yen, which is a pretty affordable price considering the hype and popularity around these delicacies.
Tokyo Banana is denoted by its iconic logo of a banana with a ribbon tied at the top.
The box is nicely presented with a yellow theme that stays true to the whole banana gimmick and there is some warmly written text that seems to be directed at visitors to Japan.
All-in-all, it’s easy to see why Tokyo Banana would make a great gift for your loved ones back home, as it truly has the appearance of a Japan-exclusive product.
What’s In The Box?
Inside the box of the 4-in-1 deal are, well, four Tokyo Bananas individually wrapped and neatly stacked together.
There is also a pamphlet that I absolutely could not understand due to a lack of English translation (it was probably more warmly written words).
At this point, I could give this cheap but fancy souvenir a solid 10 out of 10 for presentation.
The real question now was, does it taste as good as it looks?
Wait, That’s Not A Banana!
Yup, you read that right. The infamous Tokyo Banana is not even a banana! In fact, there is very little to suggest it has anything to do with bananas at all.
Tokyo Banana is, in fact, a banana-shaped sponge cake with a custard filling.
Other than the shape of the cake and the custard filling which somewhat resembled a banana flavor, there were little to no bananas involved in this dessert whatsoever.
Now, does that make it a bad and overrated dessert? Not necessarily. It was still quite a unique combination of textures and flavors with a light banana aroma.
However, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t a little disappointed, especially since I was expecting to eat an actual fruit as part of this delicacy.
All things considered, Tokyo Banana is still worth trying if you come across it, though I personally wouldn’t go out of my way for it.
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