Sweets & Deli, Palace Hotel Tokyo

Sweets & Deli on the basement level of the Palace Hotel Tokyo is the hotel counter the city measures others by: the strawberry shortcake, the seasonal cakes, the breads and the chocolates of the palace kitchen at Marunouchi prices.

The counter opened with the rebuilt hotel in 2012 and quickly became a Marunouchi institution: office workers at lunch, connoisseurs at four, and a queue in the strawberry season. The hotel’s pastry kitchen sells its classics, the strawberry shortcake, the Mont-Blanc in autumn, the seasonal fruit tarts, beside breads, sandwiches and chocolates. Everything is boxed with the Japanese exactness of the house and an ice pack sized to your journey.

Prices are below Paris and the quality is not; Sweets & Deli is the argument for Tokyo as the best hotel-counter city in the world.

What to buy

• The strawberry shortcake
• The Mont-Blanc in autumn
• The seasonal fruit tart
• The chocolates