Punini 金沢本店 — Restaurant in Kanazawa

A small cozy café on the outskirts of the Kanazawa station.

Upon entering we were greeted with smiles, pleasant music and a nice contrasting warmth to the cold rain and snow outside.

The place is small and offers a nice variety of hot drinks and small cakes, as well as a parfait and the recommended item: Coffee Jelly.

The employees were easily able to understand our english and communication was not a problem here. I ordered the recommended Coffee Jelly item and waited just a few minutes for it to arrive.

It was served on a cute bamboo plate next to a glass of icy cold water.

The Coffee Jelly itself was incredible. It has five distinct layers: A somewhat firm chocolatey first layer, it was somewhat bitter yet sweet. A velvety smooth chocolate mousse that had more texture than taste. A sweet and incredible crumble that both crumbled on bite and melted on the tongue. A strong, concentrated layer of coffee jelly that was practically drinkable. Finally, a small pudding topping that was somewhat sweet and sour.

Each layer was anywhere from fine to good on its own but the combination of all layers, tastes and textures in one bite was one of the single best bites of dessert I have ever tried. It was perfectly sweet and bitter with a coffee taste that wasn't overwhelming, buttery notes and a great chocolate aftertaste. I was amazed by the perfect balance of flavor and texture that this small, simple cup was able to provide.

I would absolutely recommend taking the 3 minute detour from Kanazawa station if you have the...

The store itself is very cute, but it's super tiny. Putting four couples in there would be a stretch, and the absolute max capacity of the place. The service is a bit slow but mostly due to the complexity of the dishes and the time needed to put all the components together. However, the whole experience was very enjoyable. We tried their seasonal parfait, and their mango punini cotta. The fruit parfait was delicious, had textural components and was visually stunning. The kiwi paired perfectly with it, a tart and acidic fruit cutting through the cream. The punini cotta had a unique texture which was a cross between mochi and cake, and was chewy. The mango was a syrup with a slight tartness to it, but the parfait was the real winner of the lot. I would definitely come again just to try the next seasonal...

Wonderful little shop and the employees were very nice to us. They had an English menu and were patient in dealing with us, two silly little tourists. Downside is there are only 4 seats. Anyways, pay them a visit. The cake was light and delicious and the drinks were good. I also enjoyed my hot lemonade immensely (sadly didn’t take a photo). The staff takes the time to take pulp out of the lemon, which made for a wonderful texture and added extra flavor. I would love to come...