LeTAO Main Store — Restaurant in Otaru

Cafe is upstairs & could be accessed either by stairs or lift.

Don’t be deceived by a short or long queue. We were there during golden week & we were listed as 37th in line and were waiting for 30 minutes. Believe me people usually give up on queueing so number will go pretty fast.

Just go upstairs & take the paper token for a queue. Screens on both floors will display the number of queue. QR code is available to add and check the queue status.

• Set for one or two available. • Rule of thumb: 1 cake & 1 drink for each person.

We ordered a set of 3 cakes & 2 drinks. If you arrive in afternoon, just check if all the cakes are available. We wanted to order honey lemon tart but it was sold out. Next table ordered strawberry Mont Blanc but sorry we just took the last one.

• Double fromage - Original one. Tried frozen one from airport before. Of course, fresh from the place is way better. • Strawberry Mont Blanc - Seasonal offer. I found strawberry flavors pretty weak. Chestnut wins. • Chocolate double fromage - just okay for me. • Iced tea & hot coffee - nothing outstanding.

• Price - Set menu is pretty awesome & reasonable. • Worth waiting? - If you just sit & wait for longer than 30 minutes, no - not worth it. If you can stroll along the area to explore then come back in time for your queue like we did, then...

LeTAO’s main store in Otaru is a must-visit for anyone exploring the canal area. Their cafe above the store offers a delightful selection of beautifully plated desserts that are both visually appealing and tasty.

I ordered both of their shop-limited sets. I think their signature Double Fromage Cheesecake lived up to the hype in terms of its light and airy texture. The level of sweetness was just about right. The baked cheesecake had a more traditional, dense body, with a slightly caramelized top that added some depth. The chocolate cake was rich and overall satisfying, although I found the cream layers a bit too heavy for my taste.

While everything was delicious, it didn’t quite exceed my expectations (hence the 4/5 stars). Not to say the food was bad, but it just felt a bit “ordinary” and was just lacking something (that would make the difference between good and excellent!).

If you’re short on time, you can also grab takeaway items from the ground floor. But to fully appreciate the presentation and experience, I recommend actually taking the time to queue up and...

Very overrated ! The staff is very rude and the food tastes quite ordinary. I went there during Christmas so there are seasonal menus, the seasonal cakes weren’t that good. I feel like you can find a better ones at local convenient stores. The only good thing out of everything I ordered was the original cheesecake. The queuing system was very disorganised and confusing. At first we ordered in Japanese but while ordering the drinks we had a little trouble with reading the katakana’s in the Japanese menu, after that the staff asked whether we wanted an English menu or not. As soon as she returned with the English menu her tone and attitude changed. Even though it is a tourist spot and 80% of the costumers are tourists the service towards tourists is very poor. The cake that was served wasn’t in a very good shape, it had visible marks from the cake tongs. Even though we didn’t ask for a replacement, the staff should have checked the plate before serving it. Not satisfied and wouldn’t return for a...