hocus pocus — Restaurant in Tokyo

Hands down, one of the best donuts in Tokyo I’ve tasted thus far! Located within walking distance from the Nagatacho Station near the National Diet Building, this store offers steamed and baked donuts on a higher price range than your regular donuts. What I loved about the place is not so much the fancy ambiance (ie three donuts of each flavor behind a glass case, the server will cut up a small piece for you to sample. But they are a welcome service nonetheless), but more of the combination of flavors you probably won’t find elsewhere.

I had a baked lemon and blue poppy seed donut which had that zesty and refreshing feel which ended with a bit of crunchy bite due to the poppy seed. I also had the steamed Belgian Chocolate which was divine! Because they were so good, I bought another two to-go. I’d recommend the Matcha Mochi and Japanese pepper, Red Cheese and Black Sesame donuts. As you can see the flavors are not the ones you can find at other donuts shop. I also loved the service given by the staffs, they were super welcoming and accommodating. They really know their stuff well! The cafe latte I had was so-so and they had a number of tables for dine in. I’d definitely pay...

these are mostly steam/baked doughnuts, that are more like doughnut shaped cakes, not the typical fried bready ones. bought a selection, rum currants, framboise chocolate, orange cointreau, pistachio with white chocolate, lime poppy seeds, mint chocolate. they had more selection. the orange cointreau and mint chocolate were moist but the rest were kind of dry. Delicious if doughnut shaped cakes are your thing. the wait outside in a queue was 40 min around noon on a public holiday, as they only let inside one group at a time, which is sensible given the situation. the shop has a nice open relaxed ambiance and outside seatings surrounded by garden in a quiet neighbourhood. the doughnuts are priced about JPY 490-500 each. on the logistics side, the shop needs to have a detailed menu online or on the site for those customers waiting in queue so they know ahead of the time which ones to buy and not have to wait for customers to make up their mind from a variety of selections who only come to see the choices once they are invited...

An overall very tasty, high quality donut place with more of a patisserie approach to the traditional donuts and coffee - but with patisserie prices too.

Located close to Nagatacho station, and thus several universities and the National Diet Library. A very upscale neighborhood in Chiyoda, so the image of simple linea and green enclosed interior fits well. The prices reflect the fancier locale as well, which is a bit of a weird feeling for a place that sells what should be cheaper fare - donuts.

That said, hocus pocus' take on the good old fashioned done is a fanciful one with rich cake like texture achieved by baking rather than deep frying. With that, the donuts manage to avoid any feeling of oiliness that comes with some donut places. The coffee is noteworthy as well, with their iced being especially fruit-forward in flavor.

Overall I will be back, though maybe as a treat with friends instead of as a...