Premarché Gelateria & Alternative Junk — Restaurant in Tokyo

There are quite a lot of flavours to choose from here, and the labelling is very clear as to which ones are vegan (about 8 or so are), which ones are “beegan” (i.e. contain honey but no milk or egg), and which allergens each one contains. The ordering system is a little odd; first you go to the till and request the number of scoops, cup vs cone and even the type of spoon (plastic vs wooden). You then get given a number and a slip which you hand over to the workers behind the ice-cream counter, at which point you tell them which flavour(s) you want. You then sit and wait for your number to come up, at which point you finally get the ice-cream. It felt a little convoluted, especially when one of the flavours I requested turned out to be a “premium” one, meaning that I then had to supply an additional 100 yen at this point (having already otherwise paid). Anyway, the ice cream itself was pretty good. We tried several flavours between us, and some were better than others. The pistachio was nice, with quite a strong flavour, while the (roast rice caramel?) was a little disappointing. Overall I’d say that this place isn’t a bad place by any means, but wasn’t the best vegan ice cream I had in...

Walking past this gelato shop in Tokyo, we noticed a sign claiming they had the '3rd best gelato in the world!' - naturally, we had to check it out.

Well, I hate to say it, but I was pretty underwhelmed. While the price point suggests premium quality, the gelato itself was just... okay? Maybe by Tokyo standards it's exceptional, but coming from Europe, I found it rather mediocre.

The flavor descriptions sounded amazing and creative on the menu, but the actual taste didn't live up to the hype. I was particularly disappointed with the pistachio flavor - while you could taste the pistachio, it was too artificial compared to the authentic gelato I'm used to in Europe.

I appreciate the effort they put into marketing and presentation, but I expected much more from a place claiming to be among the world's best.

They're offering free gelato for...

This place has the most delicious gelato. Home made. Interesting flavors.

It loses a star because it's basically never open. When do people want gelato? Dessert. After dinner. When does it close? Dinner time. Ridiculous. It's like they don't want to make money. Nobody is going to buy gelato in that neighborhood at 3pm on a Tuesday, especially in the winter. Open later if you have to, but definitely close later. 11pm is a good closing time. Can still get last train.

Update: years later and they still close early. So, even though I want their gelato, I can never get it. They are just really really really stupid when it comes to business. Just trust me -- stay open later. Instead, I'm going to Ouca in Ebisu along with EVERYONE else. You're just losing business for no...