Tokyo Banana: Fluffy Sponge Cake Famous as a Tokyo Souvenir
The other day I went to “Makuhari Messe (幕張メッセ)”, a convention center in the city of Chiba, by car to see a live concert of “Perfume”, a very popular Japanese techno-pop girl group, and that night I stayed at my friend’s house in Tokyo.
The next day I hung out with him and headed to Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, to eat a bowl of ramen by the popular ramen shop “Tomita (とみ田)“. After that, I parted from him and headed for home to Niigata. On the way home from Tokyo, on a highway I stopped at a rest stop in Saitama to buy gifts for my family and hometown friends.
Actually, standard Tokyo souvenirs are available at many rest stops in Tokyo’s neighboring prefectures. Since I had already decided what I wanted to buy, I looked for that Tokyo gift in the rest stop and was able to purchase it.
Tokyo Banana (東京ばな奈)
The Tokyo gift I grabbed there is this “Tokyo Banana (東京ばな奈)”. Tokyo Banana is a popular sponge cake Tokyo boasts which is filled with banana-flavored custard cream. In fact, it is one of the most popular Tokyo souvenirs favored by people of all ages in Japan.
Flavors
According to the official website of Tokyo Banana, currently (as of June 25, 2020) 3 flavors of Tokyo Banana sponge cake (Original, Honey Banana, Coffee Milk) are available.
As you can see in the photo, the flavor I chose at the rest stop in Saitama is the original one, and the original Tokyo Banana is a yellow banana-like-shaped sponge cake with a banana-flavored custard cream filling.
Features
The yellow sponge cake is really soft and fluffy, so accordingly, it is also light in texture and weight. In fact, you can easily cut it into half using both hands, and when it is divided into two pieces, as shown below you can see a custard cream filled in the cake.
While the sponge cake itself is sweetish, the custard cream inside is pretty sweet with a faint banana flavor. Thus, the overall cake has a very good taste balance and is delicious.
Conclusion
Every time I take Tokyo Banana home or give it to friends of mine as a Tokyo gift, the sweet treat definitely delights them, for the cake tastes great and they are very familiar with it. This time too, my family and friends were very satisfied with the fluffy sponge cake.
