Iwakuni Foodie

Chocolaterie Cacaoka Hiroshima is nestled in a busy part of Itsukaichi, in a lovely old house that has been renovated.

I was in love with this cake and chocolate shop before I even walked through the door. I have a thing for old Japanese houses with lovely gardens.

The entrance is very nice, and they have different cacao bits from different areas to sample. The ones in the photo below are cacao beans from Peru.

Then I walked in and saw the display case full of cakes. Beautiful cakes. Cakes that looked so delicious. Cakes. I was in my happy place.

It was so hard to decide, but luckily I went with two friends who also couldn’t decide so we ordered four different cakes to share. In hindsight, four cakes may have been a little ambitious. The logical side of me said three cakes to share would be enough, but the greedy side said we could eat four with no problem. I swear I had a major sugar buzz after we were done. Maybe I should have listened to my logical side.

This white tiramisu caught our attention as soon as we walked up to the display case and became our first choice. It was light and it was delicious. Pretty to look at too! I was also in love with the forks here.

This Mont Blanc was delightful. The chestnut cream was really good, but what really got me was the unexpected surprise in the middle. There was a little dollop of what looked like a citrus marmalade inside. It went so well with the chestnut and whipped cream.

So, we knew we had to order the cheesecake. Cheesecake is always a must. Right? This cheesecake ended up being our absolute favorite out of the four cakes we tried.

The cake next to it is a mango mousse cake. I couldn’t taste the mango at first. It was good, but the chocolate bottom kind of overpowered the mango flavor. When I ate the mousse by itself, I could taste the mango. It was really good so I wish the bottom portion was made with something a little lighter in flavor.

The drinks are interesting. I wanted some coffee to enjoy with my cake, but when I looked over the drink menu I didn’t see coffee anywhere. Then I saw “Cacao coffee” on the menu, and asked what it was. The lady behind the counter explained that it was a coffee made with a blend of cacao beans and coffee beans. Sounds good to me! One of my friends asked about the matcha on the menu, and the lady explained that it is a matcha and cacao blend. My friend even got to choose which cacao she wanted to blend with her matcha, and she went with cacao from Ghana. My friend let me try her drink and ohhhh my….. I know what I’m getting next time! My cacao coffee was good too. Smooth and not sweet at all, so it went well with all of the cakes I ate.

Drinks are ordered and paid for at a different counter, after you choose and pay for the cakes you want to eat there.

If chocolates are more your thing, they are located in the back, next to the seating area. The chocolates are pretty and come in many different flavors. I also think these beauties would make a lovely gift.

The seating area is nice, but not very big. Some of the seats have great views of the garden. Unfortunately, I did not get any decent shots of the seating area, or of the garden. I guess this means I need to go back!

It took us less than an hour to get to Chocolaterie Cacaoka by car, and they do have a small parking lot. If you plan to go on the weekend though, be prepared for a crowd. From what I’ve heard, it gets crowded early and stays that way pretty much all day. We went on a weekday afternoon and although it wasn’t too busy when we got there, it was packed when we left.

Chocolaterie Cacaoka is also located near the Japan Mint (Hiroshima Branch). The Japan Mint has a variety of cherry blossoms trees on their grounds, and every year they open it up to the public so everyone can enjoy the beautiful flowers. It could be a beautiful way to walk off a delicious piece of cake from Cacaoka.

Here is the link to the Japan Mint website. They’ll post the dates they will be open here. – https://www.mint.go.jp/enjoy-eng/sakura-eng/eng-viewing-intro.html

Here is the pin for Chocolaterie Cacoka Hiroshima – https://goo.gl/maps/UYbSLBQrFpH2

Here is the pin for the Japan Mint in Hiroshima – https://goo.gl/maps/b8gBSzC641T2

There is no parking available at the Japan Mint and the parking at Cacaoka is very limited, but there are some pay parking lots in the area. It is a pretty short walk to Cacaoka from the Mint.