Coisof, Tokyo

I have a new reason to visit Japan.  Not sushi.  Not high end Michelin star dining.  I've done those things before.  No my reason now is ice cream.  Soft serve ice cream to be exact.   Because like seemingly many things, it turns out, Japan has perfected this too.

Tokyo is home to some really incredible soft serve (although both my favorites from my last trip, Silkream and Mother Milk Farm, have closed), where the soft serve is just sooo perfectly creamy and rich.  On my visit in August 2019, I was determined to have as much incredible soft serve as possible.  I of course had some misses (Ministop, TP Tea), but I also had some major hits.  Like Coisof.

Coisof came to the top of my list after some pretty extensive research, and a lot of time spent drooling over Instagram photos.  I was very excited to check it out, although it had just moved across town.

It was among the best I've ever had.  Highly recommend.  I went twice.  In 3 days.

Original Review, August 2019

Re:Dine Ginza.

Coisif is located (co-located?) with re:Dine Ginza, an actual restaurant.  The ice cream shop doesn't actually have any dedicated space, so I was seated just alongside diners.

Seating.

Everyone else was there eating dinner, and enjoying the all you can drink wine buffet (fixed fee, you just get to get up and pour yourself wine all night from the selection in the front).  They all looked like they were having fun, but it was a bit distracting to have people getting up from their tables basically nonstop to go get more and more wine.

Anyway.  It is a large restaurant, quite open, casual.

I didn't get a photo, but there is also a coffee place on the side, also seeming to share the space.  When I asked for a drink menu, I was given a menu for the cofffee place as well.

Soft Serve Parfaits!

I already knew what I was there for, but, I was glad to see the signs clearly displayed at the front, letting me know I was in the right place.

The full menu lineup at Coisof is not large.  Two flavors of soft serve, milk or cocoa black sesame, both available in a cone.  Plus 3 different parfaits.  That is it.

The parfait options are lemon (with milk base, lemon components, and, um, cheesecake), strawberry (also milk base, fresh berries, berry compote, and cake), and a "rich rich black coi parfait (black sesame base, garnished with cookies and brownies).  The parfaits all come with an optional liquor pairing.

I knew the black sesame had cocoa powder (and activated charcoal) in it, otherwise I really would have gotten it, but alas, it was evening, and I was avoiding caffeine.

I had a hard time deciding between the lemon and strawberry versions, given that I don't usually care for lemon desserts, but, I wasn't in the mood for fruity berries or the cake base, so, lemon it was.

I thought I ordered the liquor pairing, but alas, I guess I didn't.

Chardonnay. 700yen.

The menu instructed me to ask for a wine list.  So I did.  I was told they didn't have one.  Hmm.

I had the English speaking server at this point, and he asked what kind of wine I liked.  I suggested white wine (wanting, something light to pair with my summery dessert), and then I said, "chardonnay"?

A screw cap from New Zealand was brought over.

It wasn't very good.  Harsh. Acidic.  I didn't finish it.  It cost ~$7.

Lemon cheese coi parfait. 1000yen.

"A coi parfait with a bright yellow color reminiscent of the summer sun. Concentrated rich milk with Setouchi lemon jelly and fresh sour cream for a rich but refreshing flavor. Accented with cinnamon crunch and white chocolate, it has an adult taste. Please enjoy a slightly different adult flavor by wearing a ginger liqueur as you like."

Ok, so that description clearly went through Google translate.  But that is what I had to work with, besides the numerous Instagram photos I had seen of course.

Speaking of Instagram photos, and menu photos ... yes, this parfait looked *exactly* like the picture perfect images I had seen.  I mean, really.  It was gorgeous.  Almost too pretty to eat.

But of course I ate it.  Devoured.  Tried to slow down and savor but had to really force myself to put my spoon down, stop, take a sip of not very good wine.  Because it was truly delicious.

The soft serve was the star, no question.  Perfectly smooth, perfectly rich, fabulous milk flavor.  It was as good as any other top soft serve I've ever had.  Just, fabulous.  It would be fabulous just alone, but made into this parfait it became even more stunning.

Toppings. 

On top was a crumble of some sort, seemed to be cookie biscuits.  I liked the crunch, but didn't necessarily love the crumble itself, the cinnamon flavor wasn't quite what I wanted.  But minor downside to an otherwise incredible creation.

The white chocolate was a bit of sweet against the sour found in the lemon drizzle.  It almost tasted more yuzu than lemon?  Which I mostly just mean it was fairly complex.

Lining the parfait glass were three slices of candied lemon as well, which was very tasty, and the sweet and sour flavors worked well with the soft serve.  I liked the texture these added too, chewy, yet soft.  Don't be afraid of eating the lemon peel!

There were a lot of good things going on here - perfect soft serve, crunch and chew, sweet and sour.

But then, there was more ...

Cheesecake?!

Yes, it was garnished with a petite slice of cheesecake!!!

This may seem like an over the top Instagram move, but, realize this wasn't a huge parfait, and it wasn't a monster cake slice sticking out the side, like so many of those sorts of creations are (you know what I'm talking about, the elaborate milkshakes that are enough for 3 people just the shakes, and then they have mega slices of layer cake on the rim?  Freakshakes they call them?).  This was not that.  It really was not over the top, I promise.

The cake slice was mostly great.  The base was a thin layer of sponge cake, and that part I wasn't really into, but the cheesecake itself was smooth, rich, and tasted strongly of sour cream, which was another good balancing flavor to the soft serve.

A full slice of cheesecake would be quite pleasing on its own, and I bet it would be great just drizzled with the lemon stuffs too.

It did add to this dessert eating experience, even if it is a bit odd to have a cheesecake with your soft serve.  It works, trust me.

Update Review: 3 Days Later ...

One of my first days in Tokyo I discovered Coisof, and truly loved the lemon parfait.  Even though I had a long list of other places to visit, I couldn't get that parfait out of my mind, and I wanted to try another.

So I trekked back to Ginza, just to get another, a few days later.  Sadly, it disappointed me immensely.

Strawberry Coi Parfait. With liquor. 1200 yen.

"A milk parfait inspired by a short cake. A lot of sweet and sour fresh strawberries in the soft and full of sweetness and sweetness of rich milk from Hokkaido. Finish with a cherry liqueur "Kirsch" dyed in bright red with mixed berries."

Well, this just didn't live up to the lemon one.  At all.  Not only was it not amazing, I actually just didn't like it.

The ice cream was still good of course, but the berries weren't fresh - the two on top were glazed and mushy, and the ones under the ice cream were frozen?  The cake at the base was not a shortcake as the name implied, but rather just a kinda boring cake, that disintegrated in the ice cream and turned into mush.

Liquor with Berries.

This time I did get the liquor on the side, but ... I didn't like that either.  It had some sour little berries in it, and was otherwise sour too.  It didn't compliment the ice cream at all.

Salvaged?

I was extremely saddened by the cake, berries, and sauce, but at least I had some emergency sprinkles in my bag, and I was able to enjoy my ice cream a bit that way.

Wow, what a difference from the lemon one, that is all I have to say.