Dalloyau

A posh looking place in a posh ward in Tokyo. Heads up: it’s located next to Uniqlo.
I came here in search of the cake buffet but there didn’t seem be any signs of cake buffet-​like goodness and the language barrier between me and the staff didn’t really help. For all I know, there was still the cake buffet but I can’t really read Japanese, so there’s that. I ended up getting the opera parfait and a café au au lait (bad pair? Not as much as you’d think). It was delicious and very nicely prepared.
I eat fairly slow but wasn’t rushed or anything. Oh, they also don’t have English menus so the pics are a huge help. Best of luck with trying to order and enjoy your sweet food (they have lunch/​dinner options as well).

Regarding to the lunch course, not too greasy, lightly flavored, moderate portion, pretty decent service, and inexpensive. It satisfied me completely. One more helpful item information for a tourist, they have free wifi! You should ask floor stuff if you want to use the wifi. In the past, I’d sometimes visited DALLOYAU in Paris which is close to Franklin Delano Roosevelt Av, treating myself to a sumptuous and delicious delicatessen dinner after a hard day’s work. In the same way as that, I’d had a lunch many times at former DALLOYAU in Ginza which was located in Ginza 1-​chome station. I also really loved the former Tokyo DALLOYAU even though it wasn’t the same taste as in Paris. On Saturday afternoon, the women’s customer ratio is quite high, same as before. Some of them dining alone. I ordered a lunch course which includes appetizer, tea, coffee or glass of wine. The three kinds of bread in a basket were toasted crisply. Whereas Boulangerie Paul and Maison Kayser’s bread taste excellent and dependable, it was just fairly or acceptable. The appetizer and main dish were served with impeccable timing and attentive service. It tasted good enough for me though not sure for people who prefer a robust flavored French cuisine. The dessert tasted not too sweet and lovely mild delicate flavor. To die for! Way different from American or French one. Way to go, Japanese French cake! Overall, their dishes must be adopted for Japanese taste. My only beef is the boiled down coffee or just colored hot water tea served with the lunch course. The coffee and tea served at lunch has never been good. But it’s OK for me since I don’t have an expectation for that. It’s astonishing really, the waitstaff are quite hospitable and provide great service even though they can not get any tip. How do the Japanese make it without tips?! FYI, they have cake buffet on weekday for ¥2,800(includes tax). If you’re craving a bunch of cakes, you should make a reservation for it. They never let you down, I can tell.

A little traditional Japanese sweets shop selling a bunch of mochis. Our attention was caught by a red bean filling mochi with a strawberry in the center. It was 280 yen, which is a little pricey, but the mochi was so tender and the strawberry so softly sweet that I could have another and then another.

Another example of why the No1DP is a great BF: taking me to Dalloyau.
Trivia: Dalloyau is a great Parisian house known for their pastries, their most famous being opera gâteau. I was introduced to opera cake during a trip to Paris quite a long time ago, but I never knew until recently that it was this house that popularized this pastry.
On my first trip to the Ginza I stumbled across this place. No1DP suggested having a light snack before dinner several hours later, as dinner was going to be light.
There are two floors of Dalloyau. The first floor is where their chocolates, pastries and cakes are sold. If you are lucky you can also see the various pastries being made. If you go up a narrow set of stairs you are taken to the tea salon. A window overlooks the streets of the Ginza.
The No1DP and I did our tea service French style: tea and a choice of a pastry from 6 pastries. Don’t be like me and think that your service comes with all 6 pastries. The No1DP and the guy serving us were pretty amused.
We both got a pot of their Earl Grey (~3 servings), which is the best Earl Grey I’ve ever had. There was no cream, so with one to two small bricks of their brown sugar was just an added sweet touch. It was a great combination of the smoothness of the tea leaves and just enough citrus to flavor the tea. The tea is served in china with tea strainers that are placed in the cup as the tea is brewed with the leaves inside.
Me: I got their famous opera gâteau served with raspberry sorbet and dressed with a touch of raspberry sauce and almonds. The opera is not too rich and goes really well with the tea. The gâteau is smooth and somewhat nutty by itself, the almonds gave it an additional slightly crunchy texture. The cake, coffee, buttercream and chocolate ganache were blended nicely. No wonder this is considered the gold standard for opera gâteau. No1DP didn’t enjoy it as much but he doesn’t really like coffee or coffee flavors.
No1DP: Being more of the chocoholic than I am, he chose the chocolate mousse pastry dressed with the same fixings. The mousse was firm enough to hold its shape but just dissolved in your mouth. The mousse had a bit of buttercream and subtle nutty paste that also was in the opera. I enjoyed the two bites I had of it.
I look forward to trying more of Dalloyau, especially its original locations around Paris. Hope that the No1DP can join me when that happens.