in Ikebukuro, Tokyo
The BOX cafe&space in Ikebukuro is holding a popup Korilakkuma and Chairoikoguma cafe until the end of March. The cafe features friends of the popular San-X bear character, Rilakkuma. Korilakkuma is a tiny, white, mischievous bear. Like Rilakkuma, it is implied that the character is wearing a bear suit and thus may not be a real bear. Korilakkuma has a red button on its chest, while Rilakkuma has a zipper on the back. Korilakkuma loves strawberries and hardcore music. Chairoikoguma is also friends with Rilakkuma, and it is assumed to be a real bear. He apparently smells like honey and is known for always having honey on his rear.
My Experience
We booked reservations online and visited the cafe on the weekend. We went during the first time slot of the day, so it wasn't that crowded! The exterior had monitors displaying pictures of Korilakkuma and Chairoikoguma. The interior also had around 3 projectors playing various adorable clips of Rilakkuma on the wall, along with various posters and art. They gave us a QR code for the site where we could place our orders. We had to order everything at once, but we could specify when we wanted our dish to be served (i.e. if you want the dessert to come out the same time as the main dishes or after). We also received an adorable post card for each menu item we ordered.
Korilakkuma Plate
The Korilakkuma Plate came with fresh salad with pink dressing, which I think was caesar dressing, on the side, two mini sandwich rolls filled with ham, spaghetti salad, and strawberry jam, and a meat pie filled with eggplant, meatloaf, tomato, and cheese, topped with mashed potatoes decorated like Korilakkuma. The meat pie or meat pie-like dish was actually quite good! The pie shell was very hard though so it took some time to cut through. I did enjoy the inside of the pie. The meatloaf, or maybe hamburger, bits were yummy! It tasted kind of like pasta sauce with meatloaf and eggplant. I will say the strawberry ham sandwiches were an interesting combo. I didn't hate the jam and ham mix, but the spaghetti pasta gave it an interesting texture.
Chairoikoguma Plate
The Chairoikoguma Plate was exactly the same as the Korilakkuma plate except for the color of the mashed potatoes on top of the meat pie, and the mini sandwich rolls. The mini sandwich rolls were filled with ham, pumpkin, and honey. I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin in sandwiches but the rolls weren't bad at all!
Amaama Plate (Korilakkuma)
The Amaama Plate came with two bite sized pastries, a really tiny parfait, and pancakes. One of the bite-sized pastries was cheesecake, and the other was banana and strawberry on a graham cracker, topped with purple icing. The mini parfait had a fruit jelly, some sort of icing or cream, and corn flakes at the bottom. There were two pancakes covered in icing and a cheesecake-like mousse on top decorated like Korilakkuma. Overall I enjoyed the desserts! I was happy the pastries and pancake weren't too big, because some restaurants in Japan serve massive pancakes!
Korilakkuma Strawberry Milk Tea
The Korilakkuma Strawberry Milk Tea was quite good! It was sweet milk tea served with strawberry syrup and chunks at the bottom. It tasted exactly like strawberry flavored milk tea!
Kumanbachi Honey Lemon Drink
The Kumanbachi Honey Lemon Drink was like a sweet honey lemon juice. It basically tasted like a mild lemonade, which was very refreshing!
Overall the restaurant had a very cute vibe and I loved the designs of the food and drinks. There wasn't a large menu selection here, but the food was cute and pretty good taste-wise for character cafe food. The portion sizes aren't huge, but it still surprisingly fills you up! There is also a tiny gift shop area by the register where you can purchase limited-time cafe goods. I highly recommend visiting this cafe if you're a Rilakkuma fan!
Official Site
Address
BOX cafe&space, Matsumoto Kiyoshi Ikebukuro Part2 4F
1-22-8 Higashiikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 170-0013
Access
Ikebukuro station (JR, Tokyo Metro) - 5 min walk
Higashiikebukuro station (Tokyo Metro) - 7 min walk
Dates
February 2, 2024 - March 31, 2024
Time
10:00 - 21:00
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