Things that caught my eye this week – Lamingtons in Japan
This week was kinda slow because of Obon, doubly so because I don’t get public holidays off or summer holidays, but most of Japan is on break mode.
Still, I made the most of it, and while doing some random searches, I found via Japanese news (1) and (2) that lamingtons and flat white drinks are becoming more popular, largely thanks to last year’s Osaka Expo and Japanese working holiday returnees. I did notice more places serving both over the past few months, so the news articles confirmed it is ~trendy~.
To get a better idea of the popularity of the lamington, I decided to do a search about it on Xitter and found out that a chain store called Lopia was selling lamingtons nationwide for about 400 yen. I had never heard of Lopia until now, but from their site I found out there was a store near Kyoto Station, so I decided to go.
The store was a bit hard to navigate; I first explored the desserts section but couldn’t find it, so I decided to explore every section and almost gave up – until I reached the cheese section and found it! The sign also doesn’t help so much; it says lemon curd, which is the filling of the lamington, not the actual name of the food… Since it was around 7 pm, it was discounted by 30%. It seems they try to sell their items by the end of the day.
I also came across New Zealand ice cream Hokey Pokey. It’s an interesting store overall, with some items being cheaper than main grocery stores.
Taste Test
Usually, a lot of times when I’ve had lamingtons here, they’re pretty dry; I assume a lot of places probably don’t make them daily or perhaps keep them in freezers. However, these lamingtons were very soft but not moist! They weren’t too different from something I’d get at a shopping center bakery in Sydney. Sydney ones tend to be a bit bigger and have slightly more flavour, but it was enough to get the job done!
Over the past months, too, I’ve seen stores get creative with lamington flavours, for example serving lamington latte or lamington kakigori (shaved ice), it got me thinking – what if lamington becomes the next “Dubai Chocolate” fad in Japan? Guess we just have to wait and see…
Examples of where else lamingtons have taken the stage
Port Tower Kobe x Miffy Campaign (till September 30th 2026)
サãƒãƒ³ãƒ»ãƒ‰ãƒ»ãƒ†ãƒ»ã‚¢ãƒ«ã‚·ãƒ§ãƒ³ (Salon Do Alcyon) in Osaka
Lamington Shaved Ice at yoridocoro_hiyori
