fromage de hikita

There is a new cheesecake counter called Fromage de Hikita that opened recently on the food floor of the Hankyu department store nearby. If you've never been to Japan, the food floor is just that, a floor (usually in the basement) filled with groceries and pre-made foods in a department store...foodie heaven. And if you could afford shopping there everyday, you would never have to cook again.

I recently read that there were several counters added to the floor, so I went to check them out.

There is a baum kuchen counter called Madame Shinco. Apparently the owner used to be an owner or what the Japanese call "mama", for a club in Ginza. She has a shop in Minoo, but since we don't have a car and it is in an out of the way place, buying it from here was very convenient. I was quite disappointed because they had everything pre-packed and bagged. Usually when you buy something from the food counters, you can watch as they pack the item you are buying. I hope it tastes good, I bought a baum kuchen to give away.

So back to Fromage de Hikita. The chef has a restaurant in Toyonaka, which is 2 stations away from us called Bistro Hikita. From the looks of his site, he is also supposed to have a cheese shop next door to the restaurant.

I've always wanted to try his restaurant because he is supposed to grow his own veggies, hopefully we try this restaurant soon. UPDATE: this restaurant closed in 2013, but the cheese shop is still there

Anyway, the counter had 6 different kinds of cheese cake. You could buy them by the slice and they also sold whole ones too.

I picked up a slice of pink peppercorn cheesecake. It was great with a salad and coffee for lunch. The peppercorns don't overpower the cheesecake and is nicely balanced with the cheese. For this one I think they used a cheese and not cream cheese.

The other slice was an Earl Grey cheesecake. I really love the citrusy flavor of Earl Grey tea. This was perfect for an afternoon snack and went well with a cup of straight black tea.

These cheesecakes were different and delicious, I think the next time I'm on the food floor, I'll pick up another slice....or two.