Keep Cool This Summer at Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills

Watermelon, kakigori, iced eclairs, and flowers and honey are on the summer menu

Japan Travel Staff

As the Tokyo summer kicks in with its stifling humidity and the blinding light of the afternoon sun, it's advisable to throw yourself into different ways of keeping fresh and hydrated. Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills, one of Tokyo's most beautiful and sophisticated hotels, should be on your list for keeping cool and treating yourself to an array of refined afternoon teas and the Japanese summer favorite, kakigori (shaved ice). Treasured by children and adults alike, kakigori can be found all over the city and is usually associated with summer festivals. Due to the current restrictions implemented in Tokyo, however, many festivals have succumbed to cancellation but fear not as Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills has you covered.

In Tokyo, there's been a resurgence for the quaint British tradition of afternoon tea with several hotels in the city serving a host of culinary delights with a mind-boggling array of fancy teas, scones, and sweets. Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills has the added bonus of having one of the best views of the Japanese capital where you can lounge with an eclair in hand and the feeling that you could reach out and touch Tokyo Skytree.

Flower and Honey Afternoon Tea at Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills (Photo: Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills )

Enjoy a refreshing and cooling afternoon tea featuring watermelon, a Japanese summertime favorite, at The Tavern Lounge. The savory selection includes a Caprese with petite green tomatoes and watermelon jelly. Resembling a tiny watermelon, the texture is pleasantly smooth with a refreshing taste. From the sweets menu, you'll find baked cheese tarts topped with a light, watermelon-flavored mousse covered with a glossy watermelon pattern. The watermelon roll cake is a delicate harmony of fluffy sponge cake and softly whipped Chantilly cream dotted with fresh watermelon cubes. Symbolic of summer in Japan, there’s plenty of watermelons to be enjoyed in this season’s afternoon tea.

During the season of colorful blooms, The Tavern Lounge also offers a beautiful afternoon tea portraying a field of flowers reflected in the early summer sky. The savory menu includes a delicious sakura shrimp cake salé with bright yellow petals reminiscent of sunflowers. The richly colored sweets selection includes a verrine of sweet and fragrant damask rose gelée and lavender panna cotta. The contrast between the soothing rose-colored gelée and the lustrous lavender panna cotta creates an elegant visual. Cool yourself down this summer with a luxurious afternoon surrounded by the sweet tastes and aroma of flowers.

Mango Iced Eclair (Photo: Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills)

Kakigori returns to the hotel's Pastry Shop this season for the ultimate summer treat. This year’s shaved ice is made with creamy hojicha milk tea, using premium hojicha tea leaves from Ocharaka, a legendary Japanese tea shop in the city's Ningyocho district. Filled with orange jelly and red-bean compote, a topping of Hojicha Earl Grey syrup, soybean flour, and light mascarpone cream brings rich flavor and texture to the dessert. For the finishing touch, a generous helping of organic chocolate is shaved before serving. Enjoy this with a cup of Ocharaka hojicha to savor the full flavor of this tea. New this summer, Andaz Tokyo's signature éclair is served as a decadent iced dessert. Filled with rich mango sorbet, the éclair is topped with firmly whipped Chantilly cream and freshly diced mangos. Savor a taste of the tropics with this limited summer éclair.

Ocharaka Hojicha Milk Tea Kakigori (Photo: Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills )

Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills, perfectly playing its role as one of Tokyo's most luxurious hotels, doesn't let the summer festivities stop there. Check out the summer offerings at one of the city's best burger restaurants BeBu and the huge range of other facilities that Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills has to offer.