There are quite a few players in the bar-to-chocolate business in Tokyo (see my review of Green Bean to Bar Chocolate). Minimal is one of these with a well-established presence and multiple locations across town. In 2019 they opened a bakery cum chocolate cafe called Minimal The Baking that attracted my attention since they were offering pairings between chocolate and tea (and also sake, which is offered also at Green Bean to Bar Chocolate, however the option of tea was particularly attractive since I do not drink alcohol).
The visit
Their store is located just 50 meters from the South Exit 2 of Yoyogi-Uehara Station.
It is a small place.
With very minimal decor and furniture. Just space for a couple of parties. Luckily when I arrived all the seats were available.
They have a very focused range of chocolate cakes.
For my pairing I had tea and two baked chocolate bars with different types of cacao (normally would be one, I doubled down). One bar was from Ghana beans and some others (they call it “High Cacao”) and another was from Colombia bean and was more fruity.
Overall I was a bit disappointed. The chocolate products were too dry in my opinion (I like more creamy creations) and I am not sure the pairing thing added anything to the experience.
The check
Tje pairing cost 1210 yen, plus other 660 yen for the additional piece of chocolate (around 17 USD in total).
Where in Tokyo:
1-34-5 Uehara, Shibuya-ku.
In Japanese: 〒151-0064 東京都渋谷区上原１丁目３４−5.
Website: https://mini-mal.tokyo/blogs/journal/10055