[Osaka] You may wonder what’s a “Melonpan”, and why “second best”?
If you have been to Dotonbori Osaka, it is not difficult to find people holding something which looks like an ice cream sandwich.
A Melonpan メロンパン is a type of sweet bun with the outer layer covered like a crisp cookie dough. Nope, there is no melon within, but is so named because the appearance resembles a rock melon.
One of the most popular places to get this ice cream dessert in Osaka is from the World’s Second Best Freshly Baked Melonpan Ice-cream 世界で2番めにおいしい.
There are mobile vans around at Dotonbori area, or you can head over to the store at America-mura. (There is also a store at 1-15-9 Jinnan Shibuya-ku in Tokyo, near Yoyogi Park.)
Amerika-mura is the “American Village” in Osaka, known for being vibrant and colourful, scattered with creative fashion shops, trendy youths walking around, and street food. Just a short minutes’ walk from Dotonbori anyway.
The shop is called “second best” because the “best” has to be the master’s or teacher’s version. This is so named out of respect to whoever who taught them. Cool.
You can get the original Melonpan for 230 yen (SGD2.90), though I think it can be more worthwhile to try it with ice cream, such as the Vanilla (400 Yen, SGD5) Matcha (450 Yen, SGD5.60) or Chocolate (450 Yen, SGD5.60).
There are occasional seasonal flavours, such as an Apple & Cinnamon (490 Yen, SGD6.10) when I visited.
It is not difficult to understand why people would love the Melonpan. To me, it’s all about that contrast.
Imagine the hot and cold sensation, of freshly baked bun with cold ice cream filled within.
And the crunchiness of the outer layer differed with the smooth ice cream.
The bun reminded me of Hong Kong’s polo bun, except that the Melonplan had a crunchy outer layer, yet it is fluffy on the inside at the same time.
While I ordered a matcha flavour piece, there was some vanilla ice cream inside, an crispy shortbread that you can use as a ‘spoon’.
Take a bite and you get all kinds of sensation playing within your mouth. Now, have this during colder winter months and it would be a feeling you would not forget.
World’s Second Best Freshly Baked Melonpan Ice-cream Amerika-mura
2-11-9 Nishishinsaibashi, Chuo-ku, Re-011 1F, Osaka 542-0086, Osaka Prefecture
Tel: +81 6 6213 4707
Opening Hours: 11am – 7:30pm (Mon – Fri), 10:30am – 7:30pm (Sat – Sun)
Google Maps – 世界で2番めにおいしい
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