Japan is a wonderful place for egg-lovers. Not only are there numerous brands of high-quality eggs available at stores nationwide and delicious ways of eating eggs, such as egg salad sandwiches, but eggs are even safe to eat raw since they are specially checked to ensure that they are free of salmonella.

Earlier this month, with Easter approaching, we were on the lookout for something egg-centric to feature in grape Japan when we came across some videos of heavenly-looking fluffy Japanese souffle pancakes from a restaurant called cafe brunch TAMAGOYA (written in English), which literally means "egg specialty shop." As it turns out, the restaurant is an official outlet for 日の出たまご Hinode Tamago, a premium brand of eggs from the city of 三島 Mishima in Shizuoka Prefecture.

Since we had other reporting to do in Shizuoka Prefecture, we decided to make a stop in Mishima to try cafe brunch TAMAGOYA's famous pancakes and other egg-centric fare.

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TAMAGOYA

cafe brunch TAMAGOYA is situated within the Izu Muranoeki 伊豆・村の駅 shopping center which also contains a farmer's market, a flower shop, a bakery, gift shops with local specialties, a shiitake mushroom burger shop, a gyoza shop and a maguro (tuna) specialty store and restaurant.

The TAMAGOYA area contains a gift shop featuring a wonderful selection of sweets, custard and cheese tarts, puddings and other products made with Hinode Tamago eggs, as well as other local specialties, the cafe brunch TAMAGOYA restaurant with both indoor and terrace seating, and CAFE STAND by cafe brunch TAMAGOYA, where you can order ice cream, shaved ice and other sweets to take out and enjoy on the go.

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cafe brunch TAMAGOYA

After finding our seats in the terrace area, we were given the menu, and flipped the page to the Sweets section:

In addition to their signature Hinode Custard Brûlée Pancakes 日の出カスタードのブリュレパンケーキ, the delightfully fluffy souffle style pancakes featuring a delicious custard made from Hinode Tamago eggs, you can also order Premium Pancakes, their standard TAMAGOYA Pancakes, and since April 21st, you can also enjoy the Shizuoka Matcha Espuma Pancakes for a special treat. There's also TAMAGOYA's version of tamagoyaki sweet omelet, several varieties of parfaits, and more.

In their savory foods section, you'll find classics like oyakodon egg and chicken rice bowl, various kinds of omurice, fried chicken with homemade tartare sauce, as well as 卵かけご飯 tamagokake gohan, a classic morning favorite, which is a bowl of steaming rice with a raw egg on top. You can see their menu here for details.

Although we were tempted to try more, we settled on the Hinode Custard Brûlée Pancakes and the TAMAGO Pudding Parfait.

Hinode Custard Brûlée Pancakes

After we had settled in and began sipping on their excellent house coffee, the stack of pancakes arrived. They looked very fluffy and delicious already, but we knew that the best was yet to come. The rich cream-yellow custard blanketing the pancakes was dotted with sugar crystals which were there for one purpose: Brûlée, which means "burned" in French. And our waitress wasted no time taking out her portable burner and applying the finishing touches, turning the surface a golden brown color and sending some of the custard cascading over the sides of the pancakes.

Finally, our pancakes were ready to eat:

We asked her to slice them down the center and open them up so we could get a better view (for our dear readers, of course!):

We were literally salivating at this point...

Finally, we could dive in. Our knife and fork sliced through the pancakes effortlessly. They were so soft, light, fluffy, and not too sweet. On the other hand, the custard cream was sweet and satisfying, with a rich egg and cream taste with hints of vanilla. Add the very subtle bitterness and caramelized flavors from the brûlée surface, and you have a heavenly combination. This was hands down one of the best pancakes dishes we've tried in recent memory.

TAMAGO Pudding Parfait

If you're not in the mood for pancakes but prefer a parfait, we recommend the TAMAGO Pudding Parfait.

One of the things TAMAGOYA enjoys doing is creating dishes that reproduce the look of an egg, cooked sunny side up. This is the case with this delightful parfait:

Don't worry, that's not a raw egg on top. It's a dollop of sauce flavored with egg yolk.

Beneath it is whipped cream, a thin layer of crunchy caramel flakes, TAMAGOYA's famous pancakes, Hinode custard and a bed of pudding made with Hinode Tamago eggs. The parfait cup rests on a bed of soft sponge crums, which are perfect for catching whatever dribbles down, especially when you drizzle some of the syrup that comes with it.

Here you can see some of the pancake and custard inside:

This parfait was sinfully delicious and a pure delight for egg lovers. It's quite rich, so you want to be sure you have the appetite for it, but it's both visually appealing and satisfying, if not a bit messy to eat, but perhaps therein lies part of its charm.

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Next time we come to cafe brunch TAMAGOYA, we'll be sure to try some of their more savory dishes too!

And if you're curious about tamagokake gohan (TKG), Japanese style rice with egg, but have been hesitating to try it because of the raw egg, check out how we made some next-level TKG using Hinode Tamago eggs and TAMAGOYA's truffle-infused TKG soy sauce.

TAMAGOYA is definitely worth the trip if you're visiting Shizuoka Prefecture and stopping by on your way to Numazu or other destinations, or even on a day trip to Mishima where you can enjoy places like the Rakujuen Park, the Mishima Sky Walk with amazing views of Mt. Fuji, or the Yamanaka Castle Ruins.

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TAMAGOYA Information

• Address (JP): 〒411-0815　静岡県三島市安久322-1
• Address (EN): 322-1 Yasuhisa Mishima Shizuoka Pref. 411-0815
• Tel: 0120-54-0831 (toll free in Japan)
• Hours: Cafe brunch TAMAGOYA: 9:00 to 15:30
• Reservations: No advanced reservations. Same-day reservation tickets issued from 9:00 AM on premises.
• Gift Shop: 9:00 to 17:00
• Official Website
• Access: 20 mins. by taxi from Mishima Station (a stop on the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen Line), 10 mins. by taxi from Daiba Station 大場駅 on the Izuhakone Railway Sunzu line 伊豆箱根鉄道駿豆線, 3 mins. walk from the Yasuhisa Kita 安久北 stop on the Mishima City Loop Bus 三島市循環バス from Daiba Station.