.donut Sannomiya Main Store (Kobe, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

It’s my third trip to Kobe (神戶), but only the first time staying near Sannomiya Station (三宮駅), so I was pretty hyped for it. In the end, this area turned out to be one of the buzziest neighborhoods in Kobe making our 16 hours in the city especially memorable.

I managed to sneak out for a short while while everyone was enjoying their delicious skewers. My destination? Another doughnut shop just outside Sannomiya Station.

.donut is an incredibly popular fresh nama doughnut specialty brand based in Kobe, Japan. They’re especially known for their signature “Kobe dot donut”, which features a fluffy, soft, and slightly chewy texture. The brand focuses heavily on local ingredients sourced from Hyogo Prefecture, and it often rolls out seasonal flavors made with fresh produce.

While the brand currently operates four outlets across Kobe, its main shop located right outside the west exit of Hankyu Kobe-Sannomiya Station (hidden inside Kobe New World) remains arguably the busiest. The best part? It’s just a stone’s throw from our dinner venue.

After forcing my way into the end of the lineup, I waited patiently to be served and it was finally my turn. As it turned out, it wasn’t going to be a tough decision. There were only two flavors left: chocolate and cherry 🍒.

Chocolate donut (390 yen) — The brioche-like dough was flavored with chocolate, which matched the chocolate custard filling perfectly.

Needless to say, chocolate flavors were front and center. Just look at the amount of rich chocolate custard in the filling!

While .donut prides itself on being a nama donut specialist, I thought the texture of its dot donut sits somewhere between a traditional yeast donut and a nama donut. It’s definitely bouncier, and the “structural airiness” feels a little different from that of I’m Donut?.

Food Rating: 6.5/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: Kobe New World (Outside West Exit of station), 1-1-1 Nagasadori, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0012, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Sannomiya

Tel: +81 (0)78-325-5524

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 9:00pm daily

Eggs 'n Things Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pia 三井アウトレットパーク マリンピア神戸店 (Kobe, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

Little nugget decided he wasn’t going to do any shopping at Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pia (三井アウトレットパーク マリンピア神戸) today. Instead, he wanted to spend his time somewhere he could sit down and watch YouTube. He ended up dragging mom and me to Eggs ‘n Things for a quick bite.

This isn’t the first time we’ve enjoyed a meal at this Hawaii-themed restaurant. Ironically, last time we were here, we were also on a shopping spree at a Mitsui Outlet Park — only then it was in Shiga (滋賀).

The mix of comfort food and tropical flavors really goes hand in hand with the menu. This guy wanted a soda to cool off while we waited for the food to arrive.

Garlic shrimp (1,600 yen) — We started off with some beautifully cooked garlic shrimps first. Very tasty and aromatic.

Loco Moco (1,350 yen) — Smoky beef patty and fried eggs are always a timeless combination, especially when paired with smoky homemade gravy. Bravo!

Keiki teriyaki chicken (755 yen) — This likely came from the kids’ menu, judging by its portion. Small pieces of teriyaki chicken with potato and egg — perfect with the steamed rice.

Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pia is one of the smaller outlet malls I’ve ever visited. Despite its compact footprint, it had everything we were looking for — and then some. It’s a shame we didn’t have more time to explore it further.

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: Shop 1320, 1/F Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pia, 12-2 Kaigandori, Tarumi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 655-0036, Japan

Tel: +81 (0)78-798-5880

Website: https://www.eggsnthingsjapan.com/24110601.html

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 9:00pm daily

Piece of Bake Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pia (Kobe, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

The Shikoku part of our trip is officially over now that we’ve crossed the bridge into Kobe. Next up, we’ll spend some time at Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pia before heading into the city for dinner later.

Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pia reopened in November 2024 after a massive two-year reconstruction. It’s not the biggest outlet mall — about 150 shops — but there should be more than enough to keep casual shoppers like us happy.

I wasn’t planning on a full-blown lunch after sharing a burger with little nugget earlier in the morning. Maybe I’d just need a small snack. So when I spotted Piece of Bake on the ground level of the outlet, it was exactly what I was looking for.

Piece of Bake is a donut chain from Osaka that I’m familiar with from my frequent visits to the city.

They serve brioche-like, melt-in-the-mouth donuts filled with all kinds of cream custard, and they always prove to be pretty satisfying for those with a sweet tooth.

They were running a promotion featuring the in-season white peach at the time.

White peach donut (518 yen) — The brioche-like choux pastry wasn’t bad.

But I thought the tangy white peach custard 🍑 wasn’t quite the perfect match. Maybe they should tweak the custard to be sweeter, with more fruity notes.

I thought I was done... but little nugget had other ideas in mind, and he’s bringing me to Eggs 'n Things next door! Somehow we always end up at this Hawaiian-themed restaurant whenever we shop at a Japanese outlet (was it last year?).

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: Shop 1331, 1/F Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pia, 12-2 Kaigandori, Tarumi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 655-0036, Japan

Tel: +81 (0)78-742-7768

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 9:00pm daily