Shikoku Village Café (Takamatsu, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

We had a few things on our itinerary this morning: Takamatsu Castle Park, followed by Yashima Shrine (屋島寺) and Shikoku Village (四国村).

It was a typical summer day in Shikoku, so not surprisingly, the nasty heat at the entrance to Shikoku Village was absolutely dreadful and we haven’t even gone in yet! 

That was when my teammates suggested making a stop at Shikoku Village Café, formerly Tearoom Ijinkan (異人館).

There’s a passage that connects directly to the entrance of the café, so we didn’t even break a sweat getting inside.

The tea room seamlessly blends Meiji-period Western-style design with retro Japanese kissaten culture, creating a luxurious, nostalgic atmosphere.

While the café offers savory comfort food like sandwiches and salad, almost all of us just wanted something icy to cool ourselves off. A few of us went for their shaved ice, and this particular version came with fresh mango and red bean paste.

For me, I just needed a drink — and this coke float more than served the purpose.

We’ve spent enough time around here (despite didn't really go inside Shikoku Village). Next up, it’s a 2-hour drive to Matsuyama (松山市), the capital city of Ehime Prefecture (愛媛県).

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 91 Yashima Nakamachi, Takamatsu, Kagawa, 761-0012, Japan

Closest Train Station: Kotoden-Yashima

Tel: +81 (0)87-843-3114

Website: http://www.shikokumura.or.jp/

Opening Hours: 9:30am - 5:30pm daily

Truffle Donut 香川高松店 (Takamatsu, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

I knew I had to act fast when I have two stops to make in half an hour ahead of dinner. After a quick stop at Grand Maison Lowe, I headed straight over to Truffle Donut, one of my favorite Japanese doughnut chain for my second sweet treat. Thankfully, they were only 180 metres apart.

Truffle Donut is best known for its “nama” style dough, which makes for an exceptionally light, fluffy texture that practically melts in your mouth. The dough is infused with premium, aromatic truffle oil and/or truffle salt, giving it a distinct depth of flavor.

This particular branch of Truffle Donut was located on the basement level, so I had to walk roughly 10 steps down to reach the counter area.

Compared to the choices available at their Oita (大分市) outpost that I last visited during Christmas, this outlet offers far more options. 

There were the usual truffle-infused nama donut series, a separate chocolate series, and a “Flaky Donut” line which is essentially their take on cronuts (remember those?).

Unfortunately, all the chocolate series options featuring chocolate choux dough were already sold out. I’ll have to try those next time.

Matcha Nama donut (444 yen) — The Uji matcha cream was noticeably thicker with this one.

Very tasty, with the ultra-rich matcha custard working beautifully with the pillowy dough.

Salted vanilla Nama donut (398 yen) — Like most of their donuts, the cream filling was on the lighter side, and it worked surprisingly well with the truffle-infused dough. The extra saltiness from the truffle salt added an interesting twist to every bite.

Creme brulee Flaky Donut (417 yen) — I haven't had a cronut for quite some time, so this was extra special.

I really like the texture: crispy on the outside, but flaky throughout the interior. The crème brûlée flavor was also front and center — perfect for anyone with a sweet tooth.

Truffle Donut currently has 27 locations across Japan, as well as international branches in Taiwan, Thailand, and Canada, with a new opening in Hong Kong just two days ago! Overall, it now has more than 30 locations worldwide.

Food Rating: 7.2/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: B1F Motoya Building, 4-12 Marugamemachi, Takamatsu, Kagawa, 760-0029, Japan

Closest Train Station: Kawaramachi

Tel: +81 (0)87-897-5030

Website: https://truffledonut.com/

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 6:00pm daily

Grand Maison Lowe (Takamatsu, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

It’s my first-ever trip to Shikoku (四國), an island known for its untouched nature, temple pilgrimage, and so much more. Our first destination on the island was Takamatsu (高松市), the lively capital city of Kagawa Prefecture (香川縣) on the north side. Known as the gateway to Shikoku, Takamatsu is widely celebrated for its modern arts, traditional culture, and culinary heritage. I think we’ll really love it there especially since our stay will be less than 24 hours.

After checking into our hotel, we took a quick 5-minute walk to the Marugame-cho Green complex, where the recently opened Pokémon Center quietly awaits. That immediately kicked off my quest to check out a number of places I have pinned on my private map. The first stop on my itinerary was Grand Maison Lowe, a long-established pastry shop founded in 1978.

Step inside and you get that antique-style interior vibe (thus the name 'Grand Maison'). Grand Maison Lowe offers a lovely mix of European-style traditional baked goods, cakes, and carefully curated gift boxes.

What I didn’t realize, though, was that besides the European pastries on display, they also reserve a corner for something extra: doughnuts. 🍩🍩

And they’re not just any doughnuts. These are nama-donut style, the kind that have taken Asia by storm in recent years (though apparently not Hong Kong… at least not yet).

Double cream (330 yen) — Little one was pretty hungry after the long flight, so instead of going straight to the Pokémon Center, he hung around with me long enough to enjoy his own doughnut. 

According to him, this wasn't bad.

Salted caramel (360 yen) — The salted caramel custard was definitely nice and runny, but the dough itself didn’t quite live up to expectations for a proper nama donut. The dough tasted a little strange at first, and even worse, it was too soft and not nearly pillowy enough.

Luckily, we came here first, with my next stop as Truffle Donut, so at least the bar wasn't set too high (with Truffle Donut touted as one of the best in the business).

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 7-16 Marugamemachi, Takamatsu, Kagawa, 760-0029, Japan

Closest Train Station: Kawaramachi

Tel: +81 (0)87-811-7557

Website: https://lowe.co.jp/gurame/

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 8:00am daily