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