With the rise of speciality pastry shops, we thought we had seen it all: speciality croissant stores, cookie specialists, shops selling only fancy tarts, cheesecake stores, cruller shops and endless cupcake outlets just to name a few.
However, until very recently, there was a gapping, lamington-shaped hole in the Melbourne speciality-pastry landscape. Considering how close to home the spongy treat is, we are surprised no one jumped on the nostalgia train earlier to maximise on our collective love for the square sweet. Enter: Tokyo Lamington, the lamington specialists who have just arrived in Carlton, following their sweet success in Sydney.
Toyko Lamington was born in 2019, when Min Chai (former N2 Extreme Gelato) and Eddie Stewart (former Black Star Pastry) set out to spread the love of lamingtons all the way from Tokyo to Singapore. The pandemic then brought them back to Australian shores and the pair started slinging lamingtons in Sydney.
Now Melburnians have a chance to get in on the coconut-coated action with Tokyo Lamington finding its next home in Carlton. Lamingtons are the obvious name of the game, and not just classic lamingtons as you know them. Flavours available may include fairy bread and popcorn, yuzu curd and torched meringue, mango and sticky rice and passionfruit and lemon myrtle.
Tokyo Lamington also serves savoury pastries such as a bacon and edamame quiche, a lemongrass chicken sausage roll and a mapo tofu pie. We know that's already a lot to choose from, but you should give one of their onigiris a go too.
It seems we aren't the only ones with a sentimental sweet spot for a lamington, with the new store already often selling out. So get in quick or order online now.