The past couple of years have seen the surge of "tapioca tea", or bubble tea in Japan. Perhaps not as popular but still trendy is the banana juice. The most basic ones being just a blend of real banana and milk. Since they can be so easily made, you can see them on menus of many cafes as well, but one thing that confirms their trendiness is the emerge of banana juice specialty shops. These places search for the sweetest bananas and most suitable ingredients for their drinks.
Just recently a new specialty banana cafe has opened in Nagoya called Banana O-Koku バナナ王国, 0-koku meaning kingdom. The menu consists of banana juice with a choice of milk, almond milk, amazake (a fermented rice drink), soy milk and banana mixed with other fruits such as berry. Food items include banana curry, banana pie, banana waffle, cheesecake, pancakes and fried banana.
This is the banana juice made with almond milk. If you like almonds, this one might be for you as the flavour of almonds is very prominent. I think next time I'll go for the regular milk so the milk isn't clashing with the banana.
 |
| Before opening in the morning |
Area: a couple blocks east of Honjin Station, 本陣駅（東山線)
Shop: Banana O-Koku バナナ王国
Map and Info: https://jouhou.nagoya/banana-oukoku/
Hours: 11am-6pm, closed Mondays
