Pronto is one of a chain eatery in Japan with an interesting concept (to me). They are cafe, restaurant, and bar (Izakaya). It seems like they change their face depends on the time of the day/night, according to what people would want. What a creative and awesome concept it that? If you go there during the day, you can get some pastries, baked goods, morning menu items, and then some fresh pasta dishes, risotto, soup, etc..
Since they change their face to Izakaya in the evening, most of them (if not all of them) have separate areas for smoking and non-smoking areas. Which is always great, for both smokers and non smokers. This spot, right by the Shimbashi station, seems very small but in the inside, it is long and quite spacious in the back. There are some pastries and baked goods by the entrance, and then the counter where you order/pay. Alongside the register is a long counter seating, as well as table seating throughout. This main floor is smoking area, but I don’t think you encounter too many smokers during the day. The downstairs (basement) is non-smoking area, if you really want to make sure to stay away from the smokers.
So, we went there during the morning our, wanting to get some coffee and pastry. What we found was much more exciting and interesting! We grabbed some sweet and savory items from the display counters by the entrance.The first item: Cream Puff Danish (240 yen, roughly $2). This one had vanilla bean cream in the inside, and had sweet danish pastry topping. The filling was much more than expected, which is always a nice surprise. You could see the vanilla bean in the cream, and the pastry was fluffy and airy, it was a much better item than expected.
What we were really excited to find here, was “Macha KitKat Croissant” (170 yen). I mean, come on! They put the macha KitKat in the croissant dough, wrapped it, and baked it! The result? Really great! The KitKat is not 100% melted, so there are still some nice chunk of that matcha chocolate, and the flavor of that went great with the croissant. And, at less that $2, you can’t beat that price!
Then, we moved onto the traditional savory bread item: Curry Pan (210 yen). It had beef curry filling in the inside, and the dough is lightly fried. Unfortunately, the filling was not so much, almost sad, and the taste was not that great either. Since I really like Curry pan, I have had my shares of curry pan in my life. This one, didn’t quite do it for me… I guess they do better at sweet pastries than savory items?
We also had Iced Coffee (290 yen) and Cafe Latte (330 yen). Both medium size, and they nice size, bigger than we thought it would be. The size of drinks can be very different in Japan compared to that of USA, right? The coffee itself was ok, nothing spectacular, but it was a good, solid coffee.
Even though we only visited Pronto once during the morning hours, I hear that they have a pretty good fresh pasta dishes. And the bar items, they seem to have pretty good Izakaya food and drink menu as well. It is always good to have a spot where you can get breakfast, lunch, and bar food, all from one location, depending on the time of the day. So, next time you are wandering around Tokyo, wanting to grab some food or drink, Pronto might be nearby, as they do have several locations throughout Tokyo. They are not just a cafe, you might be able to find exactly what you are craving, so check our their menu!
Pronto Shimbashi Station – 2-8-7 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Japan 105-0004