Shinjuku Station in Tokyo is the world’s busiest train station, serving 3.7 million commuters daily. A place like that is going to have food. In Japan, department stores are a reliable place to find food, and Shinjuku Station has seven department stores attached to it.

In particular, the seventh, eighth, and ninth floors of Lumine 2 are given over to restaurants. The Platinum Buffet on the ninth floor offers a nice assortment of Eastern and Western cuisine. It is all you can eat for about $25, but with a 90 minute time limit. I guess this responds to the ability of Tokyoites to linger for hours over a single $6 cup of coffee. With unlimited food, who knows, people might stay for days.

Japanese desserts always look delicious, but the taste can be hit or miss. If you ever get what looks like a cheese Danish, but is actually filled with macaroni and corn . . . well, it is a surprise. The desserts at the Platinum Buffet were a definite hit, both in appearance and taste.

It was mid-October, and there were Halloween decorations. I was surprised to see Halloween themes having been picked up in Japan. We should in return adopt the splendid August Bon Festival from Japan, but I digress. Back to dessert.

Note the black and gray custard in the lower left, above. The color is from black sesame, a flavor that makes a fine dessert. The yellow custard next to it was pumpkin flavored.


Intense fruit flavors made the desserts exceptional. The raspberry gelatin over a raspberry mouse was my favorite.

A chocolate fountain is an added attraction in the dessert category.