Gourmet Chocolate Near Me in Shirokanedai: Chocolatier Erica's Mint-Green Shop

Chocolatier Erica sells all of its chocolate from a single mint-coloured shop at 4-6-43 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo, where it has been making truffles by hand since October 1982. Single truffles cost ¥220 each, the rum-filled house truffle named Erica is ¥192, and the shop opens 10:00 to 18:30. Anyone searching gourmet chocolate near me in south Minato should note one rule first: the whole shop closes for the month of August. The phone number is 03-3473-1656.

The company's history page gives October 1982 as the founding date and explains the name. Erica is the heath plant that puts out small, pretty flowers in rocky, windswept ground with little water, and the founders wanted a business that could bloom the same way in any conditions. Forty-four years later there is still only one shop. The FAQ answers the department-store question directly: there are no counters elsewhere, only Shirokanedai.

Production and sales happen under the same roof, and the shop says this lets it control temperature and humidity closely. That is also why August is a full month off, since the summer heat is not suited to chocolate work. Each piece is made by hand by its own staff. July runs on shorter hours, 10:00 to 17:30, and the New Year break covers December 31 to January 3.

The best seller is Ma Bonne, milk chocolate packed with walnuts and marshmallow. It comes in three sizes on the official price list: Ma Bonne Mini at ¥1,815, the long Ma Bonne Bar at ¥2,555 for slicing at home, and the full Ma Bonne Block at ¥3,819. The walnuts are bought in spring, when humidity is low, and kept in the shop's own storeroom so they stay crisp through the year.

The other long-running favourite is Mint, a leaf-shaped chocolate that pairs a mint-flavoured layer with sweet chocolate, sold in a 100g box for ¥1,154. The shop notes that the mint pieces use food colouring, which explains their pale green. Staff recommend Ma Bonne Mini and the Mint box for wedding gifts, along with the heart bouquets, which start at ¥1,897 for the small one with raisin hearts tied in ribbon.

Erica sells eight truffles, and most of them carry alcohol. Blanche wraps an orange-liqueur ganache in white chocolate, Noir puts the same ganache inside bitter chocolate, La Neige rolls a cognac ganache in powdered sugar, and Oré uses an apple-brandy ganache. The house truffle, Erica, is a rum ganache dusted with cocoa at ¥192. Noisette, a walnut caramel ganache in cocoa powder, is one of the few without liquor.

Sour cherry fans should order the Cerise Sanglière at ¥240, a brandy-soaked cherry coated in chocolate. The company says staff travel to Yamagata Prefecture every year to choose the cherries one by one. Anglais, an Earl Grey truffle, is a winter piece sold from late October to around April, so a visit this week is right on the edge of its return. Every truffle has a two-week best-before date.

The shop's online store fixes the mix inside each truffle box, so you cannot choose flavours there. At the counter you can pick any truffle in any quantity, which is the strongest reason to come in person. For reference, the online four-piece box is ¥888 and the eight-piece box is ¥1,771. Wrapping costs extra: the four-piece box becomes ¥1,230 wrapped, because wrapping is taxed at 10 percent and the chocolate at 8.

Our honest view is that the plain bars can wait. Bitter at ¥845 and Criollo at ¥815 are well made, but they are not what Erica is known for, and the fresh truffles cannot travel long distances anyway. Spend your budget on a hand-picked truffle selection and one Ma Bonne Mini. If you have friends abroad in mind, note that the shop does not ship overseas.

Since February 1993 the second floor has housed Oggetti, a sister shop devoted to gift wrapping. It stocks wrapping paper and ribbons imported from Europe and original boxes made in Japan from Italian paper, and it changes its wrapping style with the seasons. Oggetti will also wrap items you bring in from elsewhere, and it handles wedding favours. Its direct line is 03-3448-1578, and it keeps the same hours as the chocolate shop.

The two floors suit a certain kind of customer: people buying a thank-you gift or a box for a host, who want the ribbon chosen in front of them. For mourning gifts, the shop keeps navy ribbons and matching paper, and asks that such orders be placed by phone rather than online. Allow extra time in December and February, when the shop warns that order handling can take longer.

The shop's own directions start at Exit 1 of Shirokanedai Station on the Tokyo Metro Namboku Line and Toei Mita Line, about a seven to eight minute walk. Turn left onto Meguro-dori, cross right at the Shirokanedai intersection by the Tsuruha Drug store onto Gaien-nishi-dori, and walk about 500 metres. The shop is on the right, just before the Idemitsu petrol station. From Meguro Station it is about 18 minutes on foot, and from Hiroo Station about 15.

Exit 1 also puts you close to two green spaces on Meguro-dori. The Institute for Nature Study, a large wooded reserve run by the National Museum of Nature and Science, sits on one side, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, the 1933 Art Deco former residence of Prince Asaka, sits beside it. Both make a quiet hour before or after the shop. From there it is a straight walk down Gaien-nishi-dori to the mint-green shopfront.

Address: 4-6-43 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Phone 03-3473-1656, fax 03-3473-2048. Hours: 10:00 to 18:30 daily, 10:00 to 17:30 through July. Closed August 1 to 31 and December 31 to January 3. Cards accepted online include Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express and Diners. In this season the shop ships by refrigerated courier only, and it cannot deliver to parcel lockers. A Halloween range is on sale now in limited quantities, and it ends once stock runs out.

Planning tips: choosing truffles one by one takes time, so build in ten minutes at the counter, and bring a cool bag in warm weather, since the truffles hold for only two weeks. If you arrive in August and find the shutters down, the Teien Art Museum garden next to the station is a fair consolation. Ask the Karpo APP for a route that links the shop, the museum and lunch nearby.