Shokupan Has a Cookie Worth Coming Back For

Shokupan has three things on the menu. One of them is the best cookie I’ve eaten in a very long time.

Inside, the space is calm. Bright and airy, with wooden tables, brushed walls and much needed air conditioning on what turned out to be one of the hottest bank holiday weekends of the year.

We walked up to the counter and ordered one of everything. An iced latte, an iced yuzu and mint, the honey butter toast, the miso butter cookie and the ube matcha cookie.

It all arrived together on a wooden board. The honey butter toast stacked in the centre, the cookies arranged alongside, the drinks on either side. The kind of presentation that makes you stop before you reach for anything.

It all arrived together on a wooden board. The honey butter toast stacked in the centre, the cookies arranged alongside, the drinks on either side. The kind of presentation that makes you stop before you reach for anything.

The drinks were the only real stumble.

At £4.50 each, both felt smaller than expected. The iced latte was pleasant enough, with a good balance of coffee and milk, but the iced mint yuzu never really got going. It should have been bright and refreshing, yet tasted mostly of cold water, a whisper of Yuzu with a single mint leaf doing most of the heavy lifting.

All three items felt homemade and made with care.

The first thing we tried was the honey butter toast. This is the foundation of the café, as shokupan is named after the milk bread itself, and for a first introduction to shokupan it exceeded expectations.

Its golden exterior starts crunchy, especially around the corners where the honey butter has created an almost caramel-like sweetness, before giving way to a warm, fluffy centre. The pull-apart texture paired with the gentle sweetness of the honey lingers after each bite. You reach for another piece without really deciding to.

The next item was the miso butter cookie. And this is where everything changed. This is one of the best cookies I’ve eaten in a very long time.

The exterior has a light crunch that gives way to a buttery, melt-in-the-mouth centre that almost resembles cookie dough. There is a hint of spice at first.

Then the miso arrives.

Rich. Salty. Slightly sweet.

The kind of flavour that makes you immediately reach for another bite.

Dark chocolate chips run throughout the cookie, bringing just enough bitterness to balance everything out, while the slightly darker edges add a subtle smoky richness that only makes the whole thing better.

Pair it with the coffee and everything clicks into place.

The ube matcha cookie shared the same texture as the miso butter, but leaned much sweeter overall. The matcha brought an earthy depth and the ube added its natural sweetness, but both ended up overshadowed by the white chocolate.

It’s a shame because there is something really interesting hiding underneath. My partner and I both agreed we’d love to see it lean further into those flavours rather than letting the sweetness take over.

Shokupan is still finding its feet.

The drinks need work.

The menu is small. (for now)

But that miso butter cookie alone is enough to make me come back.