Pancake sandwich/Mont Blanc (¥630) Pancake sandwich/Beni Haruka sweet potato (¥680) Pancake/half size (¥300-¥360) Warabi mochi drink/matcha or coffee (¥500) I visited Del Sol Tagawa store for dining in. I tried the seasonal limited menu items, Mont Blanc and Beni Haruka sweet potato pancake sandwiches. They were both delicious, with a moist sweet potato filling with red bean paste and whipped cream, and a rich chestnut cream with whipped cream for the Mont Blanc. The pancakes were not too sweet and had a moist texture, making them easy to eat. They also started selling half-size pancakes for ¥300-¥360, which is great. There seemed to be more takeout orders than dine-in customers. It was a relaxing dining experience.

The other day, in the "Fukuoka Prefecture 72 cities, towns, and villages challenge" lottery, I drew Ukiha City as my second destination. I had delicious sweets at a cafe at the foot of the mountain, but it was still early so I decided to challenge the third destination, which turned out to be Kashiwara Town. I crossed over the mountains and headed north. Along the way, I made a detour to the planned BRT section of the Hita-Ginzan Line before finally reaching Kashiwara Town. However, I still had eel steamed on a bamboo steamer from my first destination, Kurume City, lingering in my stomach... (laughs) So, this time, I focused on exploring cafes and sweets. I came across "Cafe del SOL" in Tagawa City, located right next to the Fukuoka Chikuhou Ramen Yama Koya Kashiwara Main Store on Route 201. Surprisingly, a branch of the popular pancake shop with long queues in Daimyo, Fukuoka, was located here. However, I didn't have the energy to eat pancakes, so I looked for something cold on the menu. I found soft-serve ice cream! I chose the strawberry flavor for myself (600 yen including tax) and my sixth-grade daughter chose the chocolate banana flavor (550 yen including tax). We decided to take them to the car to enjoy. It was a hot day, and by the time we got back to the car from the shop, the ice cream had already started to melt... Uh-oh! (laughs) We quickly dug in and enjoyed the ice cream. As you can see in the photos, there were plenty of real strawberries on top. The strawberry had just the right amount of tartness, which made it delicious. As for the soft-serve ice cream, it was incredibly rich and creamy! It had a lot of stickiness when scooped with a spoon. Underneath was strawberry jam, which paired well with the ice cream. Unexpectedly, I discovered a delicious branch of a shop I had never visited before, and this soft-serve ice cream was amazingly tasty! I hope to try their pancakes sometime in the future.

Bottle drink (matcha milk) 600 JPY. On my way back after having a meal (which I will post about next time), I accidentally passed the tea shop I wanted to visit and found it when I made a U-turn. The name sounded familiar, so I asked the staff, and they said it's the second branch of a shop that moved from Kokura to Moji. The shop has a stylish name that doesn't seem to match the atmosphere of Tagawa. The customers and locals there all seemed to be wearing jerseys that looked like they could only be found at Don Quijote in Iizuka or Yukuhashi, making me wonder if there was a dress code. I enjoyed my drink at the shop. When I was there, I couldn't help but think, "Ah... this is Tagawa, right?" and "Why is everyone wearing clothes that look like they came from a discount store?"

When I participated in the Karatsu Town Olle, I received this as a souvenir. I chose the an butter sandwich over the chocolate banana. The pancake bread was moist and soft. The cream was not too sweet, and the combination of an and butter was excellent! It was a new discovery to find such delicious sweets in the Tagawa region. If you can get such a stylish souvenir in Karatsu Town Olle, please try participating!