Taste Test in Japan: Lawson’s 717-Calorie Mont Blanc Is a Monster Dessert

「贅沢すぎ！お重モンブラン（和栗）」イメージ — “Zeitaku Sugi! Oju Mont Blanc (Waguri)” — Image

Japanese convenience store chain Lawson launched its “Zeitaku Sugi! Oju Mont Blanc (Waguri),” or “Almost Too Luxurious! Oju Mont Blanc with Japanese Chestnut,” at stores across Japan on September 21. Priced at 786 yen including tax, this massive dessert is now available in Japan. We tried it to see just how indulgent it really is.

The dessert layers Mont Blanc chestnut cream over whipped cream and finishes it with finely crumbled chestnut topping. The first thing that stands out is its size. Even among the desserts in a Lawson convenience store display, it is hard to miss. The Mont Blanc visible through the clear lid looks tempting, and once you pick up the container, its weight is just as impressive as its appearance.

The name refers to an o-jū, a traditional Japanese box associated with special meals and celebrations. Traditional o-jū are often lacquered and may be stacked in multiple tiers, most famously for osechi, the special foods eaten during Japan’s New Year holidays. This dessert does not come in a traditional lacquered box—it uses a black plastic container—but the dark packaging and label design give it a more luxurious, special-occasion feel. Open the lid, and the visual impact becomes even greater.

The top is generously covered with textured chestnut topping and Mont Blanc cream, with white whipped cream peeking through the gaps. Everything seems packed right to the edges of the container. The combination of chestnut topping, Mont Blanc cream, and whipped cream makes for an unusually substantial-looking dessert.

Scoop into it with a spoon and you will find sponge cake underneath. Despite its heavy appearance, the chestnut flavor itself is relatively mild, making the first few bites surprisingly light.

As you continue eating, however, the whipped cream and sponge cake become much more prominent. Both are used in generous amounts, and at times it feels less like eating a typical Mont Blanc and more like working your way through an oversized sponge cake. Anyone who is not a fan of whipped cream or sponge cake should probably keep that in mind.

Then there is the sheer volume.

One package contains 717 calories. For comparison, a typical Japanese bowl of cooked white rice—about 150 grams, or 5.3 ounces—contains roughly 234 calories. That means this single convenience-store dessert packs more calories than three bowls of rice.

Finishing the entire thing in one sitting is a serious challenge for most adults. I somehow managed to eat it all myself, but by the end I was thinking, “I may not need dinner tonight.”

For an ordinary person, the portion goes beyond luxurious and enters monster-dessert territory. Sharing it among three or four people is also a perfectly reasonable option, and even divided that way, there is still plenty for dessert.

Because you will be eating sweet whipped cream and Mont Blanc cream for quite a while, having a drink alongside it is highly recommended. Iced coffee, iced tea, or simply water works especially well to refresh your palate.

Packed from edge to edge with chestnut topping, Mont Blanc cream, whipped cream, and sponge cake, this dessert certainly lives up to the “almost too luxurious” part of its name. The fact that Lawson conceived something this excessive—and then actually turned it into a convenience-store product—is impressive in itself.

For anyone in Japan looking for an unapologetically large sweet treat, this is a Mont Blanc with a genuine reward-yourself feel.

The “Zeitaku Sugi! Oju Mont Blanc (Waguri)” is available at Lawson stores in Japan, excluding Okinawa Prefecture.