Ginza Maison Henri Charpentier

Don't be fooled by the exotic name: this fancy café is a completely homegrown operation that started life in Kobe's Ashiya in 1969. The Henri Charpentier moniker comes from a French chef who made his name in the US in the first half of the 1900s, reportedly inventing the crêpe Suzette dessert in the process. Found just off Ginza's main crossing, the store houses a tea salon in the basement, while the ground-floor space hosts a bar and a shop selling all of the brand's popular sweets, such as financiers, madeleines and cream cakes.