I’m really grateful that halal bakery (Halal Bakery Cafe Liaison) is opened in Japan *This shop is no longer Halal certified

*This shop is no longer selling Halal certified products, but still selling Muslim-friendly products. (Non-pork, Non-alcoholic, etc.)

Written by Lala-san

As a muslim in Japan, it’s very difficult to find halal bread. It seems like bread is safe to consume, but actually almost all kind of bread sold in common Japanese stores contain ingredients that can’t be eaten by muslims, such as emulsifier, lard, and animal based shortening. We have to confirm to the customer service of the products whether the bread contains animal based elements or not.
I used to be worried when I wanted to buy bread in usual store, but now we have good news for muslims in Japan. Okayama Kobo Inc., a Japanese firm based in Okayama Prefecture, has opened “Halal Bakery Café Liaison”. The bakery received halal certification from Japan Islamic Trust earlier in March. Liaison is located near Keio University. It takes only around 8 minutes by foot to go there from A3 exit of Mita station.
Currently they have many kinds of bread, such as “meronpan”, “anpan”, bread with bean paste inside, and “croissant” (162 yen). The most popular one is “chicken curry bread” (248 yen) and “salt butter roll” (162 yen). Chicken curry bread is the bread with chicken curry inside. The texture of the bread is soft but crunchy outside. “Kurumiruku”, the bread with walnut and milk cream inside, and “Chocolate Oyaki”(162 yen), with baked almond and chocolate inside the bread, are my favourites. They also currently serve 15 kinds of drink, and the popular ones are “mango smoothie” (346 yen), “strawberry milk” (346 yen), and “Inyancha” (281 yen), which is tea mixed with condensed milk and coffee. My recommendation is strawberry milk. It was delicious, smooth, creamy, and sweet. There also have two kinds of pizza , ナポリピッツァマルゲリータ (Napoli Pizza Margeritha) and ナポリピッツァ　ジェノベーゼ(Napoli Pizza Genovese) . Actually, the size was pretty small, the same size as paper plate, but the pizza bread was very soft and delicious.
I have visited this bakery several times and I noticed that muslims are are not the only consumers. Many other Japanese people, like students, mothers and their children, and elderly people also buy their bread. The price of the bread was also not so expensive, the same price as other bakeries. There were also 10 seats with 3 tables for the visitors who want to eat in the café while doing their job there. I ordered strawberry milk and pizza while doing my job for about 2 hours, and it was very nice to do my job there. The food was delicious (and most importantly, halal) and the place was very comfortable. I think it would be very nice if another halal café is opened in Japan.
One thing that you have to keep in your mind is that Liaisons opens from 9 am until 7 pm everyday except Friday. At 6 pm there will be only a small number of bread left, and at 6.30 pm they will be out of bread, so you can only order pizza or drinks. The bakery has about 15 muslim workers. They are Muslims from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Egypt, who are currently living in Japan. The customers can see them when they are making the breads, since the kitchen, which is located behind the counter, is surrounded by transparent glass windows.
I’m really grateful that halal bakery is finally opened in Japan. Let’s hope for the success of this bakery so it can be opened in other areas in Japan!

Halal Bakery Café Liaison