After the spectacular success of “Dubaï Style” chocolate, the Lindt chocolatier is once again creating an event with a bar that intrigues as much as it seduces: Tokyo Style chocolate. Already highly coveted, this new chocolate is part of a more refined and more plant-based trend, inspired by Japanese aesthetics and flavors. But behind the buzz, what is this new thing really worth?
An answer to Dubai Style chocolate
Dubai Style chocolate left its mark with its spectacular and ultra-gourmet side, notably thanks to its generous pistachio cream. But as dietitian Julie Boët points out, this type of product remains above all a sensory experience:
“Very rich in added sugars, fats and often ultra-processed ingredients, it mainly provides calories without significant nutritional benefits.
In this logic, Tokyo Style appears to be a more subtle alternative. He doesn’t try to go ever more creamy, but focuses on a more balanced and visually distinctive play of flavors and textures.
The Tokyo Style tablet this time combines:
- White chocolate as a base;
- Matcha, Japan’s iconic green tea powder;
- Bursts of strawberry, for a tangy note;
- Roasted Genmai rice, which provides an original crunch.
The result is a tablet with an intense green color, with a more vegetal and less opulent aromatic profile than its Dubai-inspired predecessor. A delicacy that plays more on contrast than on overkill.
The role of matcha: between health image and nutritional reality
Matcha is at the heart of Tokyo Style’s identity. Rich in catechins, natural antioxidants present in green tea, it is often associated with health benefits when consumed as a low-sweet drink or in cooking.
But beware of illusions! In a chocolate bar, however, its role remains limited. As Julie Boët points out, even enriched with matcha, white chocolate remains a sweet product rich in fat. “The quantities of matcha are modest and the antioxidants are diluted in a sugary and milky matrix. In other words, Tokyo Style is not a “healthy” chocolate, but a pleasure chocolate with a more plant-based identity.
“Matcha in a bar will not transform a chocolate into a “health” food in the strict sense, (…) The health benefits associated with green tea in contexts such as a drink or an unsweetened preparation are not fully transposed here.”
Tokyo Style and nutrition: a question of portions
Nutritionally speaking, Tokyo Style doesn’t really dethrone Dubai chocolate. “Both remain delicacies, with several hundred calories per tablet. The difference is primarily based on the taste profile, not on superior nutritional virtues.”
In a balanced diet, the main thing remains the frequency of consumption and the size of portions. A small quantity, enjoyed occasionally and mindfully, can fit perfectly into a healthy lifestyle if the rest of the diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, fiber and quality proteins.
To enjoy Tokyo Style without falling into overconsumption, aim above all for moderation:
- Choose small squares rather than an entire tablet;
- Share it, to combine pleasure and conviviality;
- Consume it after a balanced meal, rather than as an automatic snack.
This approach allows you to maintain pleasure without guilt and to maintain reasonable energy intake.
“Excessive consumption, especially if it becomes daily and in large quantities, can contribute to too high a calorie intake and an overload of sugars and saturated fats, which is not favorable for weight management or metabolic health” readily recalls Julie Boet.
Neither worse nor better, just different from Dubai
Tokyo Style chocolate does not replace Dubai chocolate, it offers another vision of indulgence. Where one focuses on exuberance and creamy pistachio, the other plays the card of matcha, acidity and crunch.
As Julie Boët summarizes, the best advice remains simple: savor these creations for what they are, pleasure products, to be consumed occasionally.