I remember trying dorayaki in my first months of being in Japan. Used to the much sweeter treats of the United Kingdom, I was so confused by the mild sweetness of the anko (red bean paste) sandwiched between two pancakes that it was years before I came to appreciate the classic ¡ª or so I thought ¡ª treat.

By that time, I had come to associate dorayaki with traditional wagashi (Japanese confectionery) like nerikiri (mixed dough molded into shapes) and ²â¨­°ì²¹²Ô (jellied red bean paste and agar). But unlike those desserts with much longer histories, dorayaki only came into being in the past 150 years or so ¡ª and whenever I looked, it seemed there were two shops consistently popping up as the supposed Tokyo originators: Usagiya and Baikatei.

If your image of dorayaki involves a dollop of gently sweet paste sandwiched between two thick pancakes, that is certainly what you¡¯ll find at .