Clover Cafe

So, the other day I was going through some photos from when my parents were here and I found a picture from a cafe we went to in Asakusa when we went there for a rickshaw ride. I remembered the cafe a bit so I decided to go head back out there on my way back from work. The cafe is called Clover Cafe and it's pretty much right next to one of the metro exits.

I went there, and like always, I was pretty hungry so I got coffee and food. I went with the caramel cappuccino because it was the cutest. And for food I got the pizza toast. The staff here is quite cheerful and because it's in a major tourist spot, they've got an English menu that they automatically show foreigners. This cafe also allows smoking in the back so I chose a seat near the front of the shop. I was never bothered by any smoke but my spot wasn't particularly cozy. I think the cafe in general lacked the cozy feel, actually.

So after my order came to me, I took a couple pictures before chowing down. Okay, the pizza toast was pretty good. Of course, I think it's hard to mess that up too much. But the bread was really nice and thick, and because of that there was the crispy outside and the soft inside going on. Quite nice. As for the cappuccino...it was nice to look at. But to be honest, that's it. It wasn't very good. It was really weak. I'd like to say it was really milky, but it actually tasted watery. This is probably the first place that I actually will recommend avoiding. One of the chains nearby would be a better choice, I think.


Order: Caramel Cappuccino (¥380) and Pizza Toast (¥350)
Review: Drink looks good but tastes "meh". There are better choices in the area.

Website: http://www.clovercafe.jp/en/
Access: Asakusa Station: Ginza or Asakusa lines. (about 30seconds from exit A4)

Mahika Mano (Hammock Cafe)

Photo via Mahika Mano's webpage

So today's caffeinated adventure took my friend and I to a place in Kichijoji. It's really rare for me to go out there because it's so far from where I live. But I had time and my friend and I thought the cafe sounded super interesting.

Anyway, the name of the place was Mahika Mano. It's a hammock cafe and gallery.  We didn't really notice the gallery bit but we weren't really there for that bit. The part we were excited about was, as you might now expect, instead of seats, there's hammocks hanging from the ceiling. It took a bit of getting used to, but it was really nice drinking coffee and chatting while swinging slightly to and fro. I do have a slight complaint about the seats though. They were a bit too low for me, so my old lady knees were a bit uncomfortable . For the average Japanese girl, it was probably perfect though. My favorite bit about the whole place though was walking around with no shoes on, like a house. So cozy!

When we went, I was starving so I got the Jerk Chicken lunch set. My friend got pickles and camomile tea. Everything, while a bit pricey, was delicious. I would have no problem coming here again, but I don't intend to for a while. Kichijoji has tons of cafes so there's no reason to make a repeat visit anytime soon. And to be honest, the staff here left a bit to be desired. And it's another place that doesn't allow photos. Though I sneaked in a few anyway. Shh!



Order: Jerk Chicken lunch set (¥1200)
Review: Cozy and interesting place with good food

Website: http://mahikamano.com/
Access: Kichijoji Station (A few minutes from the Park Exit)

珈琲道場 侍

Original English Post

今日は休みだった。予定がなかったから、家に帰る前に、もう一軒のカフェかコーヒーショップに行くことにした。それでブランシュを出て、買い物とカラオケをしに錦糸町に歩いて行った。それから、亀戸に歩いて行った。そこに面白いコーヒーショップがあるそうだ。ショップの名前は「珈琲道場　侍」だ。店員さんに「侍」と親しみを込めて呼ばれている。ロッキングチェアの喫茶店だから、カウンターの前にある椅子はロッキングチェアだ。ロゴタイプはロッキングチェアに座りながら、コーヒーを飲んでいる侍の絵だ。すてきだと思っている。

このコーヒーショップは私の好きな場所になった。東京にはカフェがいっぱいあるから、同じ所の二度行かないことに決めたけど、このショップは例外になった。私の欲しいことがあるから。侍は居心地がときて、面白いし。コーヒーもバラエティにとんでいて、美味しいし。ローズ風味のコーヒーを飲んだ。それに、店員さんたちはとても親切だ。たぶん、そこに外国人はあまり行っていない。侍の店員さんにとって、私はこわくなくて、面白がっていたようだ。

店員さんの一人はちょっと英語が話せて、私と話してみようと決意したようだった。もう一人の店員さんは私を喜ばせて、私の日本語を聞いてくれた。いつかマスターに会いたい。すてきな人かもしてない。あとはそこに遅く行って、コーヒーを飲まない時(寝なければいけないから)バーもあるから、お酒を代わりに飲める。

注文：ローズコーヒー(450円)
所見: 絶対に、また行くつもりだ。

Website: http://www.samurai-cafe.jp/
アクセス：JＲ亀戸駅 東口 徒歩1分

(Translation checked by Myoga-sensei) 

Branche (日本語訳)

Original English Post

今日は休みだったし、いい天気だったし、下町の辺りを散歩しようと思った。最近買ったムックに東京スカイツリーの周りのカフェのスペシャルが出ていた。私の家から押上まで電車であまり時間がかからないし、そこに行くことにした。おなかがすいたから、コーヒーショップよりランチを食べられるかわいいところのほうに行きたかった。ブランシュに行くことが決まった。 

ブランシュは、半分が花屋で、半分がカフェだという場所だった。居心地の良いところだということになる。大きな窓があるけど、スカイツリーの方ではなくて、表通りの方を向いている。食べ物はよくあるカフェの料理だけど美味しかった。和風キノコパスタとアイスコーヒーを注文した。たぶん、ブランシュは花屋だから、ハーブティーを専門にしていると思う。でも、ランチセットは１０００円近くしたから、ハーブティーは飲まないことにした。

とにかく、ブランシュは食べ物も雰囲気もよいところだから、ランチにはいい場所だと思う。それに、禁煙だから、同じエリアにあるCafe Soeurよりちょっといいと思っている。店員さんたちもCafe Soeurとほとんど同じだ。親切だけと、おしゃべりというわけでもない。

注文：和風キノコパスタとアイスコーヒーのランチセット（９８０円）

所見：押上のあたりではランチにぴったりの場所。

Website:食べログ

アクセス：押上駅（Ａ２出口10分徒歩）

(Translation checked by Kairi)

Samurai

I had the whole day off with nothing planned so I decided to make a journey to another cafe or coffee shop before going home. So after leaving Branche, I walked to Kinshicho for a little shopping and karaoke-ing. From there I walked to Kameido where an interesting sounding coffee shop / bar was said to be. The shop is called Coffee Dojo Samurai and the staff lovingly refer to it as Samurai. It's a rocking chair cafe, meaning that the bar chairs are all rocking chairs. The sign is an old Samurai sitting in a rocking chair drinking a cup of coffee. It's pretty fantastic.



So this shop is my new favorite. I told myself that I wasn't intending on revisiting shops because there's so many places out there but this place had everything I'm looking for in a coffee shop. The place is cozy and interesting. The coffee is really good and interesting as well. I had the rose coffee. And on top of that, the staff is very friendly. They must not get many foreigners and for them I was interesting instead of scary. One of the staff members
spoke a little English and he was determined to try it out on me. The other guy just humored my attempts to speak Japanese. I'm hoping to catch the master one of these days. And if I get there too late for coffee (I do need some sleep after all), I can always just go for a drink.

Order: Rose Coffee (¥450)
Review: I'll definitely come back.

Website: http://www.samurai-cafe.jp/
Access: Kameido Station (across from East exit)

Branche

Today, was a really warm and sunny day off, so I decided to walk around a bit and stay on my side of town. In one of the "mooks" I bought recently features a section on cafés around Tokyo SkyTree. Since it's only a few minutes away by train, I decided to head that way. I was hungry so I was more concerned with a cute lunch spot than a coffee house. I decided to go to Branche.

It turns out Branche is half flower shop and half cafe. That means the surroundings are quite cozy. There's a big window but it faces the main road and not SkyTree. The food is pretty typical but tasty. I went with the Japanese style mushroom pasta with iced coffee. I think as a flower shop, they specialized in herbal and flower teas. But as the lunch set with coffee was already nearly ¥1000, I decided not to check them out. Anyway, this is another place where the food is good and the atmosphere is nice so it's a good lunch spot. It's also smoke free so it's a bit more comfortable than Cafe Soeur which is in the same general area. The staff here is about the same too. Friendly but not particularly chatty or outgoing.


 Order: Japanese style Mushroom Pasta Lunch Set ¥980
Review: Very cute lunch spot if you're in the area.

Website: 食べログ Page
Access: Oshiage Station (less than 10 minutes from exit A2)

Cafe Soeur (日本語訳）

Original English Post
 
今日、あることに気づいた。「カフェ」と「コーヒー店」にはかなりの違いがあるということ。それぞれの好みによって、どちらにも良いところはあるけど、私にとっては、コーヒー店のほうが興味深い。

とにかく、今日Café Soeurという押上にあるカフェに行った。Café Soeurはとてもかわいい２階建ての店で、水色と白のカントリーコテージ風の内装が特徴的だった。かわいいよ。店を切り盛りしている ２人の女の人はおしゃべりというわけではなかったけど、とても明るくて親切だった。２人のうち一人は、私が絵はがきを見て「かわいい」というと、それを一枚くれた。

私はカレーライスのランチセットとコーヒーを注文した。セットにはサラダとフルーツヨーグルトもついてきた。カレーライスはすごく美味しかった。ヨーグルトも素晴らしく美味しかった。挽きたてのコーヒーはかわいいハートの形のマグに入ってきた。でも、少なくとも私にとっては、コーヒーは美味しくなかった。でも、（言っておくけど）私はコーヒーのセンスがない。

Café Soeurをお勧めできるかどうかは、その人がタバコに敏感かどうかによる。店内は天井が高いから、換気がいいとはいえ、このカフェでは全席喫煙可だし、建物の中にあるし、誰かが吸っていれば、お客さんが気づかないはずがない。でも、タバコが気にならないか自分が喫煙者なら、このカフェはランチにいいところと思っている。東京スカイツリーに行くなら、Café Soeurに寄ってみるのもいいかも。

(Translation checked by Kairi) 

Cafe Soeur

Today I made an important realization. There's a big difference between cafes and coffee shops. While both are nice depending on what you're going for, I'm more interested in coffee shops.

But anyway, today I went to a cafe in Oshiage called Cafe Soeur. It's a really cute two story shop. The interior is country style and is done mainly in blue and whitewash.
Very cute. The two women who run the shop aren't exactly chatty, but they're very nice. One of them even let me have a postcard that I saw and said was cute.

I had the curry rice set with blend coffee. The set included a side salad and a small cup of fruit and yogurt. The curry was amazing! And the yogurt was pretty heavenly as well. The coffee was freshly ground and brewed and came in an adorable heart shaped mug.However, at least for me, the coffee itself was pretty bad. But again remember that I don't really have great taste in coffee.

As for whether or not I'd recommend this place depends on how sensitive you are to smoke. Because it's very open, it's pretty well ventilated. But smoking is allowed and it is still an indoors space, so if someone is smoking, you're bound to notice. But if you don't mind a little smoke or you're a smoker yourself, and you're looking for a nice place for lunch, I definitely recommend it. Especially if you happen to be in the area looking a Tokyo Sky Tree.

Order: Curry Lunch Set with Blend Coffee (900 yen)
Review: Cute and cozy lunch spot but not recommended for people sensitive to smoke.

Website:  食べログ Page
Access: Oshiage Station (less than 10 minutes from Exit A1)