Mr. Friendly Cafe

So the last stop on my friend's and my mega cafe adventure was Mr. Friendly Cafe in Daikanyama / Ebisu. This is another one of those places that I'd been dying to go to but just didn't have the chance to go out to. After we left Rosalie, we decided to walk towards Ebisu since I needed to take the Hibiya line to Roppongi that evening. Well, wouldn't you know it, Mr. Friendly Cafe just happened to be on the way! Lucky!

So, I found this in one of my many cafe magazines in the hotcake section. But the unique point here is that the hotcakes are miniature Mr. Friendlies. So cute! I was surprised to find that this is the only location because it's been around for a while and there's a ton of merchandise - cookies, mugs, T-shirts, figurines, bags, etc, etc.

Even though I had just had half a piece of cake, I couldn't pass up the chance to eat those tiny little men. So I order a seven-piece regular set with a coffee. Since I was eating in, I also got to choose a topping. I went with caramel, though I wish I had gone with whipped cream instead. All well, there's always next time. Wait - what? Next time? Yeah, if I'm ever in the area again, I'll be popping over here again. I want to try a sundae or something next time. But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. My friend ordered the mango yogurt smoothie drink and then we took out seats.

The seating area was small and inviting. Most of the light came in through the huge window which faced the road. The place wasn't really anywhere near the main road so, while it wasn't particularly interesting, it wasn't unpleasant either. And the light was quite nice. There was a rather large stuffed Mr Friendly in the corner of the bench seat that I promptly sat next to.

After a few minutes our drinks and mini hotcake men came out to us. After getting a few pictures, we dug in. (Since I'm such a nice friend, I of course let my friend have a few pieces.) The little Mr Friendly hotcakes were yummy on their own, but I'm a fan of pancakes in general so that doesn't say much. And the caramel dipping sauce wasn't terrible, but like I said, I wish I had made a different choice. My cafe latte was pretty good, and I learned later it was organic coffee, so I guess that's good. My friend's mango yogurt drink tasted an awful lot like a Mango lassie, which is of course not a bad thing either.

I definitely enjoyed coming here. It's a place that plan to come to again. I even bought some Mr Friendly cookies for another friend on the way out. (I'll be honest, I bought myself one mango cookie too.) Out of all the places we went today, Mr Friendly Cafe was definitely the top.

Order: Seven-piece hotcake set (¥263) and  Cafe Latte (¥420)
Review: They'll be seeing my face again.

Website: http://www.mrfriendly.jp/index.html
Access: Daikanyama Stations (a few minutes walk)
Address: 2-18-6 Ebisu Nishi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Rosalie

So, after the iffy cafe in Gakugeidaigaku, my friend and I decided to move on to Daikanyama. This place is also well known for having oodles of cafes. While walking around we happened to notice a rooftop seating area. After climbing up the stairs, we realized it belonged to Rosalie, which as it turned out was a bit of a cafe. We peeked inside, but didn't sit down, because we wanted to sit outside.

The inside was really nice from what we could see. It was clearly designed for the young female crowd. That seemed to be all there was! It made no difference to me, but my friend was in hog heaven. Until I made him join me outside. If I had to say, I would say that the motif was rather Victorian, but I didn't get a real good look, so it's hard to say exactly.

As for the rooftop seating area, it was nice and simple. We sat at a table next to a hedge, so the two of us pale people could get some shade and protection from the sun. We couldn't really get the overhead view from our spot, but my guess is that the view below is just the street, so it's no big deal. But just being out in the sun was enough to make me quite happy.

So, since we had just had some coffee, we decided to go with something different at this place. My friend had a lychee and pineapple smoothie, and I had the citrus herb tea. We also split some strawberry shortcake. The cake was delicious and had fancy silver sprinkles so it definitely gets two thumbs up. The tea took me a few sips to get warmed up to it. The flavor was much more subtle than I expected, I guess. But by the end I was wishing I had more. I would drink that stuff all the time if I knew how to make it actually.

So I will say this place is nice and I would highly recommend it to a group of Japanese girls in their early to mid 20s. But if it wasn't for the outdoor area, I probably wouldn't have come here at all. Looking at the indoor crowd made me feel too foreign, too old, and too uncute. It was also a little pricey for my tastes. But like I said, if you fit that target market, I recommend it.

Order: Strawberry Shortcake (¥700) and Citrus Herb Tea (¥750)
Review: It's not really my scene.

Website: http://www.maisondereefur.com/#/home/cafe
Access: Daikanyama Station
Address: 2F, 24-7, Sarugakucho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan