Downstairs Coffee

Pic from official website

So after the disaster that was sick Neena at a smoky cafe, my friend was in charge of finding a smoke free place for our next language exchange meeting. Since he had something to do in Roppongi that evening, he found a cafe nearby. The one he found is called Downstairs Coffee and it's run by the same guy as Streamer Coffee, Hiroshi Sawada.

The cafe is in the Mercedes-Benz showroom. I had seen it before but never went in. It looked a bit swanky and expensive. It is pretty cool but the prices aren't bad at all. I didn't know it at the time, but this cafe, and possibly the entire place, is only opened for a limited time. It will be closing in December of 2012, this year.

My friend and I found a cafe magazine (that I don't have!) that mentioned this place. I didn't read it at the time, but I took a picture of it for later study. It said Downstairs, and Upstairs (a bar/restaurant), opened as part of the Mercedes-Benz Connection. The magazine article also talks about the coffee and its creaminess, and how customers can use the wifi freely. And even though they're basically in the showroom, people can relax and feel a welcoming atmosphere. (It's a short article, but it briefly touches on all the selling points.)

So, I have to say that I agree with the article. The coffee, just like at Streamer, was delicious, and pretty. And this time I could take a picture of it. I didn't take any pictures of the place, because I forgot, like an idiot. But the place is very bright with lots of big windows. It's a car showroom after all. When it started getting dark, the lights came on, and the lighting was the kind that is green and then before you know it, it's pink. It was kind of nice and somehow subtle. I don't remember the seats, and I think our window side table was white, but I'm pretty sure the communal table in the middle was wooden. Quite comfortable and easy to relax and chat or study in.

So, I would definitely recommend this place. And over Streamer Coffee at that. But since it'll be closing in just a few months, you'd better get a move on it if you want to check it out.

Order: Soy Latte (¥430)
Review: It's a shame that it's closing soon.

Website: http://www.mercedes-benz-connection.com/index.html
Access: Roppongi station (exit 8 maybe, the Roppongi Hills side)
Address: 7-8-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

空想カフェ (Kuusou Cafe)

My friend and I both had the afternoon off today so we decided to hit up a cafe together. We planned on going to Toique, because it sounded like a rather interesting place. We walked all the way out there only to find that it was closed until about two hours later. Drats! We were slightly disappointed but we weren't about to give up so easily. So we sat down with our cafe magazines to find a new destination.

We decided to go with 空想カフェ. 空想 translates to daydream or fantasy. Sounds like an interesting place, right? So we walked from Okachimachi to Iriya to find the place. And then in we went. It was indeed a cute place. Very quiet. My friend and I were the only customers and there was just one man behind the counter doing something on his MacBook. We chose to sit down at the interesting shaped table in the middle of the room. There was no one else to worry about, after all.

We then placed our order. We were able to choose coffee or tea. It was a hot day so iced coffee was also okay. "Alright, 2 iced coffees please". And as the gentlemen went to the back, my friend and I shared a dubious look. My friend was slightly bewildered at the lack of cake or bread. If we had done proper research before, we would have known, but because we hadn't, we were a bit surprised. There were books all over the place and a toy room that we probably could have looked at, but didn't.

Instead we had a nice pleasant chat about the type of cafe we would run, given the choice and opportunity. And waited for our coffees to arrive. And arrive they eventually did. With the most interesting stirrers we'd seen in a while. And by interesting, I mean slightly racist looking. After a good chuckle, we used our odd stirrers to add in some milk and sugar syrup to the rather strong coffee. Now, the coffee was pretty good, but something was weird with the milk so it kind of balled together. That was a bit gross.

After spending a good while chatting about random things, we went to pay. We had both decided this wasn't the best cafe we'd been to. My friend disliked it more than I did until...we got a free little keychain toy thing. The gentleman ended up being quite friendly and chatty at the end so he earned lots of points with us then.

I can't go so far as to recommend this place, but I wouldn't recommend against it either. It was nice enough and if I lived in the area I would probably go there. But since I don't and I'm never really in that area, I won't be visiting again. But I must say, I like the concept of the cafe. It's a nice quite space with some interesting things to look at. And I kind of like the idea of just serving a couple things. Keeps things simple for the owner, right? Maybe I'll add that feature to my dream cafe.

Order: Iced Coffee (¥500)
Review: Interesting concept and nice space. But...

Website: http://asakusanocafe.com/
Access: Iriya station (probably about 5-10 minutes.)
Address: 2-30-1 Senzoku, Taito Ward, Tokyo

Phuc Minh Coffee (Ho Chi Minh)

So, as I mentioned in the previous blog, I went a cafe the first night I arrived in Vietnam but I didn't really pay attention to it. So on the second full day while my friend was at work, I walked back over there. I stayed for about 4 hours or so. I actually ended up going again the next day too. And were I to have stayed longer, I would have gone again, I'm sure.

The cafe itself is not particularly cozy but it is comfortable. It's quite open and bright. The temperature is nice and the music was quite amusing. They played a lot of older pop from the 90s and early 2000s. But every once in a while they'd play something completely random like Hikaru Utada's "First Love". On top of all that, the staff was quite nice and always smiling.

So in visiting there twice and for such extended periods of time, I had ordered quite a bit. Three Vietnamese White Coffees (2 hot and 1 iced), a watermelon juice, a club sandwich, and fries. Everything was quite good, especially the drinks. However, I drank two coffees on the first day and had some problems later. Vietnamese coffee is quite strong and with the added sugar, I had a small case of the jitters. I then crashed a bit later. Hence the juice the next day.

So, this is probably not a cafe that I would go out of my way for. But I definitely definitely appreciated it being so close. If I lived in the area, I would be a regular for sure.

Order: 3 Vietnamese White Coffees, Watermelon Juice, Club Sandwich, and Fries (I forget the prices, but probably average)
Review: I'm so happy it was there for me!

Website: http://www.phucminhcoffee.com/
Location: District 7, HCMC

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)

Introduction + First Adventure (Streamer Coffee Company)

So, I recently decided that I wanted to try a new hobby. I'm always going to cafes, whether to study with less distractions, kill time while waiting for something, or just to get a caffeine fix. But I, a creature of habit and someone who gets a little nervous trying out new things by myself, always go to the same chains and shops. I know that Tokyo offers way more than Starbucks. So, I've decided that at least once a month (I'm hoping for more than that of course, but one is the minimum), I will check out a new place. So today, my friend and I went on the first Caffeinated Adventure!

We went to Streamer Coffee Company in Shibuya. I found it while perusing the interwebs one day. It was opened by latte artist Hiroshi Sawada in 2010. Apparently this dude is a bit of a celebrity in the Japanese barista scene. He's even won awards for his art. So, I have to say, I was a bit disappointed that we weren't allowed to take pictures in the cafe. Since it was on one the back streets of Shibuya, it wasn't crazy busy with shoppers and tourists. It had a real comfortable feel to it and with the big comfy looking chairs on one side and a big wooden communal table on the other, it reminded me of the cafes I used to go to during university. There was a minimalistic feeling to it - hip but not pretentious. As for the coffee, I got the standard "Streamer Latte", which was pretty mild and milky, and though I like coffee, I am a bit of a wuss, so it was perfect for me. It went well with the "Military Donut" (regular donut with a camo frosting design) that I had too.

Image from TimeOut Tokyo's Review

Order: Streamer Latte (520yen) and Military Donut (400yen)
Review: Very cool and comfortable environment and pretty good coffee

Website: http://streamercoffee.com/
Nearest Station: Shibuya (10 minute walk from exit 13)