Public House

Today was another meeting with my regular language exchange partner / friend. Since I did such a fantastic job choosing the last place, it was his turn again to choose a cafe. He found a place that I personally would have given up on. It was a little further than I usually go because of the fact that I have the worst sense of direction ever. But he led the way and we were all good.

So, the name of this place is Public House and it's on the 3rd floor of the Shibuya New South Exit, which is apparently used solely for the Saikyo line. It's a rather large cafe with the typical wooden motif going on. The smoking section was quite separate from the non-smoking section, so that was really nice. We were sat in the far corner next to the lounge area, which was reserved for a later group of people. Free wifi was offered here, but my friend and the staff couldn't get it to work in our corner. That's okay, I came to the rescue with my pocket wifi device!

Anyway, I was feeling a bit peckish, so we ordered some mixed nuts (they're not on the menu; you have to ask) and then I got a cappuccino, of course. My friend went with Iced Mint Rooibos Tea. The cappuccino was simple and came with a cinnamon stick, which is a touch that I do like. I give them presentation points, though I do prefer cinnamon powder because it smells and tastes a bit stronger. Basically the drink was good, but not so special.

So this place was really nice. It was comfy and quiet. Based on the smell, I will guess that the food tastes amazing there. It sure smelled delicious! The drinks cost about the same as everywhere else and the non-smoking section wasn't smoky. So, all in all I'm saying, this is one worth checking out.

Order: Cappuccino (500)
Review: Great place for language exchange or brainstorming


Hours: 7:00~24:00
Non-smoking / Smoking Sections
Website: http://www.cafecompany.co.jp/brands/publichouse/
Access: Shibuya Station (JR New South Exit's building or a few minutes walk from JR east exit)
Address: 3-29-17 (3F) Shibuya, Shibuya Ward, Tokyo

Respekt

Today I had a language exchange meeting in Shibuya. The two of us like cafes so on occasion we abandon Starbucks and find a new place to check out. Today we headed towards the Harajuku direction and went in to Respekt.

Respekt is located near Streamer and Glorious Cafe Chain. So naturally is attracts the same kind of rather young and hip crowd - the musician and hipster looking crowd, not the young kids with host and hostess hair that hang out at the other end of the station. The place is pretty nice, but I have a really bad cold right now, so that fact that there's no barrier between the smoking and non-smoking sections was not earning this place any points. It's a really smoky place. Many of the cool cafes are, I know, but it's definitely a negative point for me. Especially right now.

So, due to my cold, I decided to skip the coffee and go with tea - Rooibos Mint Tea, to be exact. My friend ordered coffee and we split a Tirimasu cake. The tea was really good. On top of that, there was about 2 cups or so per pot and the hot liquid was very soothing on my throat, so I ended up ordering a second one. The tirimasu was also quite good, but we couldn't help but laugh because the tiny portion came in a massive dish. Who are you trying to fool with that?

So, I did get some time to look around during restroom breaks and such. There's a counter at the window with computers that I guess can be used for a fee. There's lots of tables and chairs as well as sofa seating. All in all a comfy place with some nice features. If it wasn't for the smokiness, I would have really liked it. It seems like a good place to study or relax.


Order: Tirimasu and Coffee Set (¥850) and two orders of Rooibos Mint Tea (¥650ea)
Review: Chill but way too smoky for someone with a bad cold

Website: http://www.cafecompany.co.jp/brands/sus/respekt/index.html
Access: Shibuya Station (About 1 or 2 minutes from Exit 13)
Address: 1-11-1 (2F), Shibuya, Shibuya Ward, Tokyo 150-0002

Roman Records Cafe

One of my friends and I were both off today, so we decided to have a deluxe cafe adventure. We planned on wandering around some stations on the Toyoko line and stopping into a couple different places. The first station we got off at was Jiyugaoka. We ended up having lunch and a donut there, but not at any cafes. The one we had found that we wanted to stop in was full. We were around right at lunch time so it was as expected.

We then moved to Gakugeidaigaku station. We wandered around a bit before happening on Roman Records Cafe. It looked cool and the signboard said that had waffles, so we went in. I ended up with mixed feelings about this place. Let me tell you why. First off, when we went inside, the man who runs the place greeted us and said "We close at 4:00. Is that okay?" "What time is it now?" "3:20." We decided to stay in for a bit. So far, no big deal. The part that left a bit of a bad taste was that we weren't given a menu for about 5 minutes. Then once we got it, we got about 1 minute for both of us to look through it. So, both of us felt that we were being unnecessarily rushed due to initial bad service. Granted, I'm sure the guy just wanted to be able to get out on time, and I probably would have done the same. But still, as a customer I was not getting a good first impression.

So, after placing our order and waiting for it to come, I took a look at our surroundings. And I have to admit, it's a pretty cool place. It's rather small but the seats are large and comfy. There's a bit a DJ corner thing going on, and I think the music is the main appeal of this place, though the food looks like it might be amazing too. Like I said, it's rather small but not at all cramped. And while it's not dark per say, it does have a rather masculine feel to it. I suspect that during peak hours it's good and smoky too. As you may know, I'm not such a fan of smoky places, but I think it might kind of suit the ambiance of Roman Records Cafe.

I will say, that I started thinking more positively about this place when the coffees came out. They came out quick, maybe five minutes later. Maybe. And presentation-wise, I had no complaints. I ordered a regular cafe latte and my friend got the coconut one. Mine had a lovely heart in it and my friend's had coconut powder sprinkled on the top of his. Taste-wise, I also approved wholeheartedly. Mine was very rich and creamy. The coffee and milk was balanced quite nicely. The coconut latte was good, but since I'm not really a fan of coconut, it's hard to really make a judgement there.

So, the final conclusion is if I'm ever in the area again anytime other than between 4:00 and 6:30, I will go in again. I want to like the place and I feel like the circumstances just didn't allow for a proper experience. So, I'll reserve judgement for now. Though it's probably good.

Order: Cafe Latte (¥560) and Coconut Latte (¥580)
Review: Probably a great place to go.

Website: http://romanrecordscafe.p1.bindsite.jp/
Access: Gakugeidaigaku Station (about 1 minute or so on foot)
Address: Ito Building 102, Takaban 2-20-4, Meguro Ward, Tokyo

Glorious Chain Cafe

As you may know from reading previous posts, or knowing me in person, I love buying cafe magazines. I have more than I could possibly need and I'll probably buy more. But there's one in particular that I really like and find very useful - Tokyo Cafe Book 2012. They've got such enticing pictures in there. One in particular has been calling to me and I found myself with some free time, so I finally made it to the place to which the picture belonged.

The cafe is called "Glorious Chain Cafe". The subscript says "by Diesel". According to the magazine (if I translated it correctly), Diesel Shibuya is a concept store (it doesn't say how or in what way), and at the same time that they opened it, they opened the cafe. The manager, 鐘ケ江仁 (maybe Hitoshi Kanegae, but I'm not sure....), took a team around the world to hand select dishes to put on the menu. According to the magazine.

So anyway, I went because of the picture of Eggs Benedict in the magazine. And though I was tempted by other choices, some of which were cheaper, I decided to get the Eggs Benedict. That's what brought me there after all. The lunch set came with a choice of tea, coffee, coke, or ginger ale. I decided to go with ginger ale and then maybe order a coffee later.

The eggs Benedict looked as nice in person as they did in the magazine. I was actually a bit surprised. And they tasted really great! Now, I have to admit, this was my first time to actually have eggs Benedict, so it's possible that they're the worst ones ever, but if you're not comparing them, they're definitely delicious. I was quite please. But as a result, I ended up inhaling them and giving myself the hiccups.

Since I scarfed the food down so quickly, I had some more time to kill, so I did go ahead and order some coffee. I went with the "Flat White", after looking up what that was first. It's a choice that I both regretted and celebrated. It was creamy and delicious. But I can't actually drink much milk and I usually go with soy milk in my coffee drinks. So my mouth was super happy and my stomach hated me.

I would definitely come here again for food, but I'd probably go over to "On the Corner" instead, because the coffee is better and the staff are a little friendlier. And cool without being pretentious. I felt like the staff at Glorious Chain Cafe thought they were cool and I didn't really like that vibe so much. But the food was good and the cafe itself is pretty cool and chill. Maybe a cool spot for a date? Or a place to take someone in general that you want to make think you're cool?


Order: Eggs Benedict lunch (¥1200) and Flat White (¥600)
Review: Cool and chill cafe, but maybe a bit too stylish for me.

Website: http://www.diesel.co.jp/cafe
Access: Shibuya Station (across the street from exit 13)

Straw Hat Cafe

My birthday was this week, and since my friend and I were off on the same day, we decided to celebrate. We went to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. It was quite cute but there were tons of kids. I really liked the building itself and I want it to be my house someday. But I haven't seen any of the main Ghibli movies so I couldn't really appreciate some of the attractions. But anyway...

The cafe! There is a rather cute place in the museum called the Straw Hat Cafe. We were both looking forward to going in but there was quite the queue. We were surprised to see that there was a special waiting area with seats and books and such, and that there was a queue for that! We had to wait to wait? I guess all in all we waited about 30 or 40 minutes or so. And then we finally got in!

The place is cute, as expected. It's got a nice country cottage feel to it. My friend and I were sat at the counter, which looked directly into the kitchen area. That meant we got an interesting view that we could both look at without craning our necks. We could also nonchalantly take pictures.

My friend has decided to "man up" and start drinking coffee. So instead of tea, he also got a "coffee with foamed milk". But we mainly chose this drink because we heard that it came with some sort of art on top. We were excited about that, as you can probably guess from some of my previous posts. They basically painted a cute image on the top with chocolate. I was a bit worried because I don't like chocolate coffee but there wasn't enough chocolate to affect the taste. It was pretty good, by the way.

Also since it was my birthday celebration, I decided that I was going to eat cake too. So we ordered the day's seasonal chiffon cake - chocolate fig. They gave us a huge piece so the two of us were able to share it and still be full. I'm not really a fan of chocolate cake - I don't dislike it, but it's not my favorite - but this was quite nice. It was really airy and fluffy. The flavor was also quite light, so perfect with the coffee.

So, it was a really cute place with nice food and coffee and everything we saw served to other people looked amazing. I wouldn't recommend going to the museum for the cafe, because that would be inconvenient and pricey. But if you're going to the museum, definitely stop in.



Order: Coffee with foamed milk (470yen) and Chocolate Fig Chiffon Cake (500yen)
Review: A great addition to the museum

Website: Museum's page
Location: Ghibli Museum, Mitaka

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

Canal Cafe

So a friend of mine has also become interested in local cafes. So when our schedules occasionally align, we seek out an interesting one. Last time I chose the Hammock cafe. This time he chose going to an area of town sometimes referred to as "the Paris of Tokyo" and seeing what we came across. So I'm not sure who is calling Kagurazaka "the Paris of Tokyo" or what that's even supposed to mean. My friend said that the title might be a bit much, but at any rate, there's quite a few cafes to choose from there.

We ended up visiting two cafes. The first of them was Canal Cafe. It was such a nice day that when we spotted the seating area along the canal, we were sold. We headed in around lunch time, so we each got a Caesar Salad and a drink. I saw Sakura Tea on the menu, and thinking it actually meant Sakura tea, which I'm a huge fan of, I got that instead of coffee. It turns out that Sakura tea is just a brand of iced tea. And I don't like iced tea. But that's not the cafe's fault so I won't hold that against them.


So anyway, about the cafe. We sat on the "deck side" which meant it was basically a cafe. Drinks and a couple dishes to choose from. If you go inside, it's actually an Italian restaurant. We also found out that the "canal" is actually the only remaining part of the old outer moat of the old Edo castle. Somehow it's also connecting to a rowing team. But now the rowing is done by customers paying a few hundred yen per 30 minutes.

The atmosphere is quite nice. When the weather is good, we both decided this was an ideal date spot. The food, while a little pricey for a cafe for lunch, was pretty good. And if it was for a date, the price wasn't that bad either. I can't say how the drinks were since I didn't like what I ordered. My friend said his was nothing special but it wasn't terrible either. So overall, we both approved but decided that we wouldn't be coming here with each other again.





Order: Caesar Salad and "Sakura" iced tea (I forgot the price)
Review: Nice date spot

Website: http://www.canalcafe.jp/
Access: Iidabashi Station (less than a five minute walk)

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)

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

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)