tajima coffee factory

Tried a new (to us) place, Tajima Coffee Factory

This shop is only open on Sundays!
 

The interior is kind of dark because they also share the space with a bar

Satoshi had their Brazil, he thought it could have been served a little hotter

And he had this with a dorayaki

Kat had their espresso lemonade soda with a brown butter financier

So refreshing!

2250 yen (tax included) 

They will be moving to another location in September and hope to operate on Saturdays and Sundays...we'll check them out again after their move

Tajima Coffee Factory

2-7-11 Minami Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Only open on Sundays

Hours: 11:00-18:00

single o

Been wanting to try Single O, a cafe from Australia

They have several locations around Tokyo, and there is one in Yurakucho

I tried their Ethiopia Hallo Beriti cold brew...fruity! delicious

Avo Show...toasted focaccia topped with avocado, pickled fennel, cashew "cheese", chili oil and some arugula & radish...loved the different flavors from each ingredient...1550 yen (tax included) for the foccacia and coffee

“beans & dreams”...I noticed they have carrot cake on their menu that I want to try...I'll be back

Single O

Lumine Yurakucho

Chiyoda, Tokyo

Hours: 10:00-21:00

*closed when Lumine is

idobata

Been wanting to try Idobata’s pour over coffee for some time now

In his family's garage, this grandpa works out of a teeny truck and makes delicious cups of coffee

Choose your coffee

Choose hot or iced

Prepare to wait 

It was nice to sit and talk story with him while he made our cups of coffee

He is super knowledgable about coffee

Satoshi had their Costa Rica served hot...500 yen (tax included)

Kat chose his iced Kenya…600 yen (tax included) so smooth!

Will come back next time I am here

Idobata

2-14-13 Hase

Kamakura, Kanagawa

Closed Thursdays

Hours: 9:00-17:00

*cash only

drip coffee holder

sometimes these drip filters do not fit directly on the rim of mugs.

I've often used the plastic cone style filter to stretch the drip filter over but most times the width is too large and the "legs" of the drip filter cannot "stretch" far enough to "hang onto" the filter with the weight of the heavy saturated coffee grains

Anyway, I found this gadget at the 100 yen store that is adjustable 

You place it over the rim of your mug and then just place the drip filter on top

I think it works best on the type of mug on the left rather than the American type mug on the right.

p.s. these coffees that we got in Iwate were delicious

6 more

we don't always drink instant coffee but when we do, we would usually buy the box on top

then I found one at the same price and made by the same company, but this one had 6 more "cups"

so now when we drink instant coffee, we buy the box on the bottom

do you drink instant coffee?
 

koss coffee

Tried a new (to me) coffee place, Koss Coffee

Apparently they opened last year in Oookayama

Whenever I go to Oookayama, I usually don’t go to this part of the shopping arcade but walked further to check them out

They renovated the interior but kept most of the signs that were on the outside of the shop

I tried their espresso tonic…800 yen (tax included)

Super refreshing

I love that they open early in the morning 

I want to try their cold brew, I’ll be back when I am in the area 

Koss Coffee

1-29-1 Kitasenzoku

Ota, Tokyo

Closed: Tuesdays

Hours: 8:00-16:00

yosano roaster kyoto

A welding craftsman in Yosano, Kyoto, that makes parts for bicycles decided to try his hand at roasting coffee and making chocolates.

I learned about his story from a television show.

He designed his own ceramic infrared coffee roasting machine and also designed a machine that will separate the nib and husk for cacao beans.

We tried his Rwanda Skyhill coffee. I wished he had more info, like the farm it came from.

I thought the taste of this coffee was smooth, not too much acid, I enjoyed it.

His Inemankai bar won a Silver Award at the International Chocolate Awards, 2021-2022 Asia Pacific

This bar uses 70% Colombian chocolate, kodaimai (red rice) and sake kasu (rice wine lees)

I couldn't taste any rice or sake kasu but the chocolate overall was smooth a little fruity

The Sparkling is 70% Vietnam chocolate and Amanohashidate Sparkling wine.

If you've ever tried grapes in Japan, it tasted just like it, really fruity! and lots of grape flavor

The Amanohashidate Wine, uses 70% Tanzania chocolate, and red wine, which I couldn't pick out, but again, this was a smooth tasting bar.

I'm glad we tried these chocolates and his coffee and loved the packaging , it was nice supporting a small business, and I hope he'll continue to succeed.

back to rouen

We went to Rouen the other day, for breakfast #2 or lunch #1 whichever you choose to say it was...

It was our second time to come here for their breakfast, but I guess I didn't post about it before...
 

The breakfast comes with toast, butter, jam, and a hard boiled egg...100 yen (tax included) plus the price of the drink you order.

We ordered their blend coffee...500 yen (tax included) each, so our total was 1200 yen (tax included)

I love how well the bread is toasted and the coffee delicious.

I think I just love having someone else making breakfast..ha!

90 minute limit so that others may enjoy their cafe too.

We'll be back.

yamaya and neko shokupan

V gave us these cans of smoked salmon and scallops that are supposed to be eaten as pupu 

I heated them up in the fish grill

They were delicious! (Thank you!) 

Since we needed coffee, I also looked for different cans at Yamaya for us to try and purchased this pork with honey mustard and chicken that is prepared yakitori style

Changing the subject, back in May I had written that the price of coffee went up, well it went up again!

Now 1 kilo of Mocha Blend or Special Blend is 1980 yen (plus tax) and the Kilimanjaro Blend is 2000 yen (plus tax)...eep!

Across the street of Yamaya is Neko Shokupan, the Christmas versions of Neko (cat) bread are cute!

What are you enjoying?

back to biwako

It had been 3 years since I'd been back to Biwako

This time I ordered what Satoshi had tried on that visit, the Napolitan...980 yen (tax included)

It came with a salad

The napolitan was delicious, they use their own sauce so it wasn't overly sweet, I would get this again.

lunch also comes with a choice of drink...on this day, iced coffee was needed.

I'm glad I went back and hope to go again soon.

Kissa Biwako

2-4-7 Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Closed: Wednesdays

Hours: 8:30-19:00

*cash only

oh em gee

Saturday, Satoshi had a tour guide thingy so on the spur of the moment, I decided to go to check out the hydrangea at Kita Kamakura...big mistake!

Everyone and their uncle decided to do the same thing

Thinking Meigetsuin opened at 9:00 I arrived just before, but found out at the entrance they opened at 8:30 during this time of year...boo!　(on the news they showed 100 people plus were waiting from 7:30!)

It took me at least 20 minutes from the entrance to the top of the stairs...

Plus it was blazing..talk about culture shock from over tourism!

Wished they had controlled the amount of people that could enter the area instead of letting everyone in after paying

What Meigetsuin looks like without the crowds (same stairs, April 2023)

I overheard people chattering about being in line for over an hour! so I quickly made a u-turn and left because it was impossible to enjoy the flowers “in peace”

on the way home, I decided to get something iced and ended up waiting almost 30 minutes here...

kaffe tonic...780 yen (tax included)..., I've had this before and the price has gone up since then.

took this to-go because everything inside was filled and all that was left was outside in the blazing sun, 

This hit the spot 

I also stumbled on a little bakery (La Petite Boulangerie Kita Kamakura)...picked up lunch to eat at home

daily quiche...this was broccoli cheese...600 yen (tax included)

apple pie 450 yen (tax included)...loved that it had lots of apple and a little custard cream inside

it was just people people people everywhere...

(reasons why I avoid matsuri (festivals) and "touristy" areas, why I try to get out and about "early"...after telling Satoshi about my day, he mentioned that unfortunately it is like this everywhere these days.)

I was glad to be getting on the train in the opposite direction…6163 steps

Verve Coffee Roasters

1365 Yamanouchi

Kamakura, Kanagawa

Hours: 7:00-19:00

La Petite Boulangerie Kita Kamakura

1388 Yamanouchi

Kamakura, Kanagawa

Closed: Tuesdays & Wednesdays

Hours: 9:00-16:00

rouen

Been wanting to try Rouen for some time now.

This coffeeshop has been used in many J-dramas.
 

The interior is what the Japanese call "retro"

Iced coffee...in a super cold metal cup!

no bake cheesecake...meh, nothing special

Loved the interior

They serve breakfast until 13:30...we want to try this, so we'll be back.

Rouen

1-36-2 Omorikita

Ota, Tokyo

Closed Wednesdays & Thursdays

Hours: 7:00-18:30 (weekdays), 7:30-17:30 (Saturdays & Sundays)

*cash only

yamaya

When I went to pick up some coffee at Yamaya the other day

the shop had a facelift so it was interesting trying to find things in their new layout

One thing I noticed was their Korean foods area got larger

In the snack area, they were having a 2 for 500 yen (plus tax) sale for nori ten (fried nori) 

108 yen plus tax for the Doritos (avocado flavor) and 188 yen (plus tax) for the Mi-re biscuits (honey butter flavor)

The price of coffee has gone up, up, up!  

1680 yen (plus tax) for 1 kilo

I notice the beans are more like broken pieces too

There aren't many new (to me) beers to try these days though.

What are you enjoying these days? 

takase

There is a bakery with a restaurant on the 3rd floor and coffee shop on the 2nd floor called Takase.

Their building is located in front of the JR Ikebukuro station and has been in business since 1920

While researching this, I learned they also have a coffee lounge on the 9th floor of their building as well as an annex with a coffee shop in it as well.

I actually wanted to check out the restaurant but since we were too early, we just picked up some of their baked goods.

It's a good thing I snapped this photo, because after it was in Satoshi's bag, they did not look like this...960 yen (tax included)

I had their teriyaki chicken and anpan...Satoshi had their mega sandwich and curry pan.

Everything was delicious, I'll be back.

Takase

1-1-4 Higashi Ikebukuro

Toshima, Tokyo

Bakery: 9:00-21:00

Coffee Shop: 9:00-20:00

Restaurant: 11:00-16:00 (lunch), 17:00-21:00 (dinner)

Coffee Lounge (9th floor): 11:00-19:30 (+300 yen per person on weekends and holidays)

Annex coffee salon: 8:00-19:00

kura

Satoshi wanted to check out Ikebukuro for guests he will be taking around soon.

After checking out this and that, we stopped in to Kura.

I've been wanting to check it out for some time and had it marked on my "to try" list.

Bummer they allow smoking.

Iced coffee for me, hot coffee for Satoshi and we shared this purin (caramel flan)...2400 yen (tax included)

Super expensive but the coffee was so good!

I'm sure we'd be back if they didn't allow smoking.

Still, I'm glad we got to try this place.

Kura

1-39-1 Nishiikebukuro

Toshima, Tokyo

Hours: 9:30am-5:30am Mondays-Saturdays, 9:30am-23:00 Sundays