SLOW CAFE

Before we go to the hill garden in Yamate, we went to this SLOW CAFE in Motomachi. At first I thought it is in a remote area or somewhere within the residential area, but it turned out that the place is quite crowded and there were a lot of shop houses around it. The atmosphere was so-so but at least the food is not bad.

We tried the deli plate and the curry made of nuts. They were all very healthy, but I was not so sure about the "slow" part. Anyway, it is a very standard cafe that you can find around Tokyo or Yokohama.

Chiki Chiki & Tan Tan

Yesterday, despite the cloudy mood we have decided to visit Chiki Chiki & Tan Tan. Maybe the sound of the name gave us something very, sunny? The cafe is located a bit far from Kannai, the station nearby China Town in Yokohama. I was not so sure about the menu even though I was interested in the interior design of it, but after some searching on the internet I felt we can give it a try.

It turn out that we had made a good choice. The pasta were great. Personally I like the idea to bake the cauliflower and match it with the tomato base chicken pasta. Very nice. And the plate of fish with vegetables and beans was very special indeed. The way they decorated it showed that Chiki Chiki is not just any casual cafe, but something more. However, we were not sure about the desert - 2 type of Tiramisu with vanilla ice cream. The look was great (picture above), but it just did not feel like the Tiramisu. But overall we were satisfied.

Beside the delicious dishes, I also like the way they use the block of red wall in the interior. The separation of the main entrance with the kitchen beside it, some counter seats and the main room for dining was very successful. Even though the design approach seems quite modern, the touch of hand made furniture and decorations help to make it a very warm place indeed.

I think we are going there again sometime :)

HAMA CAFE

Finally, I went to HAMA CAFE. I saw this cafe when I first visited Osanbashi in Yokohama a few years ago ( For info about Osanbashi, pls visit http://www.osanbashi.com/en/index.html ). The cafe felt interesting because of its location and the surrounding. But I had never have the chance to really step inside... until yesterday.

Just as I imagined, it is not spacious inside. Simple, easy. The compact kitchen and the room of 4-5 tables is separated by a decorative tile counter. There is nothing much, but it is enough for simple meals. And we had a nice Saturday's lunch - a plate of Keema curry, a cream spaghetti, and a Tiramisu.

Oh and one more thing, I like the idea to sell popcorn by the entrance. During our lunch, we saw a mother bought a pack of popcorn for her child. Ever had the memory that when you are small, the eagerly feeling to grasp that popcorn or the cotton candy when you passing by the shop, to be charmed by the sweet taste in the air.

L'ambre

This is not the type of cafe that we will usually go, but we had no choice last Friday's night after we had our dinner in Shinjuku, and thinking to find a place just to have a cup of coffee. It is almost impossible to find a space to fit 6 of us. After some unsuccessful searching, we finally decided to try this place - L'ambre.

It was really hard to imagine that the cafe has its main room underground with the height as shown in the picture above. As you can see, it is a really old cafe. Even the ice cream and the drinks felt so historic. But we had our good time here. And we even decided to come next time because it surely saves our time to wandering around Shinjuku at night for cafe.

ARMWOOD COTTAGE

After the disappointment at Suzu Cafe last week which was very shocking indeed, we finally found another nice cafe in a remote area of east Shinjuku yesterday. We took a long walk by the north side of Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, where we discovered a lots of pleasant restaurants too. However Armwood Cottage is not located by the garden, but instead it is facing the busy main road of Shinjuku Street. As a contrast to that though, the interior is full of serenity - a very special place to spend a quiet afternoon in this giant metropolis.

The food was simple but delicious, no complaint about that. They were the usual dishes you will find in the average cafe. The way that seasoned cod roe served with the hot bread was very nice.

I know that Armwood Cottage is an affiliated cafe of atticroom, but I think that they did a good job in creating a totally different style of cafe. Although Starbucks or Tully's are the popular and profitable business model now, the affiliated cafe like these by attic planning could be the next step in the blue ocean (refer to the book "Blue Ocean Strategy"). There are a few attempts in Tokyo now, but whether it could be taken to the global stage (or was taken? or will be?), I do not know. But personally I think that the beauty of this kind of attempt stays as long as it is local and small.

SUZU cafe

Oh this is one of the worst cafe that I have ever visited in Tokyo. The atmosphere is so-so but the food is not good. I think my wife's Peperonchino is much more better than the one that I ordered. But anyway, the reason that I am posting this cafe is because I have a hypothetical proposition about the way Japanese acts toward cafe or, the food served in cafe. I think it is a well-known conception that Japanese cuisine is very good on the appearance. And truly the beauty of it can be considered an artistic approach. But I think that some might only taste on the food appearance, and do not really even understand the real taste of the dishes. To be honest, and fair, I like most of the Japanese food. There is no doubt about that. But the way their modern culture "evolved" make me start wondering about the true essence of the food served in some restaurants, etc.

If you need a place just simply to have a short rest, well SUZU cafe can be the place. I am not against it. It is just around the corner by OIOI building in the center of Shibuya - one of the best over-advertised-area of Tokyo.

Cafe d'Art

I was never so sure about the cafe of any art museum. We visited this Cafe d'Art of Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Shinagawa, Tokyo in July. The purpose was to take my wife to the art exhibition, and enjoy the cafe which I had never had the chance to pay a visit every time when I was there. The cafe provides special image cake according to each exhibition, but we had only the usual dishes. Honestly, they were just usual, nothing special. The environment is ok, but I think maybe they can try something better to make the cafe more as a piece of artwork too, since the place has the potential.

home made cafe - 1st try

Ok, here are something that we have made a few days before during our holidays, when we bought a new oven. Although they were not that looking good or can be sold at any cafe, we learned a lot from them.

First, my wife made some pudding. At first when I tried it while it was still hot, it was not that good. But later after we put it in the fridge for a night, it turned tasty. Not bad for a first try. I know the photo does not seem that good, but we are still trying on the appearance...

I made these cookies because I thought it might be easy and I was curious about the honey as one of its ingredient. The cookies were successfully made, but they are just usual cookies. Well, at least I gave it a try. Maybe better luck next time.

And this, the ice cream that I have wanted to make for a long time. Honestly, I think I failed. Because it was more "ice" and there are no creamy part... I think I have to look for a better recipe.

Beside the three above, actually my wife also baked a very nice cheese cake. But unfortunately I could not take any nice photo despite the great taste. She still need to work on the texture of the cake. Looking forward to catch a nice shot.

Anyway, the next baking day will have to be scheduled in the end of October.

Chelsea Cafe

I believe that a good spatial design such of cafe is the one which creates nice imprints of memory. It is not an easy job and usually it could be more easier just to build something beautiful or elegant on the appearance, like those monumental architectural design. Personally I am not against those particular design because they serve their purpose too; but I prefer spatial construction with architectural elements as the background to nurture meaningful imprints of our memory.

In terms of my not-so-supported-by-fellow-architecture-friends-in-Japan's philosophy, I think Chelsea Cafe could be counted as one of the successful spatial design which contributed to my life experience. Maybe it happened accidentally, but it sure did.

It was a rainy night in '07 winter when a friend (who is my wife now) called. She could not find any other friends in Tokyo to accompany her for dinner because it was year end that time and everybody was out of the town. We had a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant near Shinjuku station, and we kept on talking and talking and talking even after we left the restaurant. So I voted for a little journey to search for cakes because it was her birthday.

Luckily we found a cafe nearby, which was Chelsea. But I did not remember the name last time because all the concern was about the cakes in the show window. Most of the cakes were out of order because it was getting late, but we managed to have some.

To be honest, I do not have any clear memory about the cafe of that night; I remember only the blur experience of having cakes on a cold winter night there. But that is enough - to know that we are sharing something together.

Yes, to share something together, that is a nice and meaningful memory imprint. Whether it is a cafe, or any spatial design, I always place the experiential approach in my design recipe. It is not an easy path, but whenever there's a will, there's a way. Besides, the beauty within exceeds those without.

HATTIFNATT

Today was cloudy but I think this cafe helped to brighten up our mood. HATTIFNATT has a very small entrance door that we had to squeeze our shelves through it. It felt like entering the wonderland and you have to start looking for the rabbit. Passing by a small wooden door with all my curiosity, we took the stairs to the upper floor. The loft spaces were taken so we just chose a simple seat. But it really felt like a different world there. Even without those dolls for sale exhibited in the room, I think the atmosphere was nicely created.

We took some time looking around before we actually ordered for the food. The croque-monsieur (the upper photo below) was very nice though it was only a very simple mix of white sauce, cheese, and the toasts. The curry doria tasted very healthy and delicious too. However I had expect for a different menu which better reflect their concept for the cafe.

Anyway, I believe the true disappointment I had was due to the dessert which we could not order during the time we had visited for lunch. The dessert ordering starts on 3pm, which was not possible for us. And the dessert menu really looked good and share the concept of the cafe.

I could only hope for a second visit... for the dessert!