Coffee in Tokyo

Coming from the San Francisco Bay Area, I was used to the abundance of pretentious third wave cafes that served excellent coffee. At first glance, Japan's coffee scene seemed to be dominated by coffee chains like Starbucks, Excelsior Cafe and Pronto, but with a bit of research and venturing, I discovered some cafe gems where coffee is taken very seriously. Here's a glimpse of a few cool cafes in Tokyo I was able to experience. (For more detailed information about some good coffee shops in Tokyo, you might want to check out this NY Times blog or Tokyo TimeOut's list.)

Chatei Hatou

I decided to check out Chatei Hatou because the founder of Blue Bottle Coffee (popular San Francisco-based coffee company) fancied this place. Chatei Hatou was not far from Shibuya Station and fairly easy to find. Since it was a kissaten, or Japanese-style teahouse, it had an old-fashioned, moody bar feel. The interior was furnished with dark wood and dimly lit. Small tables ran along the left side, and a long bar area had seats that allowed guests to watch the baristas work. 

My friend and I sat at the bar/counter area, where we admired the large array of fancy cups and dishes displayed on the dark shelves against the walls. It was a hot summer day, but it was cool and calm inside the shop. People chattered quietly and the baristas prepared coffee with an elegant solemnity. Be prepared to drop at least 1000 yen (~$10) on a cup of coffee though. I'd recommend this place for people who are serious about their coffee and want to retreat from the craziness of Shibuya station.

watching the barista do my pour-over coffee

Jamaican Blue Mountain pour-over coffee

Omotesando Coffee

I talked about this coffee kiosk in a previous blog post, but here's a quick recap. Omotesando Coffee is a small coffee kiosk inside an old traditional Japanese house in the quiet backstreets of Omotesando. Despite being only 5 minutes away from Omotesando Station, this place was a little tricky to find in the residential neighborhood behind the station. The people in the area seemed to know this place well though. It was slightly strange seeing the cube kiosk take up the entire room of the house, but the design was simple and elegant. The drinks were a bit on the pricy side (~600 yen for a mocha), but they are worth it if you happen to be in the area. Plus, the cube-shaped custard-filled sweets they sell go well with the drink.

view from outside

mocha + cube-shaped custard-filled dessert

Cafe de'Lambre

Opened in 1948, this rustic and intimate cafe in Ginza serves only coffee, though that includes roughly 30 single origin variety of coffee served hot, cold, in jelly form, with liqueur, and as a pudding. The most popular draw is probably the aged beans. 

Cafe de'Lambre was about a 5-minute walk from Shinbashi Station and pretty easy to find. The interior was made of dark wood and dimly lit, giving off a cigar lounge vibe. A few small tables lined the right wall, and swiveling wooden chairs were available at the bar/counter. We had some trouble deciding what to order (there were English menus), so one of the two men behind the counter asked what kind of coffee we preferred. He explained in English the different types of single origin beans they served and their flavor profiles, emphasizing that the aged beans have strong acidity and we would probably not like it if we prefer sweeter coffees. Despite my curiosity in the aged coffee beans, I chose one that wasn't aged.

The kitchen was like a flashback from the past. We enjoyed looking at the old-fashioned equipment and watching the second man behind the counter prepare our coffee with a nel drip, pouring with intense concentration and fervor. The result was a small but potent and delicious cup of coffee. The drinks here are a bit on the pricy side (~1000 yen), but it's another nice, quiet and unpretentious getaway for coffee aficionados and fans of good coffee.

coffee with condensed milk, if I remember correctly

Streamer Coffee

Streamer Coffee is run by Hiroshi Sawada, a former latte art champion, and operates in Shibuya and Harajuku. I had a chance to visit the Shibuya cafe, which was off the main streets and in a quiet work district. I was shocked to enter a cafe so reminiscent of home in the SF Bay Area. This place seemed to attract all the hipsters and skateboarders/bikers, and I was pleasantly amused by all the fashionable young adults with brightly-colored hair that wandered the area.

My friend and I walked in and the first thing we heard was English. The small cafe was packed with foreigners. An art piece made with skateboards hung on the right wall, and the baristas who served us were kind of jaded (ah, just like home). The place gave off a very western urban feel, much like walking into a cafe back in the Bay Area. Since photos weren't allowed, I couldn't take many pictures of the place. Compared to the traditional kissaten, this brighter, urban cafe is another good option (particularly for ex-pats) in a quieter part of Shibuya. 

Although I don't have photos for the following places, they're also pretty good spots for coffee:

Paul Bassett

Run by Paul Bassett, the Australian coffee prodigy who won the World Barista Championship at age 25. It's a short walk from Nishi-Shinjuku station and located underground in a large building complex. The cafe is cozy and romantically lit, perhaps because it shares its space with an Italian restaurant. They sell beans and desserts as well, and the beans are roasted in-house. Probably most popular with people who work around that area, as it seems surrounded by office buildings.

Cafe Obscura

I wanted to go here to try their siphon coffee, but failed to find their cafe in the windy roads of Sanjengaya. Instead, I found their laboratory, where they sold their beans and other coffee equipment. The lab was a very small store located snugly between small shops in Sanjengaya. Remember that the cafe is in a different location!

Bear Pond Espresso

There's a lot of buzz about Bear Pond Espresso on the Internet, so I decided to check it out. This famous cafe in Shimokitazawa is run by Katsuyuki Tanaka, who lived in New York for 18 years and moved back with his wife to Tokyo to open his own cafe. Despite the finicky rules (no espresso after 2pm, no photos...) and occasional reports of arrogant customer service, Bear Pond draws coffee nerds and fans with the thick, chocolatey espresso it serves. My friend and I ordered an iced latte, which was served in a mason jar. It was a sweet, cool treat in the hot and humid summer. Neat cafe to check out if you're in Tokyo!

Nikko (日光市）

Shinkyo Bridge

In mid-June 2013, a few fellow coworkers and I took a 2-day trip up north to Nikko, a city in the mountains of Tochigi Prefecture. A popular destination for Japanese and international tourists, Nikko attracts visitors with its beautiful natural scenery, World Heritage temples and shrines, and famous hot springs.

Since it was a short trip, we decided to purchase the World Heritage Pass, which covered a roundtrip between Tobu Asakusa Station and Shimomaichi Station as well as admission to the main World Heritage temples and shrines (Toshogu, Futarasan, Rinnoji). From Chiba, we took the train to Asakusa in Tokyo, picked up the passes, and took the limited express train for about 2 hours. Groups of people on the train already started drinking canned beers and eating snacks they brought with them (this was around 9am). We conformed and bought some beers on the train. Never too early to drink!

We made our way to the hostel we booked called Nikkorisou, which was located minutes away from the famous Shinkyo Bridge. Nikkorisou was a fairly small hostel, but the location was very convenient because it was close to the temples and the staff was friendly and helpful. They sold art and jewelry they made themselves too, and there was a wall for backpackers to write/draw on.

Many traditional wooden buildings lined the nearby streets (mainly restaurants and souvenir shops). The Shinkyo bridge was beautiful, but what many pictures don't really show you (mine included) is how odd the location was for such a popular site. Roads and busy traffic were all around the bridge, but the view people usually take the picture at cuts all that out.

a road and river near the hostel

something I drew on the wall of the hostel

On the first day, we toured the temples and shrines. The day was cool and partly cloudy--in the evening it rained. Lots of gorgeous green to relax the eyes, though I was slightly worried about my cedar allergies since the mountains were covered with cedar. Perhaps the rain decreased the amount of pollen in the air or I lucked out somehow because I felt fine.

The path up to the temples was crowded with visitors, but that was expected. The temples themselves were impressive with their beautiful ornate decorations. To our disappointment, a few of the temples we toured were under construction, but still lovely to behold from the outside. It was quite a bit of walking, but we managed to cover all the temples by evening (we started around 1 or 2pm).

Lovely moss

path up to the temple areas

one of the paths to another temple

On our second day, we took the bus to Lake Chuzenji/Kegon Falls. We had our fill of yuba, or tofu/bean curd skin, which is a popular food in Nikko along with unagi (eel).

Yuba oyakodon

statue of a yuba croquette

The Kegon Falls is a popular waterfall in Nikko. We were at a pretty high elevation since we could see the clouds not far above us. There was an elevator that brought visitors down to the bottom of the waterfall, but we didn't want to pay for it.

shops near Kegon waterfall

from across the waterfall

view from the top

Lake Chuzenji

After seeing the waterfall, we walked a little further to Lake Chuzenji. It was a sunny and relaxing afternoon by the glassy blue waters. 

We decided to walk around the lake area for a bit and encountered a hiking trail that we decided to take on. It took us about an hour to hike up the cool and damp trail. There was a map of the trail at some point that indicated a ropeway at the top, so we thought we could take that down instead of hike another hour.

The view at the top was pretty interesting--we were really high up so a lot of the clouds (and the fog that rolled in) covered much of scene, but we could make out the town below when some clouds/fog parted. It was a dangerously steep slope down, so we didn't walk down any further to see the view.

So that ropeway we thought we would find at the top didn't exist (curse the old trail map!)...Tired and feeling slighted, we had no other choice but to hike down the same way we went up as the skies grew darker.

When we finally made it back to the lake, we took a break at a nearby cafe. As evening approached, we took the bus back to our hostel and later took the train back to Tokyo/Chiba.

some guy cleaning the lake with a long squeegee...?

Although we didn't get to the experience all the attractions Nikko had to offer, it was a nice short getaway from the bustling craziness of city life. I will always remember the cool air, elaborate temples, and the beautiful green mountains.

Seoul, Korea

During Japan's national holiday Golden Week this year (end of April-early May), my friend and I visited the cities of Seoul and Busan in Korea.  Since this was during the time North Korea was threatening to attack South Korea and its allies, we were apprehensive about following through with our trip. However, after some reassurance from friends living in South Korea that people were carrying on with life as usual, we packed our bags and flew over to Korea. 

Myeongdong shopping districct in Seoul

After flying into Incheon International Airport, we took the commuter train to Seoul (~53 minutes). There were other transportation options that could've gotten us there quicker, but not by much anyhow (Express Line takes ~43 minutes). The transportation system is pretty straightforward and convenient. For more information: Korea Tourism Organization. Looking outside the train on the way to Seoul, we passed by many industrial plains and steaming mud flats (?). Not the most beautiful scenery, but the train was clean and the ride was pleasant.

It wasn't too difficult to navigate through Seoul, partly because it was similar to the trains in Japan, but also everything was announced in English and Chinese (mandarin) in addition to Korean. Our first stop was Myeongdong, one of the busiest and most popular shopping spots in Seoul. The streets were flooded with a sea of consumers, food vendors and other shopping stands. We passed by many popular cosmetic shops (ie. The Face Shop, The Skin Food, Etude, etc.) and clothing stores as we wandered the crowded streets. 

We planned our trip rather poorly, or rather, we didn't really plan things out this time around. So unfortunately, we went to Gyeongbok Palace in Northern Seoul on the one day it was closed--Tuesday. I wonder if the people in this picture were not aware of their day off too. (above: outside of Gyeongbokgung)

We also visited Dongdaemun Market, another popular shopping district. However, we didn't really know where to go, and the buildings we thought were shopping malls turned out to be something else. We wandered through the traditional markets and found ourselves going down some long streets like the one above, where all the stores only sold shoes. Myeongdong was probably a better shopping spot.

In the evening, we took a taxi to over to Ddukbokki Town. The whole area was mainly lined with restaurants that served ddukbokki (spicy Korean rice cake). Wish there was a town for every awesome food out there. 

Ddukbokki Town

Ddukbokki with ramen noodles, egg, mushrooms, and other veggies--spicy but delicious!

Since we weren't very interested in going up Seoul Tower, we only went up to its entrance, which required taking the ropeway up the mountain. We waited in line with other tourists (mainly couples it seemed) for our turn. The tower was lit up in pretty, changing colors. 

The area at the bottom of the Seoul Tower was pretty spacious and tranquil. The night view of the city lights was beautiful, and walking around we encountered a few areas with exercise equipment. Why and for whom? I do not know.

view from the top of the mountain (at the bottom of Seoul Tower)

near the entrance of Seoul Tower

exercise equipment facing the beautiful night view

walking down to take the ropeway down the mountains

On another day, we visited the Hongdae area, where Hongik University is located along with many popular clubs. The streets were lively with plenty of retail stores and young, college students. As a coffee lover, I was pleased to see that almost every other store was a small, independent cafe.

Inside a Siphon Cafe

It's hard to judge the clubbing scene by the one night we went club hopping, but the overall atmosphere was a lot more fun than Japan's clubbing scene, where people don't really dance. We went to three clubs: Papa Gorilla, Mama, and Big Baby. Paying the admission fee at only one club, we were able to go to all three clubs. They were not next to each other, but there were arrows on the floor to guide us to the other clubs. The drinks were crazy cheap. If I remember correctly, tequila shots were 2000 won (~$2) and we got a long island in a little bucket for maybe 10000 won (~10), which we shared. Mostly a young population (probably university students). Good music though, and at the time Psy's song Gentleman was still a hit. One strange thing we noticed: places that had a stage area with dancing poles were dominated by shameless young men.

Seoul would be a great place for people who love shopping, food, and the big city life. I will always remember the Korean people's bright neon shoes, the somewhat rude elderly women, the beautiful feminine male celebrities, and the amazing food.