TL;DR: The long and short of it is this: do yourself a big favour, and seek out here as soon as possible. I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed. The reasons here are many, and one of them is how reminiscent it is on a simpler, slower walk of life to the cafe scene that is highly missing in the central area. The staff here are friendly, and the service is some of the nicest and most casual that you could find. It also helps with the fare, where the East meet the West, and everything is high quality. Sometimes it is all in the less usual choices, as opposed to ticking boxes for what pleases and audience - that may be akin to throwing spaghetti at the walls, but once in a while some of it will stick. It is the case here with the Cafe in Toyko.
When it comes to the term "hidden gem", it has been used so often that the meaning almost becomes a cliche, or - worse yet - doesn't quite get the right idea down when being used, and that happens all to often. For the most part, the place is possibly just pretty adequate to a cut above, and more so, it is in a part of town that almost makes it barely hidden either. Sooner or later, it loses the luster. Getting that out of the way early, it is one term I do try to be conservative with to try and get the implications spot on. Reasons for saying this, Cafe in Tokyo manages to tick all those boxes and then some. More on the edge of town, this sits quietly yet popular among patrons, and is well worth many recommendations.
Getting here was something of a story. Coming up to the weekend, there was the Sunday to do all the needed errands and tasks - namely the grocery shopping. As per usual, that came in conjunction with finding another place to go and have coffee, and ultimately some breakfast. However, it came with a bit of a catch this time around. On that Sunday, there was a live wrestling show streaming within the late part of the morning, so time was of the essence. Putting that into mind, it was onto searching for somewhere nearby and I hugged close to the southern suburbs.
That was the first part, which could have been any old place. However, with this Cafe in Tokyo I had read about it a number of times, and until now have not been able to understand how it is only now I have visited here. Looking through the menu, it was obvious that it went for something slightly different to the norm with breakfast - though it will be made clear there is plenty of that as well - which happens to be a draw card for the two of us here. So after an inspection of the menu, my house mate/dining buddy gave it the go and it was to here on a Sunday morning. And it worked out really well, because what a find Cafe in Tokyo turned out to be. Just how it had been this long, knowing about it and everything, before finally managing to try it out is a major question - but it doesn't diminish anything.
Something about the aesthetics of this place reminded me of a smaller town, or one of the big bakehouse within country Victoria. Much of it is a bit hard to describe why without traveling to one and giving out examples; a lot of what it comes down to is the small details but also the atmosphere, and the vibe. With Calamavale being a fair bit out, the surrounding do allow a more relaxed, and leisurely atmosphere and that is a big part of it all. They have a lot of space inside, and there is rarely one foot of wall or space that is not utilised by either some photos, decorations, or specials boards. The seating is a simple wooden structure, and each table has the menus already on it, plus some plants on the bigger tables. It has that bizarre mixture in which Japanese places are known for having, with a minimalistic look to it but one that has all sorts of characteristic designs.
As for how it reminded me of the country bake-houses in Victoria, a lot of it has to do with the open plan where some of the kitchen can be seen from the table, plus also with the supplies and that being visible. In fact, it might have been seeing several bottles of milkshake syrup ready to be used, on the racks there. It is hard to get more typical of country Australia than that.
For the most part when it comes to the service, the process of ordering goes the usual route. That is to walk up to the counter when you know the order you want, pay up front, followed up by taking a seat then awaiting the food to arrive. Though with saying that, a couple of notable differences create a whole different vibe. They will see you standing around, and beckon you to take a seat before going up to order which makes the atmosphere more relaxed and leisurely. Also, with that aspect noted naturally the seat becomes assigned and after placing the order, your face is memorised as the food arrives in a fairly efficient manner. All of this is made better, by the fact that the ladies are very friendly here. While that wraps it up nicely, putting the money where the mouth is, the food here is something exceptional.
Regarding the menu that they have here, consider it a place in two parts. Both of them can be implied from the name of the place. One of them is the breakfast, which is complete by being available all day and having some other cafe fare available in conjunction, and the other part is Japanese cuisine - where it is nothing of the fancy variety, but certainly is many marks above most of the holes-in-the-wall found around town. In addition to that, influences of Japan bleed into the cafe part of the menu giving it a distinct, and characteristic flavour.
With the breakfast menu, for the most part it is quite healthy. They get the audience pleasers out of the way early, and that includes giving their twist on the eggs Benedict - which always gives the place an edge. Afterwards, it is where the breakfasts get both big and Japanese - in fact, they have a "big" right next to their name in the same way lots of cafes advertise something being gluten free. Definitely have to give them credit there. Going on to later-day options, they have the usual cafe snacks with some burgers, some salads, sandwiches, and different bits of finger food which still gets the echo of Japanese influence in there. And wrapping up the cafe part of the menu, it would not be a cafe without mentioning the dessert cabinet. When it comes to the sweets, more or less the selection is a picking of the usual suspects without any Asian-esque sweets - which is admittedly a bit of a missed call. In saying that though, the aesthetics where in that characteristic Asian bakery style - so take it as you will.
Speaking of sweets, and cakes, it follows suit into the next one. For the drinks menu, this is where the influences begin to fuse together. Not a whole lot of alcohol is available, however there is quite the big variety which will please practically everybody. It starts off with the usual tea and coffee offers, but if anything can be learned from the East Asian-style cafes, several aces are up their sleeves in terms of being inventive and aiming to please. Frappes, milkshakes, and the coffee-style drinks - hot and cold - are on offer, as is freshly made juices and smoothies. All those, and what is in the fridge.
Getting onto the Japanese part of the menu, it starts of with all kinds of izakaya nibbles before it goes onto the generous range of sushi. Within this lot of sushi, there are the simple baby rolls to begin with, then it is followed up by quite the range of fusion and gourmet rolls, full of different kinds of meats, and sauces. For something a bit more simple, they still have that in the form of sashimi, nigiri, and temaki.
It doesn't end there, since more substantial items follow in the form of some donburis (including the curries), and lots of noodle dishes. Also for some more sustenance, they have the classical bento boxes, along with sizzling platters, and the much-loved kaiseki, ryori.
Instead of going the usual route with the order, at a moment's notice I went for an iced Americano. One reason was because it was such a hot day, but also the other has to partially do with a "when in Rome" kind of mentality, and several East Asian places tend to put the interesting twists on cafe-style drinks and I am a particular sucker for those. It was not a bad coffee either, quite smooth and mild in flavour, and not diluted at all by all the ice. The texture was smooth, and the flavour was nice - it lasted the meal, and was refreshing the whole way through.
Looking for gripes is nothing that I do deliberately if everything appears right, though a small gripe - which ultimately comes down to preferences - sticks out here. With the coffee that they use here, the beans come from Merlo. This is one bean where the barista has to be really good at their job for it to come out right, since at several places including the titular outlets, I have had some ordinary coffees using this bean. It was not too bad here, in fact they managed quite well, but considering the caliber of everything else here, what would be inherent is using one of the finer and more sought after blends.
And to continue in playing fair, I had a try of my dining buddy's latte. The milk was smooth, and well-textured, plus the temperature was all right. Again though, this would have been a mark or two better if the bean they used was something more substantial, particularly because the coffee was a little on the mild side.
Upon a long perusal of the menu, it came down to a few of the big guys to be ordered - as it almost always does. Eventually, what I settled on was the Tokyo Breakfast. This had several elements of a fry up. The center part of the meal was the Japanese pancake, okonomiyaki, always a good choice with the creamy texture, and all the bits and pieces found in the mix. On top of it was a well fried egg, smooth and soft with a runny yolk and everything. Adding to that was the Wagyu steak, which is as every bit delicious as they say it is. Only problem is that there was not a lot of it. Then there was a handful of edamame beans, which were good and tasty, and a vegetable croquette that was creamy on the side, and had a big, solid crunch on the outside plus a drizzle of some nice sauce. After all of that, the have tomato, pumpkin, a green salad, and beans, all of which were fairly crunchy and added bright colours to the platter. They had a mix of butter mushrooms, that were smooth and moreish, and it all got complete with some solid sourdough toast filled with olives. By the end of it all, I was well and truly satiated, and can definitely recommend coming around here.
As for my dining buddy, he also went for one of the big breakfast options. His was called the Sakura Breakfast, and from his plate I got both a bit of bacon, and some chorizo. The bacon itself cooked have been cooked a little more, but it still was from a good cut, and had a nice flavour to it. Better yet was the chorizo, which has been a favourite sausage of mine for many years due to its solid texture, and dark, smoky aroma. There is almost no other sausage to it that quite has the bite it does. And wrapping all that up,
What is safe to say here, is that Cafe in Tokyo is an out-and-out winner on many fronts. Going away from the trendiness of most modern cafes, which appear to aim to get as much clientele in and out the door as possible, the staff here are more than happy for clientele to sit and take their time, soaking up the atmosphere, and highly enjoying their meal. It also works with the fare, which is its own unique and characteristic flair that ought to attract a whole lot of clientele. In an age where about everything gets discovered too quickly, or disappears in a huff of smoke, Cafe in Tokyo still stands as a solid entry, and one which gets just the right amount of love.
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