Asipai & Hibi Coffee are two wonderful businesses working together in the same shared space to bring you the very best artisanal coffee and startlingly delicious curries. I was really impressed with this place, with the friendly staff, with the presentation of the food and drink, and most of all with the taste. The curry was really good, and the cafe latte I ordered … [Read more...]
Cafe Foodelica
UPDATE: Sadly Foodelica closed permanently at the end of 2017. Not too long ago, after a visit to the Shugaku-in Imperial Villa, I was passing Cafe Foodelica and popped inside for a cappuccino and a scoop of ice cream. I don't visit Cafe Foodelica too often as I am based in Fushimi (south Kyoto) and it is situated up north by Shugakuin Station. However, it struck me … [Read more...]
Support Kai Fusayoshi & the Spirit of Honyarado this Saturday February 28th at Urbanguild!
...the café caught fire in an unknown cause before dawn of 16th January and over 2million frames of black-and-white photographic negative film I’ve saved for more than 40 years, along with tens of thousands of prints, thousands of copies of more than 40 books I wrote, posters, postcards, my favorite cameras, a hundred and several tens of diaries I’ve kept for 43 years, … [Read more...]
Ran Hotei Cafe – Vintage Taishō Romance & Excellent Cake
On Wednesday I took a walk over to the Sanjo-kai Shōtengai shopping arcade and popped into Randy Channell's machiya cafe Ran Hotei. Randy is well known as a master of Japanese tea ceremony, and he does teach a few tea ceremony classes at Ran Hotei. Mainly though he gives classes at a shrine near the Imperial Palace. So if you are not interested in tea ceremony, that's … [Read more...]
Saganoyu Cafe
If you're in the Saga area, the cafe Saganoyu is a pleasant spot for lunch or a cup of coffee. Originally built as a public bathhouse in 1923, the building has been thoroughly renovated and was reopened as a cafe in 2006. You can still see the original tiling on the floors and the faucets along the walls. … [Read more...]
Papa Jon’s Honten
On Saturday we took a stroll up to the Shimpukan, intending to grab a bite to eat at Papa Jon's Eatery. Unfortunately for us, they were hosting a wedding party. However, very fortunately for us, we bumped into Charles Roche (the owner) on his way out, and he offered us a lift up to the 本店. Nice chap, isn't he? I'd noticed this place on the way to events at Impact Hub but … [Read more...]
Minna no Café: 3.11 Evacuees Plant Roots in Kyoto
Here’s the latest guest post from our friend Jason Bartashius… Before relocating to Kyoto, Ikuko Wagatsuma worked in the clothing department of a supermarket in Minami-Soma, a city devastated by both the tsunami and nuclear crisis. The tsunami wreaked havoc washing away homes and causing hundreds of deaths. Located near to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, … [Read more...]
Matsuontoko – Vegan Burger Cafe
Though there are quite a large number of vegetarian establishments in Kyoto, most of them are located in the north of the city, and the few there are in the city center tend to sell nothing that isn't healthy and nutritious. Good vegan junk food is pretty hard to come by. There used to be a branch of Speakeasy on Shijo that did a passable veggie burger, but that closed down … [Read more...]
Visiting the Vanishing Cafe
On August 15th & 16th 消えちゃうカフェ (the Vanishing Cafe) made a brief appearance at Sons music bar. Mewby and I paid a little visit. Friends, Ikko, Nana and Riki ran the cafe, with Ikko making coffee, Nana cooking and Riki taking care of the desserts. For 1000 yen we got a main dish, desert and a drink and everything was super tasty. Nana even made some vegetarian … [Read more...]
