Is this a cherry one is advised to pop? Into! I meant to say into…
This little cafe appears prominently among the houses nestled alongside the Philosopher’s walk about 20 minutes from Keage station and Nanzen-ji. It’s noticable for a couple of reasons. One them is that it is sandwich between houses in a relatively residential area. Another is that it is set back from the path with a metropolitan outside seating area which attracts the eye with its stylish design.
Upon entering the establishment one is struck by the sparse design and small size of the interior, which clue one into the fact that this is a wing of a narrow Kyoto house that has been converted into a house by its residents. The conversion itself has been tastefully done with a gorgeously smooth sliding door entrance, well-chosen wooden panelling on the walls, high ceilings and large window looking out over Kyoto.
Once in a while you may take a look around and realise that the 14 year old waitress is clearly the cafe owner’s daughter earning her keep/pocket money during the summer holidays. Suddenly from beneath a curtain that separates the house proper from the guests’ wing appears a tiny dog that yaps and barks threateningly at the intrusion until told to return from whence he came by the embarrassed okaasan. While she’s in the middle of drying the dishes in the kitchen her son suddenly pops in to borrow a bit of money to go and thrust into a pachinko machine.
The modernity and minimalism of the design is added to, rather than detracted from, with the addition of the lo-fi, family run feel of the place. At ¥450 the coffee is extremely fairly priced for Kyoto. Although there were only 12 seats in the cafe, when the ORAZ team moved aside to accomodate a gang of six girls who’d dressed up in kimono to come and enjoy the cherry blossom that lines Philosopher’s Walk, our new makeshift mum immediately appeared with a slice of pecan cake for each of us to enjoy on the house.
The pie was was handmade and went beautifully with the coffee, but the family vibe was the really sweet part. Recommended for the weary sakura hunter on their way from Nanzen-ji to Ginkaku-ji.
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