Coffee in Kagurazaka

Kagurazaka mainly has the image of one long street, but the most interesting restaurants and shops are actually hidden in the side streets. At some point I would like to make a map of all the cool places I have found so far!

One of these hidden treasures is Mojo Coffee, the Japanese branch of the famous roastery in New Zealand. My friend Wave-chan works there as a barista, and I was excited to go and try their coffee.

 The 50's style colours (lots of light wood, turquoise, chrome and pink) are right up my alley, and it is nicely quiet. The coffee is deeply flavourful, and is less bitter than most coffee one finds in Japan.

Definitely recommend a visit if you are in the area!

A Saturday in Fall: Koishikawa Korakuen

Dear readers, family, friends and goats, I admit it: I am a koyo freak.

The leaves, bright against clouds or blue autumn skies, fascinate me. I turn to stare at every bit of red or gold that I pass on the train or taxi. The low, warm sunlight through the leaves makes me incredibly happy, as does the chance to jump on the crunchy leaves which have already fallen.

Saturday I kidnapped Matcha-kun and submitted him to a long tour of Koishikawa Korakuen... although admittedly, he didn't seem to mind at all. As with many Japanese gardens, it was smaller than I thought, and Tokyo Dome loomed in the background. However, it is filled with secret little corners, like a treasure hunt. Bridges and stepping stones, a miniature rice field and strange little tombs all appear as soon as you turn a corner. The garden is famous for iroha momiji, which have tiny little leaves, and turn a very striking shade of red.

Sunny autumn afternoons have a special, glittering romance to them, which we continued by walking over to nearby Kagurazaka and hiding out at Gelateria Theobroma. While the main draw may be the icecream, the spiced hot chocolate was perfect to warm up from the chill, thick and truly chocolaty. I love the location as well, away from the main drag and designed to look like one of Rome's buttery yellow buildings.

The only sad thing is that the leaves will only be around for another couple weeks... perhaps I should take a few days off just to stare at the trees?

Ladies Who Lunch: Kagurazaka and Kichijouji

Two of my lovely friends from Kobe came up to Tokyo for the last couple weekends, and as they are new to the city, I tried to tailor each lunch date to their personalities and interests. 

Pari-chan speaks fluent French and is always dressed to the nines with 6 inch heels, so I thought Kagurazaka would be a good choice. We both showed up in similar coral dresses and nude heels (great minds think alike!). After a quick wander, and a brief visit to the cheese shop, we had lunch at Creperie La Bretagne. The bretonne-style crepes are indeed very good and crispy, especially the type with onions, although the price is a little high... but then again, it is Kagurazaka, and the charming French-speaking waiters were extremely nice. 

Squirelled away in the streets behind the station is Clasi.co Shoten, a quirky second-hand bookstore. They have an interesting selection, with a lot of art and food tomes, and a small section where you can get one, two or three books for 500 yen!

Aki-chan, who calls me her older sister, is always fun and interested in odd things, so we went all the way to Kichijouji to have awesome vegetarian burgers as Deva Deva. The burgers were highly satisfying, with a whole series to choose from, and the pizza and curries also looked really good. They also have organic gingerale, which is perfect on a warm Tokyo day. We wandered through the streets looking at the cute purses, graffiti and plant stores, before heading for Inokashira Koen.

There is a little coffee shop in the middle of the park, which also offers fresh banana milkshakes, yum! Kichijouji is somewhere you can spend an entire day wandering, and it is just a couple kilometre walk to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka.