Ogawa Coffee - Sakaimachi Nishiki — Restaurant in Kyoto

Great view, decent if over-priced food, terrible customer service. I arrived around 7:55 on a Sunday morning to a long line of people waiting inside. Since they’d opened at 7:00, though, a lot of people were finishing up.

After about 15 minutes of waiting, when I got to the front of the line, the host came over, completely ignored me, and instead tried to guide the patrons behind me, a Japanese couple, to a table. I was surprised when, without even looking at me, he said to them, “Party of two?” I held up a finger and said, “Party of one.”

Without an apology, he led me to the space that was ready: two small tables pushed together, able to seat four people. (Why not just separate the two tables? There was a single person sitting at a similar setup, wasting another three seats.) I understood then that it would be a waste to give the entire table to just one person, especially since there were couples waiting in line. So I asked for a smaller table and gestured for the couple in line behind me to be seated first instead. I waited another 5 minutes or so before a reasonably-sized table became available.

I understand why the host wanted to seat the couple first; efficiency-wise it makes sense. But I’m still annoyed that he didn’t even attempt to explain the situation to me (I speak Japanese) or ask me to please wait a bit longer, or even, you know, look at me.

To see the menu you have to scan a QR code at the table, so you may as well just look on their website and make your choice while waiting in line. I ordered the most expensive breakfast set, “Charcoal Grilled Toast with Koji Butter, Fried Egg and Sausage with Potatoes” (for ¥1,400; the prices on their Google Maps page are outdated).

The egg and sausage were great, and the onions and flavored mayonnaise complemented them well. The bread (which arrives later than the food, in case you were planning to eat your egg and toast together) was okay if not toasted very much at all. The butter was tasteless and needed salt.

I left hungry and won’t...

My recent visit to Ogawa Coffee was disappointing, unfortunately. While the atmosphere was pleasant enough, the overall experience was significantly hampered by the quality-to-price ratio of the food and, most notably, the poor service. The coffee itself was decidedly mid-range—nothing special and certainly not up to the standard I would expect from a specialty coffee shop. More critically, the food was severely overpriced compared to similar cafe establishments in the area. The dishes offered lacked the quality or portion size to justify the premium prices on the menu, leaving me feeling like I received very little value for my money. The biggest issue, however, was the service. It was terribly slow and consistently inattentive throughout the entire visit. Wait times for even simple requests were excessive. Staff seemed to be disorganized and rarely checked on tables, making it difficult to even get their attention. This lack of prompt and attentive service really soured the whole experience. Overall, I cannot recommend this location. Between the uninspired coffee, the overpriced food, and the genuinely poor service, there are much better cafe options nearby that offer superior value and a more...

Positives-

1. Great service, friendly staff who also Speak English. Respond very quickly to customer requests.
2. Beautiful and very clean cafe, very nice garden.
3. Drinks are excellent, the cappuccino was very large.
4. You do get a lot for your money, good main dishes and nice side dishes

Negatives-

1. It’s popular and so you can be waiting a long time. I waited 30 minutes so if you are in a hurry maybe it could be trouble for you.
2. The menu is on the more expensive side of cafes, the price is reasonable and good value for what you get but it may put you off.
3. The cafe was a little cold where I sat, my feet were numb, there are however blankets.

Neutral-

1. The menu at lunch is a little limited with about 3 dishes to choose from, the breakfast and dinner menu look far better. I understand why this is due to busy lunchtime rushes but you may want to come at breakfast or dinner. If you do come at breakfast make sure you get there before 10:00am, if you get there after 10:00 you may not be seated until after 11:00 and so you may miss the...