Smart Coffee — Restaurant in Kyoto

Smart Coffee is a popular breakfast and coffee place on Teramachi Street (A covered pedestrian street with lots of restaurants and shops) They’re “famous” for their French Toast and offer their own coffee blend.

There’s a line to get in, so be prepared to wait in it, but once you’re in, the food is well worth your time.

I had the egg sandwiches which I had read another review of before heading here. The reviewer had mentioned that he dreams of these egg sandwiches. Well, they were intriguingly good for just a basic sandwich with scrambled eggs and bread. They haven’t appeared in my dreams yet, but whenever I think of them I nod with the memory of the cushiony bread surrounding eggs entering my mouth. So simple and so good.

They blend their own coffee which I thought was well done for what it was, an artisan coffee that was strong and had good flavor, though it was more delicate than the bolds I generally prefer.

My wife had the French toast, which I gladly had a bite off. We both thought it was among the best French toasts we’d ever had – Super fluffy with a delicious, classic taste. The egg mix was well saturated into the bread, and not overly “bready” on the inside like some French toasts. Pretty close to perfect on the French toast spectrum. (I assume there’s a French toast spectrum.)

She drank a Cafe Ole which was good, especially mixed with the French toast and a little syrup in the drink added for flavor

The bummer about the place is that you can smoke inside the restaurant. As far as I’m concerned smoke and food don’t mix. (Honestly I think smoke and breathing anywhere don’t mix.) So as good as the food was, the entire experience gets dinged a star because of the unpleasantness of dining while breathing in cigarette smoke from nearby tables.

Sadly, because of that, I wouldn’t go back…but would consider take-out if they offer it, and I happened to be in Kyoto again. (Do they deliver their...

Was sooo excited to try this place during our trip and was disappointed when we actually did. Line was long for no reason, the place is understaffed and people work really slow there, waitress working the registers as well as cleaning table and taking orders. There were tables empty while the line was long and people could have been seated. I think they create the lines on purpose making it seem like the place is popular.

Anyway, my husband and I ordered the iced coffee with flan combo and the hot cake with iced tea as well as the egg sandwich. SKIP THE HOTCAKES, they were not hot…as in it was not good whatsoever and prob really hard to eat. It was dry, the texture was NOT FLUFFY, it was actually rubbery…not sure if that’s how Japan make their pancakes? It was the most unappetizing thing I ate during my whole trip. We should have gotten the French toast instead. =/ The flan was good, taste a bit on the eggy side, the egg sandwich was the best, after all Japan is known for their eggs!! The coffee is nothing special, go try precious moments coffee instead for their iced coffee with brown sugar, thank me later. Their iced tea have a very floral scent to it that I did not like. Overall was overrated, not worth the wait and could have gotten something better at family mart...

Ok. To be clear I never queue up for a restaurant when I’m in London. If I see a queue outside I just go somewhere else. This is particularly pertinent when needing a coffee - if I want a coffee I need it quickly. However when I walked past Coffee Smart very early one morning and saw a queue outside I was intrigued. I was also intrigued by the 1960s/70s decor - the place is like a time capsule from the UK/USA in the mid 1970s. ( I presume this is the original decor and has been left untouched rather than a clever retro-refit). So I went back the next day ( thankfully only had a five minute wait that time - but be prepared to wait for 30 minutes or more 😱). Service is quick, polite and efficient. I was given a table for 4 ( despite being a solo diner) which felt quite pampering given the long line outside. The menu is short and sweet ( mostly pancakes / French toast and other diner breakfast staples). Coffee is excellent - good and strong with no bitterness ( I had the house coffee). The French toast? Well - if I tell you I went back later that week and queued up for 35 minutes to have it again….. it’s better than sex ( or at least some of the sex one may have had in the...