2020 summer review: Amazing coffee and great breakfast set (Kitashirakawa Morning; last order at 11:00 am). The lunch sets are pretty good too, although some of the sandwiches I tried leave a bit to be desired - they just don't taste quite as fresh as the other offerings. But the breakfasts and coffee more than make up for it. Also feels very, very local - it's the kind of coffee shop that real Kyoto people go to with friends and family. Super friendly and attentive staff, overall a great place. (I do wish they'd serve the Kitashirakawa Morning breakfast set all day, though - would be truly killer.)

2023 June update: still awesome. It's just such a local mainstay. A lot of the waitstaff are the same as from my last stay in Kyoto in 2020 (and I think remember some of them from my first time in the cafe in 2017). Everyone is so friendly, the service is outstanding, and the Shirakawa Morning breakfast set is still a preposterous value - like $5.50 with the current exchange rate. The Vienna coffee is superb.