Ochūdo Cafe — Restaurant in Shirakawa

Very unique. Located in an old house with thatched roof. We went inside as there was no queue outside. We didn't know if they were open as it is so discrete. Wow! We didn't expect what was inside. Seating on benches around an old style charcoal heath with 3 pots in the heath just like we saw in the historic Wada House, but the charcoal was actually burning with pots on the heath. They also have a table seating with western chairs and Japanese seating on mat around a short table. We sat on one of the 4 benches along the 4 sides of the charcoal heath. Around the charcoal heath is probably the best place to sit to get the best experience. A pot of red bean soup was heating above the charcoal fireplace. We ordered a drink each and also the buttered toast with red bean. They asked me to choose my own cup from their selection of cups on the shelf. People who ordered the red bean soup helped themselves from the pot on the charcoal heath. Seems to be a family run business. We enjoyed it here. We spent around 40 mins. They have English menu. They have installed a clean modern toilet in this ancient...

If you're looking for a cute and exclusive place up hang out, look no further!

This cute little underground establishment is exclusive and comes with a selection of both food and drinks.

They have a communal table where they have several red bean soups simmering over charcoal (although we didn't order any to my chagrin). There are also individual tables in the space.

For my part I ordered black coffee and found the coffee beans to be too black. If you are looking for aromatic coffee look elsewhere (note: instead of coffee, you should probably come here for the red soup over charcoal, it looked and smelled delicious! But I can't rate what I didn't order).

The staff/owners are lovely.

But just be aware that there is a max occupancy of about 20, it seems to fill up (rightly so), and you need to wait on a cramped staircase for a vacancy.

Also note each person must order 1 drink. But you get to choose to drink out of a unique cup design that you choose from a pretty...

Food and atmosphere is great. I got the earl gray tea, and rice ball. It was clear I did not speak Japanese, and the owners of were very kind in explaining in English that I could refill my rice ball bowl with as much red bean soup as I would like (I filled it twice, it was very good). When I ordered the tea, I was prompted to select which tea cup I wanted. It was a very nice touch. The rice balls were warm and soft, and super tasty. The tea was steeped nicely, and served nicely as well. The red bean soup was tasty, I’ve never had anything like it. The atmosphere is what really amazed me though, there was nice calm music, it was very comfortable, and the owners gave me a book about the town to read. They were so nice, and even gave me a free postcard as a “small gift”. Super cute place, definitely give it a try if you want good tea, rice balls, red bean soup, and a relaxing authentic Japanese dining...