Kayaba Coffee — Restaurant in Tokyo

This is a quaint little coffee place that begs to be visited because of how cosy it is as well as the history of the building it is steeped in.

Let’s begin with why I rated with 1 less star. I think it is inhumane forcing patrons to wait outside the shop in a particularly weird manner. Because the shop is so popular, there are seats right outside but if you are not fortunate enough to get them (which is very likely), that means you have to stand at the traffic light next to the fluffy leafy shrubs and wait for your turn which makes for awkward queueing.

But once you are instead, things start to get a little better. I was sent upstairs as the lower floor was fully occupied.

And was greeted by tatami mats and a calm cosy environment.

The menu looks very arty with a short list of drinks and food offerings. Most of the food options are some sort of toast with the biggest meal being the curry rice. This time round I ordered the egg toast whose serving size was great although the toast itself was ok.

The highlight was the coffee. I had it straight up and loved how drinkable it was. I dun want to sound passé using the same words coffee connoisseurs use but suffice to say, feel that it is more impressive than the usual Coffeeshop offerings.

Service was polite and ample and you will feel welcome as a tourist since the menu also have English as well.

If you are in the vicinity, this should be on your to-do list if you can bear with the awful way the queue to...

This is my first time leaving a Google review and I am going to give this cafe a 1-star simply because there is NO QUEUING SYSTEM.

When I first got it, the staff told me that the cafe was full and I could not wait neither inside nor outside the cafe due to the busy and narrow street outside the cafe. Then I asked the staff if there is no queuing system, how am I supposed to know when I can get in. The staff told me it’s all about TIMING. LOL So I waited across the street on the pavement, thinking once someone left, I could get in.

After waiting for 30 mins, someone got out and a group happened to get in right before me and the staff gave the table to the group despite the fact that I had been waiting for so long. 🙂 I told the staff that I had been waiting across the street but they said since there’s no queuing system, they would just give the table to whoever gets in first (even though obviously they could recognize me).

So it’s all about LUCK to get your seat without any order. If you want to try your luck, you can...

The first time I went the shop assistant said all full cannot queue. Ok. I tried again this year and again the same thing even though I saw it was empty. I said to shop assistant I had this same experience last year when can I return. Shop assistant said “cannot queue outside. Just try my luck”. Wow. I tried and got in. Food was ok, drink was mediocre but the most startling thing was the inconsistent treatment. After me we saw some patrons refused entry then allowed, and we realise the second floor had guests and was empty! But why were we denied? I really hope it’s not racism because they suspected we were tourists even though I spoke Japanese and Western patrons were allowed in. Given the history of the shop I’m disappointed. My husband gave a reason for the traffic and neighbours but there was no system and treatment of patrons was simply inconsistent. My first time experiencing poor treatment in Japan and in...