safn° サフン — Restaurant in Tokyo

Cafe inside the Kaika Hotel, with a modern-art vibe.

Let’s start with the positive: the coffee was excellent. The grinder is a Mahlkönig and the machine is a Rocket. So, great equipment. The barista weighed the beans for each serving, then ground them, and made each coffee individually. The latte was a perfect temperature, not too hot, and not overheated, as is the norm these days. So, there is real pride in the coffee.

But… the wait for the coffees in the morning took about 20 minutes. The barista apologized profusely, and she did a great job, but the service is just too slow. They seemed to be a bit short-staffed. So, if you have time on your hands, and you’re not looking for a quick coffee, then you won’t mind.

The cake selection is limited to some different flavours of muffins. The breakfast menu offers different sets which you can see in the menu.

The atmosphere is quite relaxed and the music and lighting is quiet and soft.

We saw that in the mid afternoon there was always a queue to come in: the place seems popular with the younger trendy generation that comes for a different art-museum...

I was staying at KAIKA and decided to try coffee at safn since it’s connected and I’m glad I did! I had the matcha latte as well as a regular latte which were both amazing. But the thing that stuck out the most was the service. I luckily have gone here during times where there was no wait so my coffee came on a timely manner. The barista was the star though, she was so kind and after conversing a little about coffee, she came to my table and gave me a little sticky note of other notable cafes in the area. I thought that gesture was so sweet and thoughtful. If you’re staying at KAIKA or just nearby, definitely pop in and check it out!

If anyone is curious what cafes she recommended, here you...

The matcha pudding was very nice - creamy, rich, not too sweet. The ice cream was a perfect addition providing some sweetness to create balance. So, I can say it lived up to the hype. The matcha latte was good, but it didn't blow me away.

Unfortunately, there was a bit of a wait around 3pm. I'd say around 30 minutes before I was seated. It was a little frustrating to see some customers lingering after finishing their dishes, especially when there were so many people waiting.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend Safn for their matcha pudding. Just be prepared for a potential wait, especially...