Starbucks Coffee - JR Tokyo Station Nihombashi Entrance — Restaurant in Tokyo

Magnificent view from inside Tokyo Station of the city skyline, albeit with construction as of April 2024. Unfortunately their coffee is still the same burnt and oily near black coffee beans in the hopper as the ones back in the States.

My partner liked her iced matcha drink however. I also tried a new melon drink, mixing honeydew and cantaloupe. Unfortunately it ended up being a gravely iced melon base with a highly sweetened cantaloupe pulp on the bottom with whip cream on top. Not fresh like I had hoped and expected from a Japanese cafe. But Starbucks in Japan is still corporate and about scaling, with quality often being sacrificed in the process. Their mochi pastries and donuts looked pretty well made. But Starbucks still serves lousy ultra dark roasted coffee, whether it’s Tokyo or Seattle.

Thankfully there are some excellent roasters in Tokyo such as Glitch Coffee and Acid...

The staff are lovely, very welcoming as are all Japanese people. The store is clean but cramped (as many places in Tokyo are) and it can get very busy at particular times, so there may not be seating space. There are some benches set aside with free power points !! :) My order was given to me wrong a few times, but the staff always remade it when I pointed it out, and is most likely just the language barrier...

Starbucks needs no introduction but this place is convenient if you wanna take the Shinkansen so if you have to meet someone before or just after taking the Shinkansen I think it’s a good option to choose. Mind though that it can be quite hot during summer as air conditioning is not available especially for the cafe—so it’s just the stations air...