Kayaba Coffee (Yanaka)
I really wondered to myself if I should write about Kayaba or not here as I consider it being an hybrid café, combining kissaten feeling and trendy café menu…
The cute wooden building was built in 1916 (Taisho 5) and used to be a store selling candies and milk, before the kissaten started in 1938 (Showa 13), being run by Kayaba Inosuke-san and his wife Kimi-san. As they were getting old, their adoptive daughter, Sachiko-san started to manage the café and did so until she died in the autumn 2008. It could have been the end of this symbolic place and its almost 70 years-old of dripping coffee, but the non-profit organization NPO Taito Cultural & Historical Society (特定非営利活動法人たいとう歴史都市研究会), the same organization which saved Ueno Sakuragi Atari I talked about here, did its best to re-open the café in September 2009 with the help of people from the Art gallery SCAI the bathhouse. I’m happy they did. I’m happy they worked so hard to re-open it.
Kabaya is stuck somewhere between modernity and tradition and that’s a good thing. I don’t really remember going to a place being a meeting point between a traditional kissaten and an oshare café except this one. That’s why after thinking a little bit more about it I decided to write this post.
Kayaba coffee (カヤバ珈琲)
Built in 1916 (Taisho 5) / Kissaten operating since 1938 (Showa 13)
Non-smoking
No WI-FI & No Power outlets
Bustling and lively, tends to be easily crowded
Recommendation: Tamago sandwich and Russian coffee
Japanese & English Menu
Couple, alone or with friends
We love: high quality coffee, showa-style chairs and seats downstairs
Special points: nighttime, original seasonal drinks
Drinks prices: 250-600 yen
Kissa-meter: rustic with a oshare hint
If you’re wandering in Yanaka, you can’t miss the place and the long line of people waiting in front on Sunday and Saturday. It may discourage a bunch of people but you should really give it a try. I’m wondering how other people will feel about this place. It seems to be extremely popular among foreigners recently and I’m really curious about what they like the most at Kayaba
Kissaten Overview
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- The renovation kept few elements from the 1938 kissaten : the building itself (of course), the bricks counter, the yellow sign at the entrance, the door, the old kakigori machine, the 100 years-old wood pillars, the seats downstairs etc…
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- The legendary egg sandwich (500 yen) is a must but if you’re a vegetarian, you can enjoy their vegetables sandwich (500 yen). I wouldn’t recommend this one for vegan as I’m pretty sure there is butter and milk in the bread.
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- The Russian coffee (basically coffee mixed with cocoa – 500 yen), a long best seller of the Kayaba is my favorite but you can get trendier drinks (roast nuts macchiato, matcha latte, seasonal drinks etc…)
- You can also get not-so-traditional sweets and cakes; the matcha gateau chocolat (500 yen) is really nice.
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- The place is in a certain way a modern version of traditional kissaten. After 6pm you can encounter a lot of fashionable young people and it’s a nice place to have a drink before dinner.
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- Fuglen (the 45 years-old high quality coffee brand from Norway, having a branch in Shibuya) is the official coffee supplier of Kayaba.
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- A lot of CM or photo-shoots for magazines were made here so the place may feel familiar in a certain way to you. I remember feeling like I saw the door before and getting obsessed by that, until I realized I bought a magazines few weeks before visiting the café and there actually was 3 fashion related pages which were shoot there !
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- The place is not so expensive compared to kissaten I’m usually going to and the quality is really good.
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- Too bad there is no music there, I really love enjoying my coffee with BGM or Jazz music. It can be noisy when there is a lot of people.
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- I’m really insisting on that but be prepared to wait at least a little bit as the place may get really crowded (especially on weekends). Actually there isn’t that much seats…
Tips
- To avoid the long hours of waiting try to go there on weekdays around 8am or 8pm
- After 6pm there is a nighttime menu including alcoholic beverages (Cocktails, Coffee Liqueur, beer etc…) and starters.
- The upstairs area has a nice Japanese feeling with tatami and low tables but the seats next to the window downstairs are the nicer according to me if you’re enjoying this café only by yourself. (Nota bene : when long line of tourists waiting outside is forming, just avoid these seats if you don’t want to feel the pressure of people watching you while you’re trying to enjoy your drink. Very unpleasant situation, trust me).
Seasonal drinks are always making me a little bit too excited…
Bonus: LeTRONC magazine released these 2 nice videos featuring Kayaba Coffee
Kayaba coffee (カヤバ珈琲)
Address: 6-
(東京都台東区谷中6-1-29)
Phone: