“Although there are many great things about chain stores, the café has their own dream.”   The café that reminds me of Showa era is somehow nostalgic and comfy inside. I, Emma Tanioku, who love to visit the new café restaurants is going to introduce the café that will make you want to see particular person in their café. Today, I came to Jinbo-cho that is good access from middle of Tokyo, and you don’t have to change the train line from Shibuya station. Jinbo-cho is socially known as the town which has many secondhand bookstores, it is actually the town for gourmets as well.There are many hidden old-established restaurants in this great town.   I want to introduce this café that I was especially curious about. “Sabouru” which you can say its representative retro cafe. It locates right there from the exit A7 in Jinbo-cho train station.This 62 years historical café has established in 1955. In front of this café which appears to look like small mountain hut, there is a red public telephones surrounded by some flowers, plants and a totem pole.This makes me want to take a picture in front of there.This public phone is actually functional, so I heard some people are still using it. There are floor first, semi basement and mezzanine inside. It is little dark inside, but you can still enjoy reading books.Either if you come here alone or with your friends, you can spend the relaxed time. The miscellaneous goods that decorated inside the café were donated by customers. Even though they are all different kinds of souvenirs from all over the world, they look like it's coordinated perfectly.I bet the customers who are big fan of this café decide to buy the good souvenirs which are going to match with this store’s atmosphere. For your information, you can decorate your souvenirs inside the cafe even if you are not regular customer.  

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  Today I ordered some of their popular menu: sandwiches, fresh strawberry juice and cream soda (soda float), and the spaghetti Neapolitan from the branch store called “Sabouru 2” located next to each other. The first one which served on my table was “Fresh Strawberry Juice (500yen include tax).” It is not only looking cute, but it is also really juicy and tasty. It taste like smoothie that mixed small blocks of ice and fresh juice. They are also being particular about ice. The owner, Fumio Suzuki told me that the ice he got from an ice shop every morning does’t melt as easy as the regular ice. It surely lasts the rich flavor for long minutes. The food I ate with the juice is “mix sand(600yen include tax).” There are orthodox ham and cucumber sandwich, fresh made tomato sandwich and fluffy egg omelet sandwich. The taste reminds me of the one which my mom made when I was little.     The next one served on my table was spaghetti Neapolitan which specialty food from “Sabouru 2”. It is such a huge portion for only 650yen(include tax)! This spaghetti is regular size, not a large helping, and comes with mini salad. The reason why it is so many is because they cooked it without using measure spoon and it is slowly getting huge. Even though many students or workers can eat it up. It is absolutely tasty as well! It is cooked with many ingredients include mash rooms, onions and bacon. It is quite simple cooked with ketchup. It was really hard to eat the things up since they serve quite large amount of food! I barely finished eating up with three other shooting members. Spaghetti Neapolitan is original menu for “Sabouru 2,” but if you order alcohol at “Saburu” at night they are able to deliver the food menu（Some menus only） from “Sabouru 2.”  

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  Desert for the last is cream soda(580yen include tax). Cream soda is typically green, but you can choose out of four different kinds;red, blue, yellow and green at Sabouru. The cream soda that appeared on my table was shiny and cute. Each of colors has different flavor. Yellow tastes lemon, and blue taste blue Hawaii. You can enjoy sharing and tasting different flavor with your friend.The owner, Fumio, told me that he is going to think of another kind of flavor. I wonder what is going to be the next color. This made me really look forward to visiting Sabouru.   The cafe “Sabouru” has been loved by a lot of people. I took a picture with very sweet owner, Fumio at last. He told me the history of Sabouru, served us their coffee, and he gave us a candy after the interview!   “Although there are many great things about chain stores, the café has their own dream.”   Fumio, the owner who have spent more than sixty years with this café said softly. It made me want to the other menu in this café, and I also really want to see Fumio again. Next time I visit here, I will bring some survivors for him.   Related article：【Tokyo Stroll】Strolling around Asakusa for half of the day finding the stereo typical sightseeing spots and new spots.   Related article：【Tokyo Stroll】Stroll around in Ginza for half a day. Visit the special stationary stores and get a delicious ground meat cutlet hamburger!  

“It’s a mysterious café vacuum sealed with an energy that feels like it’s the time of the Japanese economic miracle”   We’re at the third installment of this series where we take a stroll to old-fashioned cafes filled with a sense of nostalgia. I, Ema Tanioka, will be introducing to you another retro café that I am in love with. Today, we go to “Galant” in Ueno, a town where the Showa mood still lingers.   Galant has continued to be loved by many people since it opened its doors back in 1977. This year marks the 40^th anniversary of the popular café. “Galant” sounds a little space-y, don’t you think? It’s a little different from the norm. When I enquired to the staff about the origin of the café’s name, they told me that it comes from the Mitsubishi Galant as the owner is a fan of cars. To think that a car’s name became the name of a café! But it has a ring to it and is easy to remember, so it might actually be a huge success.   Anyway, without further ado, let’s make our way there! Galant is on the 2^nd floor of this building. As you head up the stairs, it no longer felt like I was in the real world. A completely different world opened before me. Because of the entrance’s chic brickwork, I was surprised by the dazzling lights floating inside. And here! Here too! There was so much sparkle. The first thing to peak my interest was the uniform the staff were wearing. So cute... You don’t see that red & yellow combination much these days. It helped amplify that retro mood of the café even more.   The male staff wore red & black! Black was the base colour and had that well defined, guy-like feel to it. Together with the checkered vests, it completed that retro look. It was wonderful. The café was also playing popular Showa era songs. I really felt like I had stepped back in time.       And then... and then! The menu arrived! The most popular item on the menu is the chocolate parfait (￥900 tax incl.). It was absolutely stuffed with cream all the way to the middle. For people who love sweet things this is an irresistible delight. By the way, I must ask, what do you do when it comes to the cherry on top of the parfait? The truth is, I absolutely love parfaits, but I’m really not into the cherry – I usually leave it until the end. Even though it looks so cute on the parfait... Another item is the cream soda (￥750 tax incl.). When going to a café, you just have to get a cream soda!! It’s because you don’t see them around much besides at cafes and family restaurants, so I’m the person that ends up ordering one unintentionally when if I see it on the menu. There’s a nice fat serving of ice cream in there. It’s a drink you can enjoy that has the aesthetic of a dessert. The melon soda is crystal clear like a precious gem. The best part about cream soda is how the ice cream slowly melts into the drink. It’s pretty fun to watch! Galant is the kind of café where the more you get to know it, the more you start to love it. Its fans have been supporting it for many years, and even when I become a grandma in the future, I reckon it’ll still be bustling all the same.  

"Good service, a jolly owner and cute cats – this café is sure to heal you!"   I’m Ema Tanioku and today I’ll be introducing you to yet another café in Tokyo as the fourth edition of my series "The café that you want to visit to see someone". Today I’ll be reporting about my visit to Café Arles which can be found at Shinjuku-sanchome. Ever since hearing that there were cats at this café, I’ve been set on going 〜♪♪   The café is very easy to access. To get to there, you can take the Toei Shinjuku line to Shinjuku-sanchome. From here, you can get to the café within a five-minute walk. Walking around the Shinjuku Suehirote theatre, the café soon came into sight. Somehow, I could sense the presence of cats just from the atmosphere... There it was! The entrance to the café was decorated with many ornaments of cats and dogs. I don’ know why but I was filled with excitement before even having entered. As soon as I entered, I immediately spotted a cat. I was then greeted by the cat’s master who had a sweeping grin across his face and was wearing a hat with a cat broach. I could really feel his love for cats ♪♪ I took a sweeping glance over the café – cats, cats and more cats - there were so many cat-themed goods everywhere! Apart from cats goods, the master also collects clown goods and displayed everything all huddled together to decorate the café. Although this was my first time at Café Arles, I immediately felt right at home as a warm feeling grew within me. I asked the master what got him into the café business and I was surprised by his response. It all started when the master was working at a mahjong parlour, where a person they knew asked them to start up a café. The master then thought about the numerous paintings he had collected and how he was in search of a place to display them. The idea of choosing his own music, menu and decorating a café interior to his own taste really struck a chord with him. There are many paintings displayed in the café. Amongst these are some by modern artist Tomomi Kondo, who made the paintings “please your master” and “cool your thighs”, which feature the kaban neko (café cats) Ishimatsu and Jirocho, who are “working hard” by lazing around. Café Arles is fun and draws in even more fun. The atmosphere is filled with the love and enjoyment of the customers. That’s why I immediately felt so at home as soon as I entered. You can easily spend a long time here. I asked the master what he recommends from his menu. His response? “My recommendation is what you want to eat the most!” he said wisely. I felt like eating Napolitan spaghetti and so that is what I ordered! (Price: ￥720 including tax) It came with banana and giant corn ❤ – this excellent service made me so happy! The gentle flavour of this homemade dish was delicious and I could really taste the Showa-retro Napolitan flavour to it. The drink, soup and salad services available gives this meal a perfect score for portion size satisfaction! The master allowed me to take his café cat Jirocho-kun out for a walk. This was the first time I'd ever walked a cat – a new, fresh experience! Jirocho-kun is a very calm and obedient cat, so we had a lovely stroll together. Speaking of which, Jirocho-kun loves his owner so much that he runs to meet him whenever he hears his car pull up at the shop. This year marks the 40^th anniversary of the café. “I enjoyed every minute of it” explained the master happily. The master created a place where everyone can be happy and in return everyone supports him. Perhaps this cycle is the motivational force that has kept and will continue to push this café to live and thrive.   I’m glad I came to this café today and met such a special person. I want to come here again and have another chat with the master!          

“A café that has continued to be loved for 60 years”   In this entry to my café series, I visited the familiar Yurakucho, the center of modern Tokyo culture. This year, long-standing café Benisica turned 61-years-old. I stopped by to have my fill of their amazing pizza toast. The café is a 2-minute walk from Hibiya Station via Tokyo Metro lines, and 4-minutes on foot from Yurakucho Station via JR lines, making it an easy place to get to.   The café opened all those years ago in response to the large number of cinemas and theatres dotted around Yurakucho. They wanted to create place where people could relax on their way back from seeing a show.   Upon arrival, you can still observe stylish older ladies strolling into the café. The scene hasn’t changed one bit which I found to be wonderful.   Café Benisica is famous for being the birthplace of original pizza toast. They even have a sign at the entrance telling you that! Eye-catching!!!   Without further ado, let’s head on in♪   I take one step into the café, and... Huh? What’s this?!   That’s right. At Benisica, you can enjoy vacuum brewed coffee. This was the first time I had seen a vacuum coffee maker up close, so I gazed at them with a keen interest.   Inside, I gazed at the café décor and objects scattered around of Hibiya, a town which changes with the times. You can feel the weight of the times instore – all the wonderful items look stylish simply by being placed in there! The café interior is a collection of warm colours. It’s a place where you can relax and feel comfortable.   This is Benisica’s famous pizza toast, costing ￥950 (tax included). They have plenty of set menus, and drink menus are ￥1,350. The story behind the pizza toast was how if you didn’t go to an Italian restaurant back then, you couldn’t eat pizza. So, they took pizza and turned it into something you can eat casually – toast. Since then, it has continued to be a much-loved menu item with customers for almost half a century.     After hearing the story, I took no time at all ordering my own pizza toast! To drink, I chose a strawberry shake. Just so you know, the shake doesn’t come in set orders, so be careful.   Thick servings of cheese and put onto chunky slices of toast. “The soul of the pizza toast is in the cheese!” is what you’ll be saying at its presence on the toast. Its generous serving makes this pizza toast suitable not just as a light meal, but even a whole lunch. As well as the standard ingredients like salami, onion and bell peppers, I was happy that there were mushrooms too.   The bread’s texture is fluffy! I was hungry, so I made short work of it. Thank you for the meal.   This is the owner of Benisica, Setsuko Murakami, who told me the story of the café. She’s a very wonderful person who loves her husband very much. Not only did she tell me about the café – I got to hear about her husband’s way of living and thoughts too. The words of people that have walked the road of life longer than me are deep and enlightening.   I stored the owner’s story safely onto the shelves in my heart. The next time something happens, I’ll rely on those special words she graciously taught me and work hard.      

Even in Japan, okonomiyaki is the soul food of the people that live in the Kansai region. It looks like a pancake, but inside it’s filled with cabbage and stuffed with ingredients meat and seafood. This Japanese food is eaten drizzled with rich sauce and mayonnaise.

Today, we will see how to make okonomiyaki using “Okome de Tsukutta Mix Kona” from TOPVALU which uses neither wheat nor gluten.

Our cooks Ema and Eri are from Kyoto. The taste of okonomiyaki is one familiar to them since childhood, so they were really excited for this! They’re both confident in their ability since they normally take turns when cooking.

The two of them will challenge themselves to making two types of okonomiyaki: a recommended recipe written on the powder mix packaging, and another made with tofu. Let’s get cooking!

 

First, here’s the ingredients for the recommended recipe.

・Powdered Mix: Approx. ¼ cup (30g)

・Water: 50g

・Bonito Powder: 1 tbsp (3g)

・Cabbage: 70g

・Yamaimo: Approx. 2 tbsp (15g)

・Squid: 30g

・Pork Belly (sliced): 40g

・Red Pickled Ginger: Approx. 1 tsp (5g)

・Dried Bonito Shaving: To taste

 

First, shred the cabbage and grate the yamaimo. Add the powdered mix, bonito powder and water into a large bowl and mix well. Then add the cabbage, yamaimo, squid thinly sliced to 1cm, and red pickled ginger and mix well to combine. The powdered mix is used as a base for rice flour so it will make your okonomiyaki cook plump and fluffy.

 

 

Next, here’s the ingredients for the tofu recipe.

・Powdered Mix: Approx. ¼ cup (30g)

・Water: 50g

・Bonito Powder: 1 tbsp (3g)

・Cabbage: 70g

・Yamaimo: Approx. 2 tbsp (15g)

・Drained Tofu: ¼ block (approx. 70g)

・Shirasu: 2 tbsp (approx. 20g)

・Pork Belly (sliced): 40g

・Red Pickled Ginger: Approx. 1 tsp (5g)

・Negi: To taste

 

Just like the first recipe, start off by shredding the cabbage and grating the yamaimo. Ema is dexterous with a knife. She chopped up the cabbage skillfully and efficiently.

 

It’s important to measure the ingredients out correctly to make it delicious. Be sure to use some kitchen scales to measure the amounts accurately. The powdered mix used in this recipe contains no egg, dairy, wheat, peanut, soba, ebi or crab. Instead, it’s made from ingredients such as rice flour and sprouted brown rice. What’s more is that it’s produced at a factory in Akita, so you can feel at ease using it in your cooking.

 

Add the powdered mix, bonito powder and water into a large bowl and mix well. Then, add in the drained tofu and mix thoroughly into the raw mixture. As a side note, you can dry tofu easily by wrapping it with 2 sheets of kitchen roll and placing it into the microwave (500w) for 1 minute 30 seconds.

 

Next, add your cabbage, yamaimo, shirasu and red pickled ginger and mix well to combine.

 

Once your mix is done, it’s time to start frying. Wait for the hot plate to heat up before adding oil (to taste). Wait for the oil to get hot and then spread your mixture on top of the place into a round shape.

 

Spread the sliced pork on to the mixture and cook for 3-minutes. Ema and Eri were super hungry and couldn’t wait for them to be finished after hearing the juicy and delicious sounds.

 

After the 3-minutes have passed, flip and cook for a further 2-minutes. The powdered mix is made from rice and not wheat flour, so it can be tricky to tell when it’s cooked. So a top tip is to be sure to cook it for the same amount time as specified in the recipe!

 

Once it’s cooked through well, add sauce and mayonnaise to taste. Add dried bonito shavings to the okonomiyaki made using the recommended recipe and ponzu sauce and negi to the tofu okonomiyaki.

 

Our fluffy, well cooked and tasty-looking okonomiyaki are done!

 

Hungry Ema and Eri munched and made short work of their okonomiyaki in no time at all♪ The powdered mix made with rice flour makes the mixture springy and plump! The tofu okonomiyaki was Eri’s favourite because of its soft texture. “Try making this yourself at home!” the lively bunch said.

 

The mixture used today was the “TOPVALU Okome de Tsukutta Mix Kona” (150g, ￥213 tax included). It can be used for numerous recipes as well as okonomiyaki such as deep frying. You can buy it from any AEON Group store in Japan, so be sure to try it out yourself.

Use this recipe and throw an okonomiyaki party for your friends and family.