Coffee Nikki (็็ฒๆฅ่จ)
☕️ Cafe / ๐ Yotsuya
๐ Visits: 1
Coffee Nikki was a very popular coffee shop that was previously located in Kagurazaka. They actually specialise in house-roasted single-origin siphon coffee and single-origin tea but it was the fruit sandwiches that were so popular the store issued numbered tickets for them. Coffee Nikki has actually had four previous incarnations: originally in Omotesando, then in Daikanyama, then moved to Kagurazaka and then set up a temporary store in Kagurazaka. The intention was to move to larger premises in Kagurazaka but coronavirus wrecked that so in the meantime they crowdfunded a project to set up a new cafe which opened in Yotsuya a couple of weeks ago on 21st June 2021.
To prevent queues outside the cafe and as part of their commitment to following government guidelines to limit the spread of coronavirus, Coffee Nikki has devised the most tortuous system I've come across. First no walk-ins are accepted and you need to book online. Bookings are only taken for Tokyo residents. You need to provide a home address when you book, the full name of any companion (up to one) and present ID when you visit. All this for a cafe? I had to see what the fuss was about. And they really do check. To protect my personal information I truncated my input when I booked but this didn't cause a problem when they checked my ID on my visit.
I'd never been to Coffee Niki before and, given all the controls, I was expecting an atmosphere like a headmistress' office. Instead, service was very friendly and engaging and although the cafe is quiet it's certainly not miserable. A counter seats 6 and there are 6 tables for two, well spaced-out and lined with Covid-secure perspex. The cafe was about only half full when I went and I believe they're keeping it that way to maintain comfort and service. My genial waiter, who I later found out was the owner, 53-years-young Masaya Kobayashi, could speak reasonable English. The menu is partially in English but mainly Japanese. In particular, the explanations of the different varieties of coffee and tea are in Japanese only. You're required to order a minimum of one drink. A generous discount of 200 yen applies to extra drinks. The pudding and pancakes are written in Japanese only but they're priced at 770 yen and 1100 yen respectively and along with an iced coffee, that's what I went for. Prices seem to have shot up between a third and 50% since they moved. Also, they're still stuck in the pre-cashless era of only accepting cash. That would seem like a coronavirus concession too far.
The pudding (or creme caramel) is very dense, rich, eggy and the perfect level of sweetness. A textbook example but nonetheless, just a creme caramel. The pancakes take 15-25 minutes after you order and mine took exactly 15. Again, dense and again another textbook example. The butter tasted like Anchor (i.e. cheap) but considering the overall quality of the pancakes these are very good value. I've paid more for worse pancakes in Tokyo.
I'm not going to score it (3.4?). I'm not the target customer. Expensive coffee is not my thing and fruit sandwiches certainly aren't. But if it's your thing and you can be bothered with the booking procedure you should have a lovely experience. If you do want the fruit sandwich you should pre-order it when you book.
๐ https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1309/A130903/13260497/
๐ฑ Booking: ๐ฉ Required - see above. I got a seat on the same day but for weekends you'll (currently) need to book a few days ahead. Book via TableCheck.
๐ Location: 2-7-1 Wakaba. 8-9 minutes on foot from nearby stations.
๐ Visit: July 2021
Ice coffee 990
Pudding 770
Pancakes 1100
๐ด Damage: 2,860 (cash only)
⏱️ Time taken: 30m
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