One time I went to Osaka's Tenmangu Shrine, a famous landmark and host to one of Japan's largest and most famous festivals come summertime. It started raining just as I went wandering in the vicinity of the Shrine, which is towards the end (or start?) of the massive, 2+km long Tenjinbashi shoutengai (shopping arcade), and promptly got lost.
There I found an unassuming cafe that was a little bit different to the sort of cafe you usually find on otherwise unassuming streets (the old-school "Showa Kissaten"). There were books, there were little green things in pots, very chill acoustic covers of famous songs... cool postcards of indie music and art related events in the local area. I'd inadvertently stumbled upon Osaka's cafe culture - and was immediately hungry for more. That cafe also sported a bookmarked magazine showcasing Osaka's lovely cafes, indie handmade goods design shops, bookshops and trendy shops and it was this book that I wanted to find again, to lead me on my search for tasty places.
This was a good 2-3 years ago so naturally going to the same shrine at the end of the same arcade and trying to get lost in the same way did not exactly lead me to the place I was looking for. BUT!
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ANZU CAFE / Tenmangu-mae, north Osaka
Place: Anzu Cafe
Found: pretty much leaving the Tenjinbashi roofed arcade when I saw the front entrance of the Tenmangu shrine to my left. It was on that street, a minute out of the arcade.
Has: Store's own blend of coffee, cloth-filtered through a fancy contraption. Hand-made sweets and little designey things for sale, postcards.
I have a thing about free postcards and fliers, so having a box of them out the front was an immediate draw. They are not only cool additions to my collaged collections of designey things but can also lead one to local events, cool venues and places to meet people who might also know of some OTHER good cafes. Lots and lots of teeny tiny adorable, well-designed things in the warmly glowing window was another drawcard.Heading inside there was a counter to seat about 4-5, a table for 2 behind that and some larger tables beyond that. I took a seat at the counter. There are many cakes and pastries, a few sandwiches and takeaway sweets too (pictured) and the most gorgeous display I've seen yet to advertise beans available to buy by the bag.
Ms. Anzu herself stands behind that counter every day from open to close (about 11am-8pm for most businesses!), serving an often full house one by one through the painstaking process of brewing up a coffee on her fantastic machine (I'll go back to take some more photos the next time I'm in Tenma, because it's lovely). She also handbakes all the goodies on the menu, including SCONES! which are Japanese size (ie. at least half the size of what they ought to be) and come with cream and a choice of jam (Raspberry, is there any other?) and can be had in a CAKE SET (kind of a cheaper way of ordering a cake and coffee than ordering them separately, available at every single Japanese cafe ever).
I asked her if it was hard to manage a full crowd when it was just her at the counter. She said, "Well, then the customers just have to wait."
It's a long day and I fully admire your efforts!
The Coffee: Black, Store Blend
The thing about Japanese coffee (that makes me quite sad) is that filtered, bitter-tasting coffee is sort of the "way coffee should be". I believe Japan inherited its coffee philosophy from America. You will often find filter coffee served black with a side of cream & sugar to add to taste, and waitresses carrying around free refills.
As opposed to in Melbourne, where thanks to Italian influences ubiquitous espresso machines after some clever people started playing with them a culture bloomed based around coffees that could taste sweet, nutty, fruity, sharp, and many other things. But not JUST black, and JUST bitter.
So besides the Latte trip which I took around Tokyo's most trendy district with the help of friends, and besides very expensive coffee chains like Starbucks and Parco Mall's occasional Illy stand, there is very little espresso to be had and what espresso is available tends to be made by machine, which is just as tasteless and soulless as it sounds.
Plus a milk-based espresso will set you back at least 500 yen, which is like paying $7aud for your morning coffee. Every morning. One of the integral parts of a Melbournian's coffee pride is the fact that we won't fork out $4 for a coffee (UNLESS it's REALLY GOOD)
So the coffee at Anzu was tasty, for a filtered, black and bitter coffee. I strongly believe I will find one day a black coffee that will make me smile and come back for more, but this is not the day.
