1. Coffee Zingaro
    Photo: Kisa ToyoshimaCoffee Zingaro
  2. Fuglen Asakusa
    Photo: Kisa ToyoshimaFuglen Asakusa
  3. Higuma Doughnuts + Coffee Wrights
    Photo: Keisuke TanigawaHiguma Doughnuts + Coffee Wrights
  4. Bongen Coffee
    Photo: Kisa ToyoshimaBongen Coffee
  5. 319
    Photo: Kisa Toyoshima319

50 best cafés in Tokyo

Looking for a relaxing Tokyo café, the perfect cup of coffee or a superb dessert? This is the guide for you

Written by
Mari Hiratsuka
,
Shiori Kotaki
&
Kaila Imada
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Boasting roots that go back at least a century, Tokyo's café culture is a fascinating mix of the old and the new. From old-school kissaten that tenaciously kept the flag flying for good coffee in Tokyo long before anyone had even thought it could become trendy, to the hottest representatives of the 'third wave' coffee movement, you'll find countless cafés, coffee shops, bistros and bars everywhere you go in the city.

This roundup of Tokyo cafés is meant to be a cross-section of the capital's creative caffeinated community, and features a sample of in-demand newcomers, golden oldies and everything in between – we've even included a couple of places where the focus is more on superb desserts than quality coffee. Be it single origin beans, excellent espresso, artisanal green tea, a nostalgic atmosphere or decadent cakes you're looking for, we've got you covered.

RECOMMENDED: Want help narrowing it down? Check out the 14 most beautiful coffee shops in Tokyo 

The best cafés

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  • Higashi-Ginza

Glitch Coffee has opened a new outlet in Tokyo (its second in the city and fourth in Japan) with this sleek new space in Ginza. The café is centred around a chic U-shaped counter and accented with original ukiyo-e woodblock prints hanging on the walls. A curated playlist of 1980s music playing from a set of stylish Tannoy speakers adds to the atmosphere.

Glitch is known for its light-roast, single-origin coffee beans that are all roasted in-house at its Jimbocho location. By only offering light roasts, Glitch is able to showcase the original flavour of the beans. You won't find any blended coffee here as the café aims to highlight the individuality of the coffee farms and regions it works with...

  • Restaurants
  • Nakano

World-renowned contemporary artist Takashi Murakami has opened up a new café in Nakano Broadway known as Coffee Zingaro. This art-filled café is a welcoming spot in the anime and manga shop-filled district and is Murakami’s latest venture in the area after closing down Bar Zingaro in 2020. 

Coffee Zingaro has a lot of pizazz with its retro kissaten vibes inspired by the 1960s and ‘70s. The café features a tonne of artwork by Murakami and a colourful Showa era (1926-1989) interior courtesy of Yoshinori Hamakura, who also worked on creating the iconic Ebisu Yokocho and other retro spots in Tokyo...

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  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Kiyosumi

Omotesando’s Koffee Mameya has become a mainstay in Tokyo’s coffee scene, serving up excellent brews while also selling coffee beans from around the world. The only downside of the shop, though beautifully designed, is that there is no seating, so you can’t linger over a cuppa.

Good news: Koffee Mameya has finally given its fans the proper café space they’ve been craving with Koffee Mameya Kakeru, a stylish coffee haven nestled amongst the cool cafés in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa, Tokyo’s self-proclaimed coffee town...

  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Yanaka

Upon spotting this charming old house on Yanaka's Kototoi-dori, most passers-by probably wouldn't guess that it's been home to a café for well over 70 years. Constructed in 1916, the building hosted the Kayaba coffee shop from 1938 until the death of the original proprietor in 2006. Beloved by both locals and visitors, the community icon made a strong comeback in 2009, when a local not-for-profit group teamed up with the folks behind nearby gallery Scai the Bathhouse and reopened Kayaba – with the original exterior and signage intact...

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  • Mitaka

It might take you a while to locate this hidden café, but you’ll be glad you put in the effort once you step inside this calm, stylish space. 319 sits along a dark corridor on the third floor of a nondescript residential building in Mitaka. The café is decked out with a gorgeous collection of antique furniture. It’s quite spacious, with plenty of seating and tables across two rooms. 

The menu is simple and straightforward, just two savoury plus three dessert options. If you’re here for lunch, start with the brown rice and laver soup or the fish cutlet and meatball plate before moving on to the sweets. The carrot cake and the chocolate tart are lovely, but we love the rare cheese dessert – a somewhat deconstructed cheesecake topped generously with shavings of salty parmesan...

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  • Nakano

In an area heavily populated with bars and izakayas, this café is a welcoming sight. Lou, which opened in 2021, is the sister shop to Paddler’s Coffee Nishihara. This Nakano café offers a more extensive food menu than Paddler’s, with a variety of Nordic-inspired soups, pastries, cakes and ice cream. It’s also got a pretty great drink selection of not just the standard coffee and tea, but also craft beer and wine...

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  • Meguro

This chic café just a few minutes’ walk from Meguro Station has a soothing minimalist aesthetic. You’ll often find a queue outside the shop on weekends, as café-goers are eager to get their hands on Parlor Noon’s picture-perfect desserts. 

Highlights from the menu include an affogato made with Big Baby Ice Cream and topped with one of the café’s signature dog-shaped cookies. The basque cheesecake is another crowd-pleaser, as well as the beautiful lemon tart shaped like a flower. There’s also a seasonal shortcake and parfait, both made with whatever fresh fruit is in season. As for beverages, you can’t go wrong with the Viennese coffee topped with fresh cream or the zingy ginger lemonade...

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  • Harajuku

This light and airy café space situated behind the bustling streets of Omotesando and Harajuku is a mashup of two Tokyo institutions: Coffee Wrights and Higuma Doughnuts. Serving, well, coffee and doughnuts, we can’t think of a better combination to lift our spirits. The venue also offers plenty of seating, with indoor benches and tables in the sunken café space, as well as outdoor benches stretching out from the expansive floor-to-ceiling windows...

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  • Ningyocho

Single O finally has its very own Tokyo flagship café separate from the brand’s roastery and tasting bar in Ryogoku. The open and airy space in Nihonbashi’s Hamacho district holds a handful of small tables and counter seats and boasts artwork on the ceiling and walls replicating the art found at Single O's now closed Sydney CBD location.

The focus here is on single-origin coffee, but with a fun new twist. The store has a unique self-serve coffee-on-tap bar where you can pour yourself a cup of joe for just ¥350...

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  • Toshima

You’ll find this unassuming café in Higashi-Nagasaki, a sleepy little neighbourhood along the Seibu Ikebukuro line that’s slowly becoming a hot spot for cool cafés and trendy shops. At the centre of it all is Mia Mia Tokyo, a friendly coffee joint run by husband-wife duo Vaughan and Rie Allison. Well-versed in Tokyo’s third-wave coffee scene, the duo have created an inviting space that’s not just about the coffee, but also about welcoming you into the local community...

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  • Sakura-Shinmachi

Kyoto’s long-established coffee roasters Ogawa Coffee have finally set up shop in the capital with a flagship coffee laboratory in residential Setagaya. The spacious café was designed by interior design firm Yusuke Seki Studio and is full of muted tones, with the focal point being the wrap-around counter encircling the barista space...

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  • Higashi-Ginza
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This tiny café tucked down the back streets of Higashi-Ginza exudes Japanese simplicity at its best, fit with Japanese-styled plaster walls, sho-sugiban (charred cedar) details and a coffered ceiling, plus a single bonsai poised behind the barista.

The expansive coffee menu offers your café usuals including drip coffee, americanos and mochas, plus a Japanese spin on lattes made from a combo of espresso and matcha or hojicha. For the non-dairy drinkers, they also have soy, almond and oat milk, so you can get your lactose-free latte fix, too...

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  • Monzen-Nakacho

Monz Café, which has been around for about a decade, sits along the lively temple street leading to Naritasan Fukagawa Fudodo, one of Tokyo’s most striking and modern temples. The building used to house a wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets) shop in the Meiji era (1868-1912) but was converted in the last ten years or so into a stylish space for people to relax over coffee and desserts...

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  • Asakusa

Sip some coffee and peruse handmade leather accessories at this relaxed Kuramae café and variety goods store run by ballerina and pastry shop owner Miwako Yamada together with designer Kosuke Tamura. The staff are happy to give sightseeing tips for the surrounding neighbourhood, but Camera itself is well worth seeking out – if only for the decadent smoothies...

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  • Ikejiri-Ohashi

We don’t know how Drip does it, but the café manages to be equally modern and retro at the same time. Opened up by models Ryo Ichinose and Sakiko Takizawa in 2021, Drip feels like it’s been around for decades – there’s the dark wood interior, tinkling jazz music and, for an upscale touch, a well-curated art selection. Further adding to its retro atmosphere, the menu is reminiscent of a classic kissaten with a colourful Sunny Day Cream Soda and the homemade coffee shop pudding...

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  • Omotesando

Despite Tokyo’s love for desserts, vegan and gluten-free sweets are hard to come by. Sister outlet to Ebisu’s vegan fruit sando shop Fruits & Season, So Tart is a specialty café serving up gorgeous vegan, gluten-free fruit tarts, plus organic coffee, tea and ice cream.

Seasonal fruit is the star of the show, with tarts topped with fresh sakuranbo cherries, mango and melon during summer. Underneath the fruit, you’ll find a luscious soy-based cream and a crispy tart base made from rice...

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  • Restaurants
  • Tea rooms
  • Aoyama

It took Shinya Sakurai 14 years to become a tea master. That's a long time to dedicate to tea. But when you visit his shop in Aoyama, Sakurai Japanese Tea Experience, and sit down opposite him as he prepares an exquisite tea ceremony in an equally exquisite café space, you'll begin to appreciate the hard work and patience that goes into this tradition.

Shinya has modelled his store on the concept of tea being a form of medicine – as it once was – and he travels around Japan to source the best quality tea leaves...

  • Restaurants
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  • Nakameguro

This discreet tea house under the Nakameguro train tracks is home to Chiya-ba, a chai tea specialist run by the folks behind nearby Nepalese restaurant Adi. The cosy space, though dominated by blacks and dark tones, has a gorgeous Zen-like quality. It's tasteful yet rustic, especially the hidden little lounge behind the tea counter, which feels like a luxe boutique hotel lobby.

As for the tea menu, go for the classic masala chai (available hot or cold), or one of two special chai creations: lemon masala chai or the spiked Khukri Rum chai...

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  • Harajuku
  • price 1 of 4

This iconic Tokyo café has been around for over 20 years and is still serving up some of the best food – both savoury and sweet – in Harajuku. The café looks deceivingly small from the outside, but once you’re in, you’ll discover an entire basement dedicated to table seating. There’s even a small retail area where you can purchase vinyl records, clothing and more. 

It’s difficult to choose just one dessert from the impressive display case. There’s a variety of housemade cakes and sweets like the Kuma Chocolate, a decadent bear-shaped brownie cake that’s served with ice cream, or the whole peach stuffed with custard cream, fresh strawberries and shortcake...

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  • Yurakucho
  • price 1 of 4

Hamanoya is on the basement floor of the Shin-Yurakucho Building, just by the D2 exit of Yurakucho Station. As well as serving an array of soft drinks, this old-school café serves light meals, including a great selection of sandwiches, and does a nice sideline in desserts (their parfaits are especially good). But it's the egg choice on the menu that most people go for...

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  • Asakusa

Beloved Shibuya mainstay Coffeehouse Nishiya has moved to its new home in Asakusa with an updated name, but still serves up the same menu of Italian-inspired café drinks. Unlike its previous sit down space, the shop operates more as a standing coffee bar where you can stop by for a quick pick-me-up. Don't worry if you can't get a spot inside – just walk up to the front window and a cup of joe to go...

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  • Koenji

This tiny café near the train tracks west of Koenji Station is known for its artistic fruit sandwiches, in-house roasted coffee and kakigori shaved ice (served in the warmer months). Interestingly, the café's name comes from French novelist, poet and playwright Jules Gabriel Verne and is inspired by the analog ways of the eighteenth century. 

Keeping with the theme, you can find books by Verne scattered around the café from which you can freely pick up to read as you wait for your order...

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  • Restaurants
  • Coffeeshops
  • Ginza

'Coffee Only' reads the sign outside Café de l'Ambre, which has been keeping the Ginza hordes well caffeinated since 1948. The kissaten was founded by the late Ichiro Sekiguchi, and the staff on-hand continue to run the shop under his legacy. Though they treat their coffee with the utmost seriousness, this isn't one of those fussy, killjoy coffee temples where conversation has to be conducted in furtive whispers and customers need a secret handshake to get through the door (we exaggerate, but only slightly)...

  • Restaurants
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  • Kiyosumi

We’ve heard of farm to table, but have you ever heard of farm to cup? Another coffee shop to add to Kiyosumi-Shirakawa’s growing list, Hagan is a light and airy roastery and café specialising in organic coffee made with pesticide-free beans. The shop roasts all its coffee beans in-house, and also supplies a select number of Tokyo cafés including gluten-free café Posh.

Popular house roasts include the Columbian Casanova, with a strong body and mild acidity, and the Ethiopian Tasfaye featuring notes of orange peel and tropical fruit...

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  • Daikanyama

It might look small from the outside, but this speciality roastery has a lot to offer, with a dozen kinds of coffee beans imported from around the world and roasted on-site. Owner Kenji Okauchi opened this coffee shop in 2014 with the ambition of creating a cheerful neighbourhood haunt where locals could casually drop by to pick up freshly ground, single-origin beans or a drip coffee to go...

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  • Shibuya

This Fukuoka-born coffee roastery has found a home in the old Coffeehouse Nishiya shop in Shibuya. Leaving most of Nishiya’s retro interior intact, the menu has also incorporated a few of the old café’s favourites including premium pudding. 

Rec Coffee initially started out as a small coffee truck and has expanded to ten shops including two in Tokyo and even a couple in Taiwan. Grab a seat inside or out on the terrace and enjoy an espresso or hand drip coffee made from Rec’s premium roasted beans...

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  • Yoyogi-Hachiman

Tucked away off the busy streets of Tomigaya in a tiny multi-story house, Nephew makes for a great all-day hangout as the space transitions from café to bar once the sun goes down. Opened just last year in April 2021, it’s also the sister shop to Ikejiri-Ohashi’s trendy Lobby bar, which has a very similar vibe. Both are inspired by cool industrial-style restaurants in Australia, with a healthy dose of Scandinavian interior design...

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  • Asakusa
  • price 1 of 4

The ideal place for stylish coffee-sipping, perhaps with a small cake on the side, this spacious and relaxing café by the Sumida River is set in a former timber warehouse with a high ceiling. It's decorated with antiques, old books and small flowers, while tea sets, an international selection of stamps and even minerals are sold at the counter. All orders of coffee and tea are served in Imariyaki cups...

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  • Kinshicho

You’d never guess it, but behind the bright lights of the Olinas Mall in Kinshicho is a quiet, calm and uber-cool tearoom. Specialising in Japanese milk tea, this sleek café blends beautifully fragrant Japanese teas with plant-based milks. Barista and owner Yoshihiko Kurahashi has visited tea fields across Japan to source his four specific types of tea leaves: genmaicha (brown rice tea), hojicha (roasted green tea), koucha (black tea) and oolong...

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  • Shibuya
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Stepping through the low, marble-tiled entrance, the first thing you’ll notice is the gorgeous tableware displayed behind a long hardwood counter. That’s not to say that the surroundings here outshine the coffee – on the contrary, Satei Hato’s hand-drip offerings maintain the absolutely highest quality. Choose from up to eight varieties of charcoal-roasted beans and watch as the formally dressed staff prepare your treat with almost religious dedication...

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  • Yoyogi-Uehara
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Importing beans from Portland’s famed Stumptown Coffee Roasters every week, Daisuke Matsushima’s Paddlers have been caffeinating shoppers at the Nishihara arcade since 2015. All beans are served fresh in french press or espresso form for the perfect flavour. Beans are also available by the bag, with their most popular roast being the Nano Challa from Ethiopia, which offers delicate notes of grapefruit and peach...

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  • Nishi-Ogikubo
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Not all kissaten in Tokyo are worth the moniker, but this one sure makes the grade: stained-glass windows, antique clocks and the soft jazz soundtrack make you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. Founded in 1975, Monozuki offers a very simple menu – black coffee is the main attraction – but is beloved by both locals and former Nishi-Ogi-ites...

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  • Shimokitazawa
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Opened in 1980, Trois Chambres feels a world away from the busy streets of Shimokitazawa. Antique cups line the shelves, regulars strike up conversation over the counter and the corner tables are practically always occupied by someone reading a book – time truly appears to stand still at this kissaten, which might even feel a little intimidating for first-timers. But fear not: the fellow running the show here is friendly and subtle, the cheesecakes (both rare and baked) are heavenly...

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  • Tsukiji

The chalkboard in front of Turret Coffee says ‘Welcome to the best outrageous coffee shop in Japan’. Named for the ‘turret’ mini-trucks that used to zip around nearby Tsukiji fish market, Turret Coffee and its owner Kiyoshi Kawasaki both pull and pour quality espresso, all in a funky, intimate space. Relax on one of the few ‘real’ seats or sit on the back of an actual turret as you chat with friends, or with Kawasaki himself, while sipping your drink...

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  • Asakusa

The second Tokyo branch of the Norwegian coffee purveyor Fuglen, this café is located in the heart of Asakusa, just a few minutes' walk away from some of Tokyo's most historic sites and attractions. The space is bigger and it has plenty more seating compared to their first outlet in Tomigaya – but feature the same aesthetics...

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  • Yushima

Strong coffee and artistic cakes are the twin specialities at Yushima's Ties, where the dripping process is fine-tuned to perfection. Choose from around half a dozen blends, all explained in detail by the counter, and pick your favourite from the cake display case right by the entrance. They always have around ten varieties – including seasonal specials...

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  • Shinjuku-Sanchome

The Scottish capital is famous for many things, but coffee isn't normally one of them. You're a long way from Edinburgh at Shinjuku's Edinburgh, though – or Coffee Kizoku (literally, 'aristocratic coffee') Edinburgh, to give it its full name. Furnished in a Western style that's both ostentatious and deeply ersatz, this café dispenses cups of siphon coffee 24 hours a day...

  • Restaurants
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  • Sangenjaya

For years, Tokyo's caffeine addicts have been spoiled with an overflowing supply of 'third wave' coffee shops, while green tea – Japan's native pick-me-up – has been left by the wayside. But times they are a-changin'. First up is Sangenjaya's austere Tokyo Saryo, which offers single-origin green tea in hand drip form. The folks behind the lightly decorated shop have even developed their own tea dripper, which is supposed to help bring out the full flavours of the leaves...

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  • Tea rooms
  • Ginza

This tea salon puts a fresh twist on traditional Japanese confectionery. As well as the typical combination of green tea and sweets like cold kuzu noodles, the salon also serves alcohol – ask the staff which beer, shochu or wine goes best with your sweets. They also offer a sparse food menu, including a sumptuous lunch tray with five small dishes, miso soup, rice, green tea and wagashi. It's a spot relaxing enough for hours of lingering in busy Ginza...

  • Restaurants
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  • Nakameguro

Jiyugaoka-based roasters and bean importers Onibus have kept a relatively low profile on Tokyo's coffee scene until now, keeping things close to home at their original location while backing up Shibuya's About Life with top-grade beans from places like Rwanda and Guatemala. They can expect a larger share of the spotlight from now on though, as this Nakameguro branch has been making waves...

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  • Iidabashi

There aren't many al fresco cafés in Tokyo that can rival the atmosphere of this waterside spot in Iidabashi. Canal Cafe is the modern-day incarnation of Tokyo Suijyo Club, the capital's oldest boat house, which first opened nearly a century ago. Rowboats aren't quite the draw they used to be, so the club serves mainly as a restaurant nowadays – though you can still head out on the water...

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  • Musashi-Koyama

There was a time when Musashi-Koyama was famous for little besides having a shopping arcade that seemed to go on forever. That arcade is still there, but we're more likely to make a detour to the area to get a quick jolt at Amameria Espresso. Opened in the summer of 2010 by certified cupping judge Toshiaki Ishii, this intimate shop roasts its own beans, and the aroma alone is likely to lure...

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  • Sangubashi

Thanks to the Italians, coffee and gelato go hand-in-hand: what’s better than pairing a strong, bitter espresso with a scoop of sweet frozen creaminess? Located a short walk away from Yoyogi Park, Floto’s gelato display will tempt you with its striking array of colourful options: there’s everything from classic chocolate and caramel to seasonal fruit flavours such as peach, kiwi and Japanese beni hoppe strawberry...

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  • Jiyugaoka

Just as its name suggests, this café specialises in all things bread and espresso. We particularly love the signature French toast, where a thick slice of fluffy bread is prepared in a cast iron pan and served piping hot along with a generous drizzle of honey from Italy.

As for the drinks, Bread, Espresso & Jiyugata offers an Insta-worthy ice-blended cappuccino that’s been pulling in the crowds. The smooth blend of milk, espresso and ice creates a cloud-like dome-top, which is then dusted with cocoa powder – it tastes as good as it looks...

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  • Nogizaka

When this long-standing spot transformed from a restaurant into a café with confectionery, their popularity soared. Go for a cake set or their hot desserts (try the Hot Soufflé, Hot Fruits Custard and Fondant Chocolat), which can only be found in Aoyama...

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  • Kichijoji

If you're looking to grab a drink on the go before heading to Inokashira Park, sod Starbucks for once and stop by this café for the real deal. The various tea and chai drinks on offer burst with rich aromas, with their 'boiled milk tea' prepared the traditional Indian way with no added spice...

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  • Ikejiri-Ohashi

This hipster haven in Ikejiri-Ohashi is a relaxed enclave carved out of the creative atmosphere of the area and decorated like a garage, with an assortment of tools on the wall and lumber hanging casually from storage units attached to the ceiling. Seating comes in the form of worn old furniture strewn around the room and three stools placed at the counter. As well as being one of the few places in Tokyo you can get a flat white...

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  • Ikegami

Worth the trip out to Ikegami all on its own, the wonderfully retro Rengetsu is set in a gorgeous Japanese-style home built in 1933. Occupied for decades by a soba shop downstairs and a traditional inn upstairs, the structure looks essentially just like it did back in the early days of Showa: although the straw mats on the ground floor have been replaced by wooden panelling, the décor remains intact...

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  • Kichijoji

Hidden out among the lush greenery of Inokashira Park, in the direction of the Ghibli Museum, lies this French-inspired café that specialises in crêpes and Bretagne-style galettes topped with fresh vegetables, mushrooms and pesto – and smoked salmon, soft-boiled egg or other proteins if you pay extra. Made with buckwheat flour from Hokkaido, the galettes are flavourful and aromatic...

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