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NIPPONIA No.20 March 15, 2002
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Come in, sit down and enjoy!
Coffee shops in Japan offer a wide choice of beverages and light meals. These pages take you on a visual tour.
Take your pick...
Benishika opened its doors in 1957 in Yuraku-cho next to Tokyo's Ginza district, right in the heart of the city. It's a busy place until well into the evening, serving businesspeople, shoppers, and theatergoers on their way home. Look at the menu and you'll be surprised at the variety—different kinds of coffee, of course, and teas, juices, sundaes, toast, sandwiches, cakes, light meals and more—174 items in all. The management keeps coming up with new offerings. One Benishika original, "pizza toast," can now be found on coffeehouse menus throughout Japan.
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At Benishika, the interior walls and ceiling (right) and the exterior facade (top left) look like they did when the coffeehouse opened. Inside, the walls are white and the ceiling is accented with large, wooden, lustrous black beams. The owner, Murakami Setsuko, says, "I wanted a warm, welcoming interior." Each cup of coffee is brewed individually, using a glass siphon mechanism (bottom left).
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The first place in Japan to serve "pizza toast" was Benishika. It is made by baking cheese, onion, salami, sweet green pepper and mushrooms on a thick slice of bread.
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"Spaghetti Neapolitan" flavored with a sauce made from tomato purée and ketchup.
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Japanese people drink a lot of iced coffee when it's hot outside. This "coffee float" features chilled coffee brewed from well roasted coffee beans, with a scoop of ice cream on top.
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A whopping fruit sundae. A strawberry, a slice of orange, and eight other kinds of fruit decorate the ice cream and whipped cream.
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A "mixed sandwich" includes vegetables, egg and ham.
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The "morning set"—toast, salad, boiled egg and coffee—is served from opening time until 11 a.m. The coffee shop charges almost the same for the "set" as for a regular cup of coffee.
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