Urth Caffe in Daikanyama wins you over at the door with its display of beautiful yet hearty cakes and desserts. With baked cheesecake, thick wedges of rich chocolate tarts and a slice of Kyoto Does Rome by way of a green tea tiramisu, it would take a stronger will than mine not to order something sweet.
Coffee art
The restaurant itself is bright and airy with one epic wall mural seemingly inspired by David Attenborough’s life works – well they are organic… But somehow the rainforest montage manages to stay just about the right side of quirky without being pretentious.
Breakfast burrito
Our soy chai lattes arrived quickly and were decorated with the obligatory cute foam art. Next up was a 950 yen breakfast burrito for me – an egg, ham and avocado wrap served with a spicy salsa. The wrap was bursting at the seams, stuffed full of tasty scrambled eggs (Japan what’s your secret?!) and was a good combination. But it definitely needed the punch of the sauce as I tackled the second half, otherwise it was getting a little bland. My friend’s Poach di Parma (poached eggs and ham on toast) looked a picture and was given the thumbs up.
When it came to dessert I resisted the hefty last wedge of solid chocolate tart as it was a bit too Bruce Bogtrotter. But the tiramisu had a decent alcohol kick and fresh berries, although didn’t really need the tasteless cream on top.
Tiramisu
We visited on a holiday and the crowd were largely students and mothers-who-lunch – but I expect it doesn’t differ much on a regular day. Service was attentive but relaxed and we didn’t feel hurried out the door despite its popularity.
And it’s safe to say that, should the mural not quite bring the outdoors in, a spot on the terrace might be a hard to bag when Tokyo finally thaws.
Urth Caffe
〒150-0033 東京都渋谷区猿楽町8-9
03-5784-3301
www.urthcaffe-japan.com
Green Tea Diaries 