Okaffe ROASTING PARK

On a 10 minute walk from Hankyu Kyoto Line’s Karasuma station is ‘Okaffe Roasting Park’ a new café of the Okaffe brand and it’s third shop (after ‘Okaffe Kyoto’ and sweets shop ‘Amagami’). It’s run by Japan 2008/2009 barista champion Okada Akihiro who opened his first shop ‘Okaffe Kyoto’ in 2016.

Okaffe Roasting Park is situated in a former woodwork shop/storage which is evident in the interior and exterior design of the café which consist mostly of wood. The café has an order counter, shop and roaster located on the ground floor inside the building and a major seating area on the first floor ‘outside’, however both the cafe and the seating area are situated under a massive canopy with corrugated metal roofing. The design of the café and seating area consists of a mix of beautiful natural hard wood and other types of wood. Especially the hardwood tables and the backsplash behind the order counter are beautiful.

The building itself has a traditional Japanese style facade but inside the shop has a modern interior design mixed with retro elements. The outdoor space has a lovely outdoor style design with various seating, including a bench that looks down on the cafe and a interesting looking corner bench that consists of layered wooden boards. Thanks to the large canopy customers can also enjoy sitting outdoors when it rains or snows (albeit a bit chilly).

The menu has a wide selection of coffee (cold brew, hand drip coffee, today’s coffee and cafe latte (550 yen) which comes with beautiful latte art by head barista Keita Sawami. There is also a selection of delicious sweets (canele, butter sand, tarte au cafe and seasonal tarte) from their Amagami sweets store. You can take out or eat in. Eating in your order will be placed on a lovely wooden tray but be careful picking up the tray as it has a hole cut out for the cup of coffee and if you are clumsy like me, you might not realize it immediately and almost spill coffee. Hold it with two hands!

Okaffe Roasting Park is a lovely café with nice outdoor seating, great coffee, delicious sweets and friendly staff that can both speak English and is very hospitable. It’s is a great new addition to Kyoto’s coffee scene and will definitely be very popular.