Kominka Cafe: dine together with your soul crush
Kominka Cafe
All of us otaku have at least a couple of crushes on a particular character and probably at least once in our life we have thought we wanted to spend a dream day with our crush, arrange a date and eat together. But what if this were possible?There are cafes in Japan that allow their customers to eat together with plushies or any other merchandise that represents their favorite character. These are called kominka cafè, literally "old residential house", old converted houses with a historical or retro air and offer a very special service.
Cafe Kojika gives the welcome to you and your crush souls
One of these kominka cafes is Cafe Kojika, located in Tokyo, 10 minutes walk from Hachioji station, and from the outside it looks like a very old house. As soon as you enter you take off your shoes, like in any other Japanese house. Inside there is an even more old-school vibe: the supporting pillars come from the original construction, but the wall coverings and the tatami cane floor have recently been replaced, giving the venue a full welcoming and relaxing mix. of familiar warmth.The menu presents the typical traditional dishes of Japanese cafes, but the peculiarity lies in the fact that the drinks and food ordered also arrive for the plushie / figures of your anime character that you have decided to bring to dine with you.
So if you've ordered a cream soda, your character gets a miniature one made with the same ingredients and care as the full size version, so you and your crush can really eat together. Not only. Cafe Kojika also features a selection of miniature plastic food models, tailored to match the items on its menu. For example, if you order a slice of baked cheesecake, which comes with a cookie and a whirlwind of whipped cream, your crush also gets an exact miniature replica of it.
You can even customize your drinks. tidy: the staff can color them as you prefer, perhaps in theme with the color that characterizes your anime crush. You can also show the staff a swatch of the color you want on your phone or a piece of paper to give them a better idea of the shade you want.
If you are in a hurry, Cafe Kojika also offers a d 'service. takeaway for cream soda, and yes, you can personalize it also in this case, personalized, and for soft ice cream.
Kominka cafes allow you to create precious and unique memories together with your soul crush and in no time elsewhere you will have the opportunity to spend an appointment with your favorite character!
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Tokyo cafe serves special drinks and desserts for your anime crush, welcomes otaku/fujoshi diners
If your definition of the perfect table for two is one for you and your 2-D oshi, you’ll want to stop by this kominka cafe.
Among restaurants in Japan there’s a category called kominka cafe. Kominka translates as “old residential house,” and so kominka cafes are converted from homes with a historical or retro air to them.
We recently heard about a kominka cafe in Tokyo, though, which offers a very modern service. They’ll serve food and drink not just for you, but for figures or plushies of your anime crush who you’ve brought along to dine with you.
Cafe Kojika is located 10 minutes on foot from Hachioji Station, and from the outside, it looks like a well-maintained pre-bubble economy home. After you open the door you take off your shoes (this is a Japanese house, after all) and step up into the interior, which has an even more old-school vibe.
The support pillars appear to be from the original construction, but the wall coverings and tatami reed flooring are freshly replaced, giving the interior a welcoming and relaxing mixture of familiar warmth and chic newness.
The menu features traditional Japanese cafe favorites, and our Japanese-language reporter Ayaka Idate started things off with a cream soda, for 550 yen (US$5), and because she was by herself, she was able to take advantage of a special offer only for solo diners of a free mini cream soda or mini coffee gelatin.
▼ The sign for the solo-customer offer
It might seem strange to give extra food and drink to someone who ostensibly has no one to share it with, but the understanding is that the mini drink or dessert is for the customer’s oshi, or anime character crush.
▼ Ayaka’s oshi, who’d accompanied her in acrylic standee form
Another cool bit of hospitality at Cafe Kojika is that the staff can make your cream soda for you in any color you’d like. While this service isn’t exclusive to solo diners, it’s especially popular for those who’ve come with their anime crush, since it means you can have your drink made in your oshi’s image color. You can even show the staff a color sample on your phone or a piece of paper to give them a better idea of the shade you want, and Cafe Kojika did a beautiful job recreating the hue of “Edo purple” that Ayaka asked for.
And after they’d set Ayaka’s drink down in front of her, they did the same with the mini cream soda for her oshi.
Again, this is an actual, miniature cream soda, made with the same ingredients and care as the full-sized version, so that you and your crush really are enjoying the same treats together. If anything, the small scale probably makes it more difficult to prepare, but Cafe Kojika’s excellent customer service extends to its courteous treatment of its 2-D guests.
Obviously, visiting the cafe makes for a prime photo op, and so the cafe has an area with scale furniture where you can snap pictures.
There’s also a selection of mini-size plastic food models. However, rather than being whatever happened to be in a random pre-made pack from the toy store, these are custom-made to match Cafe Kojika’s menu items.
For example, Ayaka also ordered a slice of baked cheesecake, which comes with a cookie and swirl of whipped cream, and the miniature replica was an exact match.
The menu isn’t all desserts, either, as their Napolitan pasta is also great…
…and if you’re in a rush, they also have a take-out window for cream soda, including the custom color request, and soft serve ice cream.
Though Aya is very fond of her oshi, and had seen some hard-core otaku and fujoshi out and about with theirs and looking like they were really having fun, she’d always felt a little self-conscious about going out for a bite to eat with her 2-D crushes. With Cafe Kojika being so welcoming, though, she was able to enjoy herself to the fullest, and while any day you eat sweets is a good day, the unique memories she made this day were like the cherry on top of her oshi-colored cream soda.
Cafe informationCafe Kojika / カフェ小鹿Address: Tokyo-to, Hachioji-shi, Yorozucho 122-1東京都八王子市万町122-1Open 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m.Closed Wednesdays and SundaysTwitter
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