restaurant – M I D S U M M E R D A Y S

Aoyama Flower Market Teahouse

Today, I want to introduce one of my favorite cafes of all time here in Tokyo. To be honest, even though I say that, I’ve only been there once. But that first time was more than enough for me to fall in love with it. It’s the Aoyama Flower Market Teahouse, and they have 3 shops (Akasaka, Kichijouji, Aoyama), and I went to the Akasaka branch!

Aoyama Flower Market is an actual flower shop with the most beautiful flowers, and they happen to run three cafes as well. As you can imagine, a cafe of a flower shop is bound to be gorgeous and covered in flowers.

I went on a Sunday morning for brunch, and apparently the Akasaka store is less crowded than the other branches. It definitely wasn’t crowded, but had a good flow of customers coming to enjoy their peaceful weekend morning as well. There were seats outside to enjoy the weather, but we decided to sit inside to appreciate the amazing interior. I was in so much awe of the foliage and just the overall atmosphere of the cafe, I felt classy just sitting there. It was so perfect for a relaxing brunch, to read a book or catch up with friends.

They have some really pretty herb tea, but we decided to just try the sweets since we were quite hungry! (They also have various savory foods, tea, alcohol, and juice.)

We ordered the french toast topped with fruits and edible flowers to fill us up, and the also the rose jelly as a little dessert(?)! I had no idea what rose jelly would taste like, and it was actually really delicious. Just the perfect amount of sweetness without being too much.

I would love to go to the other stores and be surrounded by the all of the season’s different flowers as I dine, with some fancy jazz music playing in the background. This is one of my top recommendations for cafes to visit if you’re into flowers, or if you just want to munch on some edible flowers. (They’re actually not that yummy, would not recommed.. Just take the photos, and pick them off ^^; )

Aoyama Flower Market Tea House

http://www.afm-teahouse.com/

Elementary School-themed Restaurant in Shibuya!

Like any typical college student, I miss the days where I studied the multiplication tables and got to go out for recess. However, I unfortunately never had the chance to experience being an elementary school student in Japan, having moved to America after preschool. I’ve always had the general idea from watching dramas and hearing stories, but since I wanted to try and see what it would be like to wear the randoseru and put on the cute little hats, my friends and I headed to the next best thing: an elementary-school themed izakaya. We found out about 6Nen4Kumi （６年4組）online, advertised as a restaurant with lunch-type foods and “classrooms” to eat in. The restaurant is only a few minutes walk from the station inside of another building.

The entrance where you put your shoes inside the lockers.

The staff were all dressed as specific teachers, wearing jerseys and aprons and such, I could hardly contain my laughter as they actually spoke to us as if we were students.

We were led to one of the “classrooms,” with wooden desks and chairs and various artwork and posters decorating the walls.

The menu consisted of so many different dishes typically served in a school cafeteria or brought from home in a bento. We decided to order two interesting drinks, the strawberry mil-make (ミルメーク) in which you make your own milk(?) and the science experiment soda!

For our dishes, we decided to order the adorable octopus sausages, fried bread with soybean flour, and nikujaga! All were delicious, and definitely adorable.

After our meal, one of the “teachers” came in and handed us a quiz. (It’s all in Japanese though! We jokingly suggested to one of the staff later how they should have one in English for all of the tourists, but they laughed it off saying that kids don’t learn English in elementary school haha.. True..)

We all managed to get it all correct and treated ourselves to the “100 points parfait”!

All of the staff there were really friendly and let us take photos and such afterwards with the iconic randoseru backpacks. Definitely a fun, unique experience that you wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else! ^^