Moriva Coffee: Cheap and fast, but that's all. Go for the MORNING (updated)

Area:  about 500m south east of Nagoya station
Restaurant:  Moriva Coffee モリバコーヒー
Website:  http://www.morivacoffee.com/
Map:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23044823/dtlmap/

Hours:  Weekdays 6:30am-10:30pm, Weekends 7am-10:30pm

The one good thing about this cafe is that they use Fair Trade coffee beans.  Other than that, my food experience was kind of plain here.  It's cheap, but perhaps so are the ingredients.  Here, you order fast food style, at the counter then carry your tray to your seat of choice.  I had the salmon gratin sandwich set (500円 for drink and sandwich), plus a salad (280円).

The sandwich's bun looks like a baguette, but it's a soft and light bun.  I'm not such a fan of this softness especially when the heavy cream gratin would go better with a crispier or even toasted bread.  The dill was a nice addition, but may go better with smoked salmon rather than grilled, and less processed cheese.  There was actually no bread crumbs or crunchiness which is the fun part of eating gratin, isn't it?

The salad had avocado, prosciutto, spinach, and a couple leaves of arugula and came with an Italian dressing: standard, but fresh and a good combination of ingredients.

I didn't quite care for this cafe's atmosphere.  The tables are small, about the size of the small tray, and although the walls weren't completely bare, the lack of windows made this space remind me an unfinished basement.  It is however quiet as most people come alone, and you can enjoy the quiet jazz music cd playing.

This chain cafe's morning service is listed on a website's best list.  There were 3 sets to choose from, all ¥520.  The first was the usual toast, sausage and scrambled egg.  Another was a canned tuna salad and egg salad salad (mayo based salads on top of green leaves) with corn soup.  I had the calzone set which came with scrambled eggs and a salad.  All included a banana chunk and a drink.

The salad was dressed with a caesar dressing (a little too much).  The scrambled egg was cooked nicely; I like my eggs runny, so it was perfect for me.  

The calzone's pizza dough was so magnificent, and kind of a new experience. It was probably made with rice flour making it soft, but chewy, and stretchy.  I'm not sure if the word stretchy is an appropriate word because it probably doesn't get the appetite going, but there's no other way to describe it.  Inside were thick lardons of bacon, cheese and a plain tomato sauce, almost like a frozen pizza pop.  

The banana and the garnish lettuce were a bit brown and seemed kind of old, but for this cheap price, it's forgivable.  The coffee is a big mug of a mild blend, good enough to deserve to call itself a coffee shop.