Double net drip coffee is a must order

Area:  Fushimi Station 伏見駅, Exit 6

Restaurant:  Ueshima Kohi Ten (Coffee House) 上島珈琲店

Map and Info:  http://www.ufs.co.jp/shop-search/shop_id/363

Website: http://www.ueshima-coffee-ten.jp/

Hours:  Weekdays 7am-9:30pm, Weekends 8am-9pm

At this cafe, you order your drinks and food at the counter and relax in the seat of your choice.  I had the smoked salmon sandwich (450円） and made it into a lunch set (an additional 440円), with a salad or soup, and drink of choice.  I opted to try the potato, carrot and gobo mentaiko salad.  It was a bit too creamy and mayonaise-y to be called a salad in my opinion.  It seemed more like a sauce that should be added to pasta.  

The smoked salmon sandwich was classic with dill, capers, cream cheese and lettuce all on rye bread, so you can't go wrong here.  

Looking at the website, I'm not surprised to see that they use an unconventional drip style of coffee (they call it a double net drip).  Just one sip of this coffee and it's sweetness immediately infuses the mouth.  It's a natural faint sweetness, and it makes me wish this coffee house was on my way to work.  

The Jazz music playing through the speakers helps to take a breath and relax in this well-lit, wooden furniture cafe.  

Pleasant surprise at this Cafe

Area: Nagoya Station (one block N of Bic Camera), 2nd Floor of Wing Building
Restaurant:  Cafe Consent カフェコンセント
Website and Map:  http://www.forvex.co.jp/concent/

Hours:  Morning 8am-11am, Lunch 11am-3pm,  Tea Time 3pm-7pm (LO 6:30pm)

I was a bit weary about coming to this newly opened cafe since it is owned by the pachinko center below, and the previous cafe was filled with chain smoking businessmen.  However, the new modern and clean decor, as well as the menu items make me glad I gave it a try.

It seems that this cafe tries to keep their customer's health in mind.  For one, the lunch set starts off with a supposedly healthy vinegar drink.  The rice is a multi grain mix, as is the bread if you order toast on the side.  My lunch looks to be one of those fried, fat laden pork tonkatsu steaks, but it's actually a mille-feuille non-fry version (980円, includes soup, salad and rice).  Thin slices of pork are layered, then coated with panko and baked.  The sauce is a bit different than usual, as it has mustard hidden in it.  Being layered pork, it was soft and easy to chew.  The seasoning came from only the sauce, so I could enjoy the flavour of the pork and crispy texture of the panko, while using the sauce as a dip for an accent.  The mustard actually works well.

I'd like to try their non-fry chicken kara-age or their most popular hamburger patty with house-made demi-glace sauce.  Although it's still filled with smoking businessmen, and perhaps people taking a break from gambling, this cafe's menu and atmosphere can accomodate people like me looking for something different and new.

Good coffee starts with a good bean

Area:  about 200m south east of Fushimi station, Exit 4 or 5,  伏見駅 (1st floor of Mont Bran Hotel)
Restaurant:  Cafe Daphne カフェ　ダフネ
Website:  http://www.daphne.co.jp/shoplist04.html
Map:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23007507/

Hours: Weekdays 7am-9pm, Weekends 7am-6pm

As I was looking at the menu posted outside, I decided maybe I'll try some BLEAD and a SARAD to go with it.  It's the small things I love about Japan!  Lunch at Cafe Daphne is served until 4pm, but I didn't feel like ankake pasta, or curry rice, so I just ordered from the regular menu.  Apparently the bread is house-made, so I ordered a sandwich to get a taste.  I had the basil chicken sandwich (650円) and added a coffee (plus 250円).  The sandwich came with a good size salad with a gobo (burdock root) and mayo mixture on top to act as dressing (a common flavour you can find anywhere).  The sweet basil mayo in the sandwich went well with the chicken breast meat, and veggies (lettuce, cabbage, carrot).  However, I didn't get a feel that the bread was house-made.  It was flimsy, too light for the heaviness of the ingredients, and it was missing the best part, the crust.

The coffee was very nice with a good acidity and fullness.  The shop does pride itself on their coffee beans, so it's worth it to order a cup of java here.  The atmosphere is a bit like Mitt's Coffee Stand (see previous blogs), except the behind-the-counter area looks more like a night bar.  I'd say the main reason to come here is for their coffee.

Pork belly doesn't have to be heavy

Area:  250m from Kokusai (International) Center
Restaurant:  Decans デカンス
Map and Info:  http://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ001038601/map/?vos=nhppalsa000013

Hours: 11am-11:30pm (LO 11pm)

For reference, I was here at around 3pm and was still able to order the lunch meal!  For only 750円 the set included the rice dish, soup, salad and drink.  This was the pork belly lunch; the thin strips of pork were streaked with fat making it soft and buttery.  Its sweet teriyaki sauce went well with the wasabi mayo on the side, and was a nice addition to the sesame oiled bean sprouts.  Underneath the blanket of pork was a surprise of half a soy-sauce flavoured hard boiled egg.

The rest of the meal was a bit of a letdown as the soup was too salty to drink, the salad's dressing had a chemical lemony flavour and the frothy coffee tasted like hot water had just been added to a pack of instant coffee and creamer mix.

With the quiet techno music playing in the background, bright orange chairs and plain white wall decor, this restaurant's atmosphere is just shy of a comfortable one, but that just may be because I sat at the counter near the entrance.  I hear there is also a second floor:  I would be interested in coming back to take a look and to try their other lunches such as the salmon and salmon roe rice bowl, or maybe one of their udons.

Expensive coffee is brewed differently, but is it worth it?....

Area: Takashimaya ７F at Nagoya Station
Restaurant:  Papas Cafe パパスカフェ
Map and Info: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23003652/

Hours:  10am-8pm (LO 7:30pm)

If it weren't in Takashimaya, I may have thought this was a maid cafe since the waitresses were dressed in maid uniforms.  The decor does have a nice French Bistro feel to it though.  But being in Takashimaya, you can expect it to be a little on the pricey side; note the 630円 coffee is the size of a very small cup.  It is brewed by manually pouring hot water through a sac which drips into the cup, but somehow I'm not sure if I'd pay that amount again for this coffee.

The vegetable sandwich (680円) was filled with fresh veggies (yellow pepper, tomato, cucumber, onions), and an olive oil seasoning.  It's probably not apparent from the photo, but it's quite a large sandwich, almost one and a half times the regular bread size.  I think you could probably imagine the taste just by looking at the photo.  What I liked about this cafe was that they ask if you want to keep the crust on or have it cut off.  I tend to look down upon cafes that automatically cut the best part of the bread off!

The best part was probably made somewhere else...

Area:  In Trusty Hotel (トラスティホテル), about 300m north east of Fushimi Station Exit 1 伏見駅
Restaurant: Cuore Lounge ラウンジクオーレ
Website:  http://www.trusty.jp/nagoyasakae/information/lounge.html
Map: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23015446/dtlmap/

Hours: 7am-11pm

When I saw the website for this lounge, I thought it looked pretty elegant, but upon arriving, it looked like an outdated hotel lobby restaurant that may have been once 5-star.  Nevertheless, I sat down to try their food.

I was late for the lunch time hours so I missed out on the sets, so I ordered the herb chicken and focaccia a la carte.  At first I just had the chicken, but it was so salty that I needed something plain on the side to mellow out my tongue.  Had the salt level on the chicken been a little lower, I'd be able to enjoy the herb flavours and the well-cooked juicy meat.  I'm glad I ordered the bread though, as it was actually the highlight of my meal.  The warmed dough was soft and the slight buttery flavour satisfied my palette over the main dish.  I'd like to know where they get their bread from!

Falls into the category of typical Japanese Bakery

Area: Nagoya Station (closer to the Takashimaya side)
Restaurant:  Cafe Danmark カフェダンマルク
Website:  http://www.mermaid-bp.co.jp/shop/cd/

Hours: 7am-10pm

I didn't know, but this bakery/cafe is the same company as Mermaid Cafe and Danish Bar also located in Nagoya Station.  Mermaid seems to be a little more expensive, but Cafe Danmark is also a little harder to find (closer to the Meitetsu bus area).

It's always difficult to make choices in a Japanese bakery, but today, I went with the syv korn シュコルン (150円) 7-grain bread, satsuma potato danish donut (140円), and the potato+bacon pie gratin (180円).  I liked the crispy texture of the pie, it was almost like eating a flaky pot pie.  The 7 grain bread had a nice density and slight sweetness, however it was a bit dry.  Similar to a bagel, it may be nice to make a cream cheese sandwich out of it.  The danish donut seems to be one of the store's original goods, but it doesn't really standout, as it is probably tastier without the extra step of it being fried.

For my vegetable portion, I went for the mini coleslaw (120円), and mini broccoli and egg salad (120円.  They might as well mix the two together as the dressing is the same.  The coffee (260円) was mediocre, not any different than other bakeries of the same calibre such as La Vie de France or Cascade.