Skip to main content

Mojo Coffee- NZ Flat white in Kagurazaka area

The cafe entrance
I have to admit it, the first time I ever tasted, or actually, even heard of a flat white, was in Penang airport in Malaysia, of all places.  The cafe I had it at?  McCafe, if you can believe it.  Ever since, I've been trying to have flat whites everywhere and anywhere I can.

Now I have McDonald's brewed coffee every now and again, especially when I'm in a rush-  there's one on my way to work and it is cheap, costing only 100 yen.  Sometimes I even get free coffee there as they hand out vouchers at the station.  Unfortunately, they don't have flat whites here in Tokyo at McCafe.

Flat whites were invented in Australia and New Zealand and is an espresso based drink. It's similar to the latte or cappuccino in the sense that it has steamed milk, but the end result is quite different.  It has a thicker, more velvety texture as the steamed milk is more creamy and less foamy and is folded into the coffee. Generally, as far as I know, they are smaller in volume (and thus the flavour is stronger).

Well, I had been looking for a good one in Tokyo - you may or may not have seen in my previous post about Omotesando Koffee. - and I appear to have found something that hits the spot.


Last week, I visited Mojo Coffee.  It is located in Kagurazaka, not far from the metro station, but not exactly on the main street...you'll probably need to look up the directions (check their website linked at the bottom of this page).

Mojo originated in Wellington, New Zealand in 2003 and just came to Japan last year in 2012.  Now I've never been to New Zealand, but knowing that flat whites came from around that area, I had to give it a try.

Menu
The cafe actually appears to be the ground/main floor of a converted condominium- they roast coffee on the half-basement floor and have an office on the second.  The place is quite small- it has one large bar counter table, and several smaller tables.  It was fairly busy when on a Sunday afternoon, so my partner-in-crime and I sat at the bar.  We both ordered flat whites.
Flat white
Mojo actually does more than coffee.  They have some light meal options as well as a selection of NZ snacks and treats. They also have on hand some NZ wine and beer for those inclined. I was there for the coffee, however.  You can also buy their coffees and mugs, if I remember correctly.

The coffee definitely hit the spot.  It looked great, and tasted great too.  It was smooth and creamy and the flavours were well blended together.  If there is one thing that I can nit-pick about, it would be that it was ever so slightly lukewarm- I kind of like it when you have to take the first few sips carefully.

The price was 370 yen- tasted infinitely better than what you get at Starbucks.  Not saying that Starbucks is horrible, but sometimes you don't get what you want.

So, am I going to go again?  You betcha.  There are a bunch of other items on that menu that I want to try, and hopefully will get the chance to. I'm not in Kagurazaka that often, but knowing that there's a place like this may make me visit more.

Visit their website for more info:  http://mojocoffee.jp/
\or on tabelog: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1309/A130905/13152614/dtlrvwlst/5252434/

〒162-0817　東京都新宿区赤城元町４−１１
The cafe is located 5 minutes from exit one of Kagurazaka metro station.

Labels:
Location: Mojo Coffee

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comfort Food in West Ikebukuro (西池袋)- キッチンABC　（Kitchen ABC)

Sometimes you need something quick, tasty and filling.  Yesterday's dinner was one of those occasions for me. Japanese 洋食, or "western-food" is something that I usually associate with that. Some examples of youshoku include ハンバーグ, or hamburger patty, various type of breaded and deep fried cutlets and croquettes, omelettes, omrice(egg-wrapped fried rice ), and other kinds of flavorful, filling dishes. One of my favourites is omrice, prepared just so (not the same restaurant): Doesn't it look so good (I hope to review that restaurant one day... it is in Kyoto, watch other videos on the dude's youtube channel for more 洋食 videos)!! Anyways, Japanese curry, mayonnaise, demi-glace, mustard and sauce "ソース"(a sweet and sour almost Worcestershire sauce style condiment) are just a few of the flavours that often make an appearance. Usually these meals can be found as teishoku(定食), or meal sets, and come with a miso soup, some kind of salad or veg, ...
Post a Comment
Click here to read more >>

Yebisu Beer Museum - Beer "Tasting Salon" in Ebisu

It's been a little while since my last post... I've both been a bit busy, and have not really been eating out during this time.  However, a couple of weeks back, I did visit the Yebisu Beer Tasting Salon in the Yebisu Beer Museum, located in Ebisu station's Garden Place.  Garden Place is a nice, upscale shopping complex with restaurants, cafes, hotels, a movie theatre and more.  There is a stage in the middle of the plaza where they hold events, and in the summer there is a temporary outdoor  "beer garden". I heard that the station itself is named after the brewery. "Yebisu" or "Ebisu", is part of Sapporo Breweries, and is one of the more "premium" of the 4 main beers sold in Japan. By premium, I mean that they cost several tens of yen more when you buy them at the shop. To me, at least, Yebisu tastes a lot better than Sapporo Ichiban.  You can find their website, with English, here ( http://www.sapporoholdings.jp/english/guide/yebi...
Post a Comment
Click here to read more >>

Eats in Japan

As far as blog posts go, this is one of the main topics that I will be covering- my experiences with food in Japan and Tokyo. For the last few years, I have been based in Tokyo, and it has been a great opportunity for me to learn about and experience Japanese food culture.  Having spent several years working at a Japanese restaurant before arriving in Japan, I was under the impression that I knew a lot about Japanese food. Upon my arrival here, I realized that my understanding of Japanese food culture had been limited - how food is thought about, its availability and quality, the pains taken to procure ingredients, how and how much food is marketed, were all a real eye-openers. One hears that prices of food in Japan are high, but that is definitely not always the case. Many items can be found at a reasonable price, although that being said, there is no upper limit to how much you can pay. Living in Tokyo has also opened my eyes to foods from many other countries. Almost everyth...
1 comment
Click here to read more >>