Tucked away in a corner at the newly-opened 100AM (formerly known as Amara Shopping Centre) is this quaint kissaten 喫茶店 called Okada Coffee which hails from Kumamoto in Japan. According to its Facebook
page, Okada Coffee defines the activity kissa as 1) to enjoy cake and dessert with coffee or tea and 2) to enjoy coffee or tea after meal. I happened to spot this little cafe after having ramen at Keisuke which is in the same building so I made up my mind to check out this Japanese-style cafe one day. In case you are wondering, I'll have a post about Keisuke another day.
The selling point of this cafe is definitely its coffee but unfortunately, I don't drink coffee so I can't judge whether the coffee lives up to what it claims to be. In fact, I was a bit wary about entering the place because I wondered if there was anything for someone like me. However, there are alternative choices for non-coffee drinkers or those who prefer not to drink coffee on a particular day so don't be intimidated by the fact that although the name of the cafe emphasizes coffee, you can still find other beverage choices here to go with the exquisite desserts here.
I paid a visit to Okada Coffee at teatime on a weekday which was almost empty except for a couple who was having coffee and desserts while chatting. It may be a different story during weekends though. Not that I mind though because I've always liked places like this which are relatively quiet and allows me to relax while enjoying a nice dessert. Unfortunately, it's not that easy to find such places around because the popular cafes tend to get so crowded and noisy so relaxation seems to be an elusive concept at such places. When you look at the store front, it appears to be rather small but once you step in, it's not cramped at all and has quite a number of tables placed at a comfortable distance from one another.
From the menu, it appears that Okada Coffee serves a selection of main dishes during lunch and dinner hours so it's more than just coffee/tea and desserts here. However, as I was there during teatime, I didn't get to taste the main dishes so I'll probably have to come for a second visit to try them. At the entrance, there are some Japanese magazines including travel guides to various spots so you can bring them to your table for your reading pleasure.
If you are at Okada Coffee after 2pm, there is this teatime offer where you can order a dessert with a drink for an additional of $4. I ordered the matcha cake which was $6 and the yuzu soda so the bill came up to $10.70 after GST. The matcha cake was very flavourful and the sponge cake portion moist enough to bring out the aroma of the matcha. Combined with the slightly sour-and-sweet yuzu soda, it evened out the sweetness of the cake. At the same time, the cake brought out the refreshing taste of the yuzu soda so I was pleased that this turned out to be a good combination after all.
If you are looking for a quiet place to do some reading while drinking aromatic coffee and having some desserts at the same time, this will be a good place to check out. Just in case you miss this place, Okada Coffee's on the third floor and at the opposite end from where Keisuke, Yayoiken and the Jeju restaurants are. There's a juice bar just beside the cafe so it should be easy to locate this little kissaten.
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