Tokyo: Historic Cafe – Kissako Kaiseiken (喫茶去快生軒) in Ningyocho

I’ve always wanted to visit this coffee shop, Kissako Kaiseiken (喫茶去快生軒) in Ningyocho. I stopped by in the afternoon and found some empty seats, so I decided to enjoy coffee here. It was established in 1919, originally starting as a milk hall in the Taisho era. A “milk hall” refers to a place that serves milk, and there are still some coffee shops today that use this name. I also sometimes hear the phrase kissako, which is a Zen expression meaning “please have some tea.”

It’s right in front of Ningyocho Station’s A2 exit, next to Tamahide. While enjoying coffee in a setting with so much history, I took in the atmosphere of Kissako Kaiseiken. Please note that photography is currently prohibited inside the café. Only photos of the food on the table are allowed.

Drinks range from hot coffee (¥550), café au lait, cocoa, cappuccino, matcha latte at ¥600, to whipped cream-topped iced coffee and brown sugar latte at ¥650, and coffee floats and cream sodas at ¥700. Other drinks like milk and orange juice are around ¥600.

For food, toast starts at ¥450.
Desserts such as cakes, coffee jelly, and mini chocolate sundaes are all ¥600.
If you order both food or dessert and a drink, you’ll get a ¥150 discount.

Originally, I planned to have a mini chocolate sundae, but I was feeling a bit chilly, so I went for the No-bake Cheesecake instead. It was smooth like mousse, rich with cheese flavor, not too sweet, and light enough that I could have eaten two or three more pieces. The cheese was rich and creamy. Honestly, I could’ve had seconds…

For my drink, I went with Café au Lait. They brought sugar with it, but the sweetness of the milk was strong, and the creamy foam was so smooth that sugar wasn’t necessary. However, adding just a little sugar made it even sweeter and dreamily delicious. The sugar pot was adorable…