Scott S.
Yelp
So I guess I should probably start this review off with a second mentioning about Blue Bottle Coffee and how James Freeman waxes lyrical about this place both in his book and online on his "how to tutorials."
No discredit to James Freeman, even his loftiest praises and exaltation did not do justice to the amazing experience that his Chatei Hatou and here's why.
My experience at Chatei Hatou leading to me actually getting there was a thunderstorm of Murphy's Law rearing its ugly head; I had lost my cellphone--and by that proxy, my only reliable source of direction in Tokyo--mere hours prior to my apres-dinner coffee meeting with a friend I hadn't seen in eight years, and my day prior to visiting Hatou had been a complete wreck due to irreconcilable differences between myself and my travel companion (who also happened to be my mother)
My only clue as to getting to Chatei Hatou was given to me in the form of a very rudimentary map drawn by a friend who I had dinner with prior to leaving for Shibuya. As we were both in a hurry to get to our next engagements, the only details on the map were the words "exit 11," "movie theater," and the address of the cafe on top of the paper. And my adventure began precisely from there; unlike most other JR stations, Shibuya (probably due to its sheer size) doesn't have numbered gates, but names instead (e.g. South Gate, Hachiko Gate) -- also, the sign for the Toei Movie Theater and the building that its housed in, is not very visible after sunset, which meant both of the clues that were left for me on the map were useless.
After comparing the rudimentary map to the one in the station, however, I was able to regain my sense of direction and was able to guide myself to the general vicinity of the cafe, but even then I walked past Hatou at least twice before realizing where it was due to the inconspicuous placement and the font of the sign. My troubles in locating the restaurant also didn't end there; once you try to get to Hatou through the main entrance of Futaba building (like any sane person would,) you'll notice that the button for the second floor (where Hatou is located) doesn't work -- and you'll only notice after a few times of pushing the non-reactive square button marked "2" that you're supposed to go around the building and enter through the door on the left side of the hill.
It became very apparent that locating the cafe was difficult even for people that live in Japan, when my friend showed up 40 minutes late as well.
Though the whole experience of locating Hatou left me somewhat humbled and my confidence in ruins, it did remind me of simpler times before the advent of the all-knowing smartphone and how things were so much more simple yet complex (in a good way) back then -- not unlike Chatei Hatou itself.
First off, the interior. There is absolutely no semblance of the year that we currently live in inside of Chatei Hatou, and the moment you step into the establishment, it's almost as if you've stepped into the past. The best I can describe what the place looks like, is probably a tea parlour (yes, that's with a "U") of a late 18th century mansion. Second, the ambiance and the crowd. Despite being in the heart of Shibuya, it seems that people of all ages and crowds seem to comingle here, and more amazingly, forget who they are / their lives for a brief moment while they're here and enjoy the smaller joys of life (such as being able to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee and tea.) -- during the three hours I was here with my friend, the tables next to ours were occupied by a group of professors, a troop of skaters, a band of businessmen, and even an otaku couple, all here for that sweet, brief getaway from the hassles of life.
And of course, the food and drink. It's hard for me to write about cafe food after hours because I'm not a fan of dessert, but from what I saw around me, their homemade chiffon cake is very popular, and Chatei Hatou takes and sells out of take-out orders for end-of-year events and etc. I also saw the people next to me order some weird looking non-Newtonian liquid which was half milky white and half red/purple like some sort of parfait. Oh, I should also note that even the complimentary water here has a touch of class -- every glass of water served here is ionized alkaline water to help you better enjoy your coffee/prevent you from dehydrating (according to the waiter)
Out of the plethora of coffee choices I decided to go with the drink that inspired James Freeman's livelihood, the Gobancho blend prepared in the Nel "sock" drip. I wish my wannabe q-grader self could hype this cup of coffee up so much that it would make you want to fly out to Tokyo just to try it, but my command of the English language isn't compelling enough to even have a go and apparently I'm almost at the 5001 mark, so just try it. You definitely won't regret it if you know how to appreciate coffee.
